I wanted to update the working model of the hydroponic garden. Those photos and pump stats at the end. First, the long quest to grow celery from seeds. These things are as thin as sewing thread.

It took twenty days to get the first celery seed to germinate and this morning was their time getting sun. I put up a tent made out of cheesecloth to keep them from being scorched.

These opened up about a week ago. They are a quarter of the size of a mustard seed!

I lost a couple of these when I just put them into the hydroponic system. I marked them and they never came up.

Then I got the next six sprouts out of the germinating ICU, put them in some moss and watched them for a week on my desk. Today, they had a bit of green on them so I planted them.

If you put the sprouts in moss only a half inch deep and spray them a couple times per day, a spoon works to scoop up the sprout and moss together into your hydroponic system.

They remind me of those wobbly legged chickens when they come out of the shell. They are so week and vulnerable.

The tent was not only to keep them from receiving straight sunlight. It was also to keep the sparrows from making a tasty snack out of them. I have six of them in the little tent.

Here is another of the sixlets that survived the day so far. I am still spraying them every few hours because they are at risk of drying out in the air.

I have celery growing. They are the ones that I just plopped in the ground with a smattering of rooting hormone. My idea is to grow things from seeds, if possible, in order to avoid the chemical treatments they undergo in commercial farming.

DIY Hydroponic System Update

As you recall , I had left you hanging in the #HiveDIY community. my build was complete but I had not run the pump yet.

When I did run it, it leaked where I put the little tube into the bigger one. It would have still gotten the water to where it was going, but I was loosing some onto the floor.

The way I resolved that issue was to make an adapter and it functions seamlessly. The pump runs for 15 minutes which pumps the reservoir out and I am experimenting with cycles. It runs every twelve hours for now.

I have also transplanted all of the smaller tomato plants from the old system. I want to see how they do before I try to move the larges most healthy ones. I am anxious to trash the old system, but I don't want to lose the tallest, thickest tomato plants.

The Drain

I made so it so that the reservoir can overflow naturally. See the black catch pan and the tubing that runs down to the floor drain. Now that this has been implemented, my floor stays dry even in the worst rain storms! No more mopping for me.

I think I will leave it there. If any of my plant related posts meet the DIY requirements, I will post them here. You can follow me across Hive and #proofofbrain to catch all of my posts. Have a great weekend all!