As some of you might remember, I picked up a hydroponic garden set back in April.
It came from China and was half off at Walmart, but it had all of the features identified by America's Test Kitchen deemed desirable.
I started off with about fifteen different seeds to see what would happen.
Within three days, I had starts with my cherry tomatoes and basil.
Within a week I had about six or seven different herbs sprouting nicely.
Needing fertilizer, I went to my local plant store and they actually had hydroponic food available, so I was able to keep the sprouts alive.
I moved the cherry tomato plant into a pot outside so that the flowers could get pollinated by the bees.
Meanwhile I was able to begin harvesting fresh basil for omelets and pasta dishes.
Along with Basil, I had sage, marjoram, dill, rosemary, hot peppers, mint and radish.
The radish was interesting, it never formed a bulb, but it provided a steady stream of leaves for salads.
I could not get the peppers to pollinate using my trusty Q-tip, so I will start them again in the spring and move they outside with the tomatoes.
Overall, I was well pleased with my purchase, but the system did get infested with root mites, probably from the rain water barrel I used.
I am currently cleaning everything out and getting ready to do a second season.
The biggest surprise was the amount of water needed each week as the plants grew. I was adding close to a liter very 3-4 days.
I feed the plants once a week and everything seemed to thrive.
I was disappointed with a number of plants which did not germinate, but I probably did something wrong. I will see if that repeats with the second planting.
Have a great new year.
DAB
