My Very Own Home Grown Cucumber!!!!! May 29, 2008
This may have been the very first aeroponic cucumber ever grew out of an apartment in Manhattan, and it was sweet, crunchy, and fabulously refreshing 
Jack and the Magic Beanstalk March 15, 2008
Now I know where the story came from…
Planted Monday February 18th, 5 p.m. in my homemade aeroponic system
February 28, 2008 (11 days)
picture: Left to Right, and Top Down
Purple String Bean
Cucumber
Patty Pan Zucchini
Yellow Baby Bellpepper
White Tomato
Chili Pepper
March 5, 2008 Update (17 days)
To give you a sense of the reality, Purple String Bean stalk is actually 10 inches tall!
very healthy plants and roots, roots picture taken while the fogger is going wild
March 6, 2008 Update (18 days)
A few major details:
1. The Metal Halide Light has to be hang at least 10 inches from the plants (otherwise, the plants get burned, I actually learn it the hard way…)
2. I give the plants 8 hours light a day so far, they seem to do fine with it.
3. I hook the fogger and air pump to the same timer, that goes on for 15 minutes, rest 15 minutes while the strong Metal Halide Light is on. And goes on only every 3 hours for 15 minutes, when the plants are sleeping. (and they do go to sleep! The leaves go downward, and close up, it is quite a sight!)
This so far works, I am not sure if this is how it is supposed to be, but through lots of observation and experiment in the past 18 days, this somehow makes the plants look very happy
March 9, 2008 Update (21 days, exactly 3 weeks)
The Purple String Bean is 15 inches tall now, it grew 5 inches in the past 4 days!
I have created a monster of a garden
March 15, 2008 Update (27 days)
Was going to wait until full 4 weeks to post pictures, but can’t wait any longer… there are flower buds everywhere right after I post last update! BTW, the Purple String Bean stalk is now 28 inches tall.
Purple String Bean flower bud
Patty Pan Zucchini flower buds
Cucumber flower bud
March 21, 2008 Update (33 days)
Female Flower (with an ovary!) of the Patty Pan Zucchini plant, first showed up about 5 days ago, now is finally large enough to be photographed.
Female flower??? I was very surprised when I found out that zucchini, along with cucumber, melon, pumpkin, luffas and squash…, are "monoecious." These plants have unisexual flowers where the male and female flowers occur separately on the same plant. Now that my "shaking the plant vigorously" technique will not work any longer, I was seriously thinking about bringing in a bee hive… nope, not that insane yet…
A funny article on how to pollinate zucchini flowers could be found on http://www.pumpkinnook.com/howto/pollen.htm
After reading Jason’s Guide to Indoor Organic and Hydroponics Gardening, I searched every store around my area, couldn’t find the most beneficial 35% hydrogen peroxide anywhere. A few sites carry them but the price is quite high or you have to pick up in store somewhere in CA… Finally found the one and only seller on eBay, selling the food grade 35% hydrogen peroxide, she is a fantastic seller also. If you like what you read on Jason’s Guide, look her up
My garden is truly a jungle now…
My Homemade Aerogrow Aeroponic System February 13, 2008
Pulling apart my Aerogarden, was quite surprised how simple it is… nothing more but a submersible water pump, same thing as my kitty water fountain.
After researching for a more advanced aeroponic (vegetation grows in 100% humidity air) system, was quite put off by all the high price tags, I decided to construct one from scratch. This is what I came up with:
*Growing Chamber (a black file tote from Staples for 13.99)
*FLOATING FOGGER (19.99 on eBay)
provides the humidity in the growing chamber
*AIRSTONE, AIR PUMP, & AIRLINE TUBING (2.99 + 9.99 + 1.99 from 3rd party seller on Amazon)
provides more oxygen to the roots for faster growth
*DIGITAL POWER CENTER WITH TIMER (24.99 from 3rd party seller on Amazon)
*HYDROTON & 3″ GROW BASKETS (9.95 on eBay)
HYDROTON®Growing MediaHydroton is the “expanded clay,” a lightweight gravel which is manufactured specifically for hydroponic cultivation. This media is the first choice for many commercial Dutch growers specializing in flower and vegetable cultivation. Not to be confused with many other kinds of expanded clay which look similar but which are often toxic, Hydroton is pH stabilized and releases practically no minerals into the nutrient stream; in other words Hydroton is almost completely inert - except for offering excellent moisture and oxygen capacity to stimulate healthy root development.
*GROW LIGHT
I got a high output 400w grow light system that uses both METAL HALIDE (blue light for seeding and cutting) and HIGH PRESSURE SODIUM (orange light for flowering and fruiting) light bulbs. There are lots of much cheaper lighting systems out there, Aerogarden uses only 32w fluorescent light bulbs, and things grow just fine. But I really want my vegetables to grow faster, I decided to invest on a good light.
update: These Metal Halide lights are really much better than the fluorescent lights, the plants don’t strech their neck toward the light like they do in Aerogarden — in Aerogarden, even when the lights are set very very close to the plants, they still move toward the light bulb itself, quite an unhappy sight…
These are all the parts you need!
———————————————————————————
NOW, COMES TO CONSTRUCTING THE AEROPONIC SYSTEM:
1. draw six, 2.8 inch circles on the cover of the file tote, cut them out with a box cutter (the only hard part… needs some elbow grease )
2. cut a little gap on the side of the file tote to allow airline and wire of the fogger to go through.
3. fill the grow chamber with 3 gallon of filtered water.
4. close the the chamber with lid, fit the baskets in the circles, fill in the hydroton with seed filled foam in the center. Plug everything, and grow away
I use General Hydroponic Maxi Series and FloraMato (Dry Concentrated Nutrient) for plant food.
