mesclun-a-day-or-two

Only 5 days later, and these puppies are growing! The seeds that I put in must have popped within a day or two. pH is at a steady 6.5. Temperature seems normal. Still plenty of nutrient solution. I think the problem is fixed. These plants are growing fast and healthy… Even though it’s only been 5 days. With the radish seeds, I didn’t see growth this fast at all.

New kids in town!

Here are the new kids on the block, Baby Mesclun! I let a few seeds germinate and put them into two cups. I also put seeds in the two other cups without germinating them. I mixed brand new nutrient solution and put brand new rockwool in the cups before entering the seeds in the system. The nutrient solution is a perfect 6.5 pH before using it. I have extremely high hopes for these new seeds and plan on giving them the perfect conditions even though there is not much class time left.

Well, I was unable to correct the issues with my plants. They are all brown and shriveled. No life left. Here lies my radish plants. Born February 15th 2012, Died April 16th 2012. R.I.P.

I learned that if something “traumatic” happens early on in the plant’s life, that it is sometimes very difficult to get them growing correctly. I assume that this was the case. I have decided to remove my existing plants (including the rockwool and nutrient solution) and replace them with with mesclun. I should at least see a bit of progress before the end of the semester. WISH ME LUCK!

Feeling a little yellow…

small, shrivelled, discolored leaves

 I experienced some issues while testing the pH of my plants. One of the liquids said that my pH was extremely high while the other said it was extremely low. I was inconsistent with the pH testers that I used and I raised and lowered the pH regularly. From what I understand, I should not need to adjust the pH very much at all. To help solve this issue, I emptied all of my solution and replaced it with a brand new mix on 3-26-12. I have also been using the litmus paper in conjunction with the green colored liquid. I have been reading about a 6.0 ever since.

Off to a pretty good start

After 5 days, the seeds that we were given did not germinate. I let Dr. Brusic know and she gave us fresh seeds. They popped within 24 hours! I put them into our system on 3-8-12 with hope that they will love it there. I was hopeful that I could plug our pump into a timer, but there doesn’t seem to be space so I limited the flow of solution to the seeds. This is my first time with a blog, so I hope I’m doing this right.

Hi everyone!

This blog was set up as an assignment for my Bio-related technology class taught by Dr. Brusic at Millersville University. Our assignment was to conduct research on hydroponics to the point where we could construct our own hydroponic system. After the research stage, I decided to go with a drip system because it is one of the most widely used systems, it is said to be very efficient, and it is visually appealing. I like the idea of watching the solution drip onto the plants in order to make them grow.