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