My seeds from Burpee will arrive tomorrow, will keep you updated on the growth of my vegetables
Easygreen November 6, 2007
Love love love my Easygreen Sprouter, the best sprouter in the world (and believe me, I have and tried every sprouter there is! ) The chamber provides such perfect enviroment for the sprouts, it sprays water automatically with the set timer, no soaking, no rinsing, zip, nada… takes just 5 days to mature — everyday put in a tray, everyday you harvest a tray of sprouts. It is fantastic!
This is my favorite snack — Sprout Sushi Roll (with either vagan mayo, or raw cashew mayo) — it is really yummmm
My Aerogrow Cherry Tomato Garden
UPDATE!
THERE HAVE BEEN TOMATOES EVERYWHERE! (since I have been shaking the plants everyday to pollinating them, lots of tomatoes in the past months )
—— End of Update ——
I have officially gone even mader and got my THIRD aerogrow garden — growing Cherry Tomotoes with this one. Apparently, LouLou is as excited as I am!
Day 1 April 6, 2007
Two Red Heirloom seed pods in the back, and one Golden Harvest in the front, the rest are the plant spacers.
LouLou slept guarding the garden the very first night
Day 4 April 9, 2007
All three seed pods sprouted!
Day 5 April 10, 2007
6am, woke up seeing the most beautiful water drops on the tomato leaves… LouLou wanted to be in the picture too
Day 7 April 12, 2007
Second tier of leaves showed up this morning.
Day 9 April 14, 2007
Day 19 April 24, 2007
Came home from Dubuque to find my tomato plants growing quite tall!
Day 25 April 30, 2007
Home from Evansville to find my tomato plants another inch taller
Day 39 May 14, 2007
I can’t express how excited I was to find the first flower on the yellow tomato plant! Does this mean tomatoes are coming soon?
Day lost count… July 22, 2007
Since I don’t seem to do a good job pollinating the flowers, I have long given up on my tomato plants and let it grow wild — somehow planning on starting it all over again.
For the first time in a long while, besides watering them, I took a look, there it was, a tiny little green tomato! (pictured is about the real life size) Well, one is better than nothing — I can’t wait for it to turn yellow
My Homemade Seed Kit for AeroGarden June 30, 2007
30 days ago, when it was time to replace my lettuce garden after the final harvest, I started aching for more interesting things to grow.
Instead of getting the Aerogrow’s Master Gardener Seed Kit $39.95, I decided to make my own.
Found online a nice mix of French Mesclun Seeds include Chicories, Endives, Lettuces, Mache, Spinach, and Arugula at 1500 seeds/$4.40 and General Hydroponics’ Maxigro plant food 1.5 pounds/$11.95. Then I went to the local hardware store bought a long piece of foam — AC weather seal to be exact (pictured) that shall make about more than a hundred seed pods for $2.99. Cut them to fit the recycled seed baskets, made a gap for the seeds… Voila (only French word I still remember after a year of intense course at the New School… ) my home made AeroGrow Seed Kit!
So here is my new French Mesclun Salad Garden at 30 days young, I feel like I know each one of the plants. For the time spent researching, a few dollar saved, maybe a bit silly, but all that fun I had in figuring out the way was priceless
My Aerogrow “Lettuce” Garden April 1, 2007
I have officially gone mad and got my second aerogrow garden — growing lettuce with this one. Only in a day, one of them sprouted! Lettuce may be much easier to grow than herbs.
Day 2 February 21, 2007
Day 5 February 24, 2007
Day 9 February 28, 2007
Day 37 March 28, 2007
Day 41 April 1, 2007
This thing has turned me into a goat, I pick and chew on one lettuce leaf whenever I walk pass it. In case you wonder what that pink thing on the left is, it is a Hello Kitty milk shake maker
My Aerogrow Herb Garden
Day 1 February 6, 2007
Started my AeroGarden today at noon. It is a computerized aeroponic growing system — hard to resist for a foodie and high-tech junkie like me… I will post new pictures when the seeds sprout.
(the planted seeds are (back left to right) Mint, Italian Basil, Dill, Cilantro, (front left to right) Parsley, Purple Basil, Chives.)
Day 3 February 8, 2007
The Italian Basil has poked its head out… I had no idea how hard it is to photograph something that small — the tiny green thing in the middle is the sprout…
Day 4 February 9, 2007
There are a total of 5 Italian Basil sprouts today!
and 2 Purple Basil sprouts showed up too (only one is visible in the picture.)
Day 6 February 11, 2007
There are a total of 6 Purple Basil sprouts today
and 3 very very tiny Mint sprouts showed up too!
(the Italian Basil spouts are doing very well, they don’t look much different, just got a little taller.)
Day 7 February 12, 2007
The very first Dill sprout!
Italian Basil
Purple Basil (both Italian and Purple Basil have started to grow the second tier of leaves.)
The Mint sprouts are getting quite busy
Day 9 February 14, 2007
There are now 3 Dill sprouts.
The leaves of Purple Basil are getting quite purple
Italian Basil and Mint sprouts are not looking too different beside getting taller and taller.
Day 12 February 17, 2007
Starting to look like a garden
Chives all came out today.
Close up of the tiny little Parsley sprout.
Now only Cilantro hasn’et sprouted yet…
Day 15 February 20, 2007
the tiny Pasley sprout stays the same, and there is still no sign of Cilantro…
Day 19 February 24, 2007
still no sign of Cilantro…
Day 23 February 28, 2007
Day 29 March 6, 2007
Cilantro is not happening, Aerogrow’s customer service very nicely offered to send me replacement Thyme seed pod since most of the people have the same problem with Cilantro.
Day 42 March 19, 2007
Day 55 April 1, 2007
I’ve cut out boxes of Basil leaves, they grow faster then I can eat them! What fun
