Day 9

All is going well, good PH, no algae, and good growth, plus we are seeing roots now.

We had started a dirt comparison experiment, all the same ingredients, and started at the same time. As late as Friday I was thinking about throwing it away but it has finally taken off and is looking nearly as good as the hydroponics basil. That being said, only two of the three plants have survived and it uses 5 times the water.

dirt comparison

Day 7

Thurs. Nov 4th update

Our system seems to be running fine other than a slight seepage around the one net pot which is nothing more than a slow drip from the water pressure around the cutout. A simple turn of the support deck looks like it fixed this. There is no way for the water to leave the system other than evaporation. Other than that it is working very well. We have some increased growth and most of the seeds that were planted have germinated & they are showing white roots. PH test confirms PH level is 7.5 and holding steady. Humidity inside the bowl feels fine, water feels slightly warmer than room temp, and the rock wool is remaining saturated. No sign of algae growth anywhere in system.

So far so good.

Day 6

Nov 5, 2010

The basil is still showing some signs that it dried out last weekend, but it’s growing and doing well otherwise. The system has been running very well all week. The only maintenance that had to be done was the addition of one pint of water.

day 5

Over the weekend our system ran dry. The hole in the bottom where the electric cord comes out from, had began to leak. I learned that acrylic silicone caulk is not waterproof, it will dissolve when immersed in water. I custom made a rubber plug to fix the problem the cord now goes through the rubber plug and the rubber plug seals the bottom of the pot. The system is now waterproof. The plants currently look dried out but I expect them to come back to good health.

Nov 1, 2010

Day 4

After a week since planting we checked the progress on our basil.

basil after 1 week

So far the visible roots are a brilliant white so they are healthy. No signs of mold or fungus. I decided to add 3 more seeds to each cup but this time instead of dropping them into the rockwool holes, I just placed them on top of the cubes in hopes that the dampness would help them sprout. The water level was still near the same level as when originally filled so there had been no significant evaporation.

As you can see, a small sprout has grown in the center of the rockwool. Of the 6 cups we had planted, 4 have germinated to visible results above the surface level of the rockwool.

~J. Schlick

Day 3

We started gathering parts to create our system. However, we were not definite on how our system was going to work. We wanted to incorporate a water pump into our system so we could have a fountain effect to help aerate the water. We also decided to use a clay planter pot due to its neutral PH and an acrylic bowl that we could easily monitor progress. They would be modified to stack together and create 2 water chambers with the pump cycling water to the upper chamber. Several holes would allow for water drainage from the top chamber to the bottom chamber. The pump would be submerged and connected with a hose to the sprinkler. Our water pump rates on average 180 gph but does not spout very high as of yet. We may need a slight adjustment on the hose diameter to increase strength. We have yet to decide how to support the plants.

~J. Schlick

Day 2

Hydroponic Basil was what we decided to grow in our future system. We made this decision because growing basil requires some time to plant the seed and wait for it to sprout enough to transplant. This would give us time to build our system in the meanwhile.

We decided to use rockwool cubes. I’ve used these before to sprout basil and then transplant to dirt so I was familiar with the process. They usually take at least a week or two under normal conditions before they are big enough to transplant. I took 6 small 3 ounce plastic cups and labeled them 1 through 6. I placed  one rockwool cube per cup and filled to the rockwool surface level with water from a freshwater fish tank figuring it may contain small amounts of

algaecide chemical and ammonia from the fish. I placed 4 basil seeds inside the center hole of each rockwool cube. I then took a plastic bag and some tape and fashioned lids for the cups.I placed the cups high on a shelf to be heated by the rising hot air of the room to simulate a warm humid environment.

Meanwhile, we decided to try and grow basil in soil as well. I wetted a paper towel and placed a small amount of seeds in the folds. My intent was to get the seeds to wick the water and begin to open. This is how I normally start them for soil growing. However after 5 days of sitting on my kitchen counter there was no change. I concluded either the seeds may have been faulty or the room temperature was just too cold at home.

~J. Schlick

Day 1

We had begun our development session by addressing the design criteria and features that we wanted. We needed the hydroponics system to be small, transportable, and nearly self-sustainable. But we also wanted something visually appealing enough that could be treated as a decorative desktop or windowsill object.

After several design ideas were addressed, we had narrowed our options down to 4 possible systems. A water culture system, an aeroponics system, a nutrient film technique system, or a wick system. They were sketched with basic design concepts but we were not quite sure what was the best option. More research was needed.