Hydroponics – Signs of success

I continued my hydroponics experiment this year also and to my joy and surprise it worked! yeah it really produced fruits of success (wouldn’t call it fruits of labour as it was not required much) It was a passive hydroponics system the materials used were a 2ltr soda bottle, a net pot, hydroton, and ofcourse nutrients.

The net pot story is interesting, I was looking for a medium sized net pot for quite some time but could not find them in local gardening shops, So I made holes in plastic glasses using soldering iron, but I was actually fascinated by good looking net pots shown on the  internet.  One fine day I noticed a net pot like object on a household utility pull cart, I stopped and had a look, it was a tooth brush holder of exactly the size which was needed, I bought it for Rs. 5 and just cut off the elongated top portion which was meant for hanging the brush holder. The desired net pot was ready. Sometimes we look out and search and search for things which are easily available in surroundings.

Coming back to the signs of success. Have a look …

another angle.

This is the same long purple eggplant which I also grew in soil less medium.  though the plant size, number of fruits and the vigor were less than the formar, but still I am happy that I was successful in growing a plant hydroponiclly and which also produced fruits.

There is another hydroponic success story and it is a rose plant, yes you heard it correct. I bough this rose plant last year, it is a miniature rose variety which was blooming like crazy, but when it found a new home in my balcony it just didnt grow, when all my other rose plants were in full bloom this plant was not even showing signs of new foliage leave alone the flowers. I decided to experiment, I used a cover of a CD box (got this idea from internet), drilled holes abound 2 inches from the bottom filled it with hydrton and added mild nutrient solution, the area below the drilled holes became the reservoir, the plant started growing and flowered and now it been around 8 months and the plant flowers continuously.

Have a look:

This is the image of the plant when I had initially transplanted it in the passive hydroponic setup. See how weak and dull it looks. Apr, ’09.

It already had flowers in June, ’09.

This is the latest snap of the plant, see how many buds it has. Dec, ’09.

Now the update about the latest  plants which I have in hydroponic setup.

This is cabbage and tomato (F1 hybrid – Tumbler). – Few days after the transplant.

The cabbage plant, I changed the reservoir as the roots stared outgrowing the smaller one.

The tomato fruits have started setting in. Pics in next post.

This all inspired me to buy a timer device, to have proper active hydroponic system in place, before my cherry tomato, cabbage and chili saplings are ready for transplant.

The plant which you see at the top right corner of the starter tray is garlic, I have planted it in all my containers as it respells pests.

It has become a long post. Thanks for stopping by and showing patience for reading.

 

Tags: cherry tomato, egg plant, f1 hybrid, Hydroponics, hydroton, net pot, nutrient, passive hydroponics, tomato tumbler