Small Hydro Garden

We have a couple of the seedlings falling over.  I'm adding filtered water at pH 5.7 to the Rockwool.  Will update on progress.

 Day 13 seedling:

We finally have seedlings.  Method 1 has a 7/7 success ratio while Method 2 only has 2/5 success ratio.  I have not added any extra nutrients or water besides the pre-soak I gave the Rockwool.  Both seedlings are around 2.5" tall. 

Next steps:

• Spray with Sugar Daddy/Root 66 topical solution
• Montor Progress

Read about Method 1 and 2
Read Ariane Hybrid Pepper pre-soak

Both Methods:

Method 1:

Method 2:

Side view (Method 1 near):

Top View (Method 1 near):

I have received about 20 dormant Chandler Strawberry  roots from Isons Nursery & Vineyard.  I'm a huge fan on strawberries and I would love to see them succeed in my hydroponic garden.  I've done little to no research around growing strawberries hydroponically, so I'm learning and researching on the fly.  (or fry?)

I've never seen dormant strawberries so I wasn't sure what to expect.  They're basically as advertised, roots with a crown.  There is quite a bit of dirt residue on the roots which will have to be cleaned as best as possible so I don't create a huge mess inside the reservoir.

Roots from packaging:

Close ups of roots:

Single plant:

We are on day 3 of the Ariane Hybrid Pepper germination process. As expected, I don't notice any seedlings starting to sprout up. The rock wool is still very moist and the humidity dome has accumulated a lot of moisture. I'm not making any adjustments, hopefully we have results soon.

Today I'm placing the Ariane Hybrid Pepper seeds in Rockwool placed inside of a propagation tray and insert with a humidity dome. The propagation tray in insert will sit on top of a seedling heat mat which heats up to 10-20F above ambient temperature.

I have started the seeds off with two different methods (well, one only):

Method 1 (7 seeds):

• Soak the seeds in a glass of water for 24 hours
• Placed the soaked seeds in a moist paper towel for 3 days

Method 2 (5 seeds):

• No preparation

Method 1 seeds never germinated within the paper towel.  This may be cause the temperature was too low or the paper towel got too dry.  None-the-less, I hope they'll still germinate within the Rockwool cubes.

1. All seeds are placed within Rockwool cubes with B-1 Red for 24 hours
2. Before placing seeds in the Rockwool cube, I made the factory created hole a little and bigger and deeper with a toothpick
3. Place seed in Rockwool
4. Gently cover up hole in Rockwool with a clean toothpick
5. Place Rockwool cube in propagating tray

To increate humidity within the propagation tray, I poured water within the bottom tray.  Heat generated from the seedling mat should cause the water to evaporate, creating an environment of nearly 90%.

Rock wool cube that has just received seed: 

Rockwool cube after seed is covered up: 

Tray with Rockwool cubes 

Propagation tray equipment:

Buy seedling heat mat (Highly recommend):

In preparation for germination the Ariane Hybrid Pepper seeds, I have started to soak Rockwool cubes in Thrive Alive B-1 Red.  In accordance with Technaflora's Recipe for Success, I performed the following steps:

1. 4 liters of purified drinking water in a bucket
2. 12.5 ml of Thrive Alive B-1
3. Adjusted pH in solution from 7.1 to 5.7
4. Placed 20 new Rockwool cubes
5. Rockwool cubes will soak for 24 hours before receiving seeds

Rockwool cubes soaking in bucket 

B-1 Red Analysis (Image Source) 

Purchase Thrive Alive B-1 Red

I have received a 20 pack of Ariane Hybrid Pepper Seeds from Tomato Grower Supply.  For the sake of experimentation, I'm going attempt to germinate the seeds with using two different methods.

Method 1 (7 seeds):
Soak the seeds in a glass of water for 24 hours
Placed the soaked seeds in a moist paper towel for 3 days
Place seeds in Rockwool cubes

Method 2 (5 seeds):
Place the seeds directly in Rockwool cubes

I'm using a different number of seeds for each method to simply help me easily keep track of the different batches.

Photo of Ariane Hybrid Pepper Seeds:

I have decided on a room in my house that should work well for an indoor garden.  There is access to fresh air (window) and an attic access port that I can exhaust air into.  The design of the new garden needs to mitigate any permeate modifications to the room.  The goal being to be able to disassemble the garden and have everything back to normal within a weekend.

The garden will be split into two different sections, separated a simple wall built with 2x4s and Black and White Poly from Sunleaves.  A tarp zipper on the ploy will easily make a door.  The two separate sides will allow for different lighting schedules.  18 on/6 off for vegetation and propagation then 12/12 on the other side for flowing.

The current flooring is carpet, which can be detrimental for an indoor garden as it provides a nice environment for certain mites and mold.  At this time, I'm unable to remove the carpet so I'll have to cover it up.  I plan on putting a continuous sheet of Husky 6mm plastic down underneath rubber exercise mats.

Walls will be covered with Black and White Poly from Sunleaves with the white size facing out for better reflection.  I will simply staple the poly to the wall through a piece of transparent duct tape.  The duct tape prevents the poly from tearing.

Fresh air will be gathered from the window (what better?).  I will lock the window in a fixed position with a 150µ screen over the opening.  A sub frame will be created around the window, sealed with caulk and rubber stripping, with a board containing 2 6" with ducting collars.  The 6" holes will allow me to run flexible ducting to both the veg and flower sides of the garden.

Air can easily be exhausted through the attic.  I have a basic square attic port.  I will create a new attic port will a piece of hardboard, drilled with 6" holes to accommodate ducting.

The room currently on (2) 120V 15A circuits.  For now, this should be plenty of enough power.
Progress to follow.

Rough diagram of room:

I've decided to go with the Ariane Hybrid pepper purchased from Tomato Growers Supply.  Why?  Well the pitch on the website was nice and I really like sweet peppers.  I've ordered the seeds and they should arrive in the mail soon.  I look forward to receiving the seeds.

I have decided to turn a room in my house into an indoor garden.  Even though I'm not an expert gardener, hydroponic systems have always peeked my interests.  With so many recent technological advancements and a multitude of configurations, any engineer could find interest with this hobby.

I have created this blog out of necessity to track information and progress with the garden and various plants contained within.  Understanding and tracking measurable parameters will help advance my knowledge and technique with gardening.  I thought about creating a log book, using excel, or even writing a simple app to contain the data.  Setting up the blog engine was really easy and, who knows, maybe I can help someone else or receive quality feedback on the direction I'm going. 

The entries will be fairly ad-hoc in the beginning as I'm not too sure exactly what I should track or how to log the information.  Once a formal process is in place, I hope to write a piece of software to facilitate my garden to provide a uniform view into progress and technique.

Thanks for visiting, please provide feedback/comments where you see fit.