We have some interesting news to report this week regarding our Phalaenopsis orchid. It's getting ready to bloom once more...

This is both interesting and mildly amazing.  It bloomed for almost six weeks back in March. Normally, we wouldn't expect it to bloom again quite so soon.  However, we've had great success with this little orchid.  I guess we shouldn't be so surprised.

For those of you that haven't heard the story... This orchid was nearly dead when we first got it.  We decided to "toss it" in the hydroponic tank as a last chance.  We didn't know if orchids would tolerate growing in a hydroponic system.  We gave it a shot, simply because the plant was already considered lost.  The little orchid really took to growing in our MegaGarden.  In fact, it's grown to be quite happy and healthy.  We've fed it a combination of Technaflora and House & Garden throughout it's life.  Both have been very favorable.  I can't site any scientific reason for the nutrient switch... I'm simply all out of Technaflora, but still have plenty of House & Garden in stock.

Here's a fresh photo of our little fellow:

Also, I've got a followup to previous posts... We've mentioned STG (Sure To Grow) in earlier articles.  STG is a relatively new lightweight growing medium.  They sent us some samples for evaluation, and we've been playing with it in the growing lab.

It's been long enough now that I feel comfortable commenting on it.  We've been trying it as an aeroponic medium using both cantaloupe and tomato as sample plants.  It's worked really well.  We didn't know how it would react in an aeroponic environment; so we tested it the old fashioned way.

I'm really pleased with the results.  It's stable, strong, and working very well.  Here's a photo from the base of our tomato plant:

The STG has kept the water contained nicely.  The top always stays very dry, and there isn't any sign whatsover of algae.  It's really working well.  The tomato was started in a "small block" (roughly rockwool sized).  Once it took root, the "small block" was placed into the center of a "larger block".  The plant expanded into the larger block.  Finally, we placed the entire larger block into a 6" net pot for the aeroponic unit.  We simply filled the remainder with their "loose fill" version of STG.  It plugged the gaps really well.  We're pleased with the results. 

We've got a lot happening this week, and even more on the way.  Let's get right to it:

I've posted two new articles this week.  The first one is all about our Hydrogen Peroxide in hydroponic gardening.  I hope it's of some help to all you with bacteria in your reservoirs.  Hydrogen Peroxide is a great way to perform a bacterial reset in your reservoir.  It  kills off all the bacteria in your water, then breaks down into water and oxygen.  It's really great stuff.  Check out our new article, Hydrogen Peroxide: The Bacterial Reset Button.

Our second article is a follow up on our do it yourself aeroponic system from a few weeks ago.  Since you're likely to want a light stand for your aeroponic system, I thought it would be a good idea to show you how to make one.  It's the most inexpensive way that I know, and will also provide support for your plants as they grow.  These two projects will give you a really solid growing system.  Additionally, it's the best way to grow "one big plant" in an aeroponic system.  As you may have seen in my photos, an eggplant has the capacity to grow quite large.  In my case, it conquered my entire TurboGarden.  In the future, I'll be growing eggplants in their own single-site units, as they tend to have a very large canopy.  I think the single-site aeroponic unit serves this need well (not to mention, I don't know of any single-site commercial units).

Also, we've done a bit of rearranging this week.  The whole hydroponics room got turned upside-down when we made room for the new aeroponic units.  Take a look at the new layout:

It took some work to make room for the new arrivals.  However, I'm overjoyed at the new layout.  You'll notice that there are two identical units on the far wall. This is going to be very important in the future.  We're going to start performing comparative side-by-side studies.  Since these units were built to be identical, we'll be able to perform some really legitimate comparisons.  Both units on the far wall are the do it yourself aeroponic system, with the matching light stand.  They are equipped with brand new lighting systems.  The lights consist of LumaTek 400 Watt Ballasts (capable of running High Pressure Sodium or Metal Halide) and HydroFarm Radiant reflectors.  We should be starting our first comparative grow in the near future.

Also, to make room, we moved the "nursery" to the other side of the room.  All the babies start out in the MegaGarden.  The MegaGarden is also the home of Jessawick's phalaenopsis orchid.  Take a look at the newly moved setup:

Since I've been getting a lot of emails from readers asking about the orchid, I thought I'd post a closer view...

Not all the flowers are open yet, but we're getting more by the day.  There is a fourth flower on the "back" side, but it's hard to see in the picture.  I don't have a particular time-frame, but I'd expect the rest of the blossoms to open in the next week or so.

In other news, things are happy and stable.  The eggplant is still a monster.  It's still dominating the TurboGarden, and doesn't seem to be slowing down.  It's about seven months old now, and it doesn't seem to realize that winter just isn't going to happen. Although I hate to admit it, I may have to kill off the eggplant in a few weeks.  Once my herd of Fort Laramie strawberries arrive, I may need the TurboGarden's 14 sites to be available.

Regarding the Do-It-Yourself department... I've been working on the PVC tube gardens once again.  I've almost finished a 14-site (10 foot) 4" tube.  I've managed to get it running using an ActiveAqua PU550.  In theory, I hope to use it for outdoor strawberries this year.  I think the long tubes are unwieldy, and would be hesitant to recommend them for indoor use (long and thin is really a pain regarding lighting).

I'm afraid that I won't be able to post the typical "overview" photos of the TurboGarden anymore...  The new layout of the room doesn't give me the angle with the camera anymore.  I'll need to invent a new angle for showing off the baby plants.

After a few months in the MegaGarden, Jessawick's orchid has started blooming.  I'm pretty pleased with it's progress.  It was in pretty bad shape before it started living in the hydroponic system, but it's quite strong these days.  Thur far, we have a single flower blooming, but more are on the way.  We've been using Technaflora nutrients in the MegaGarden for the last several months.  I've really grown to like Technaflora.  They stay "in solution" to a much greater extent than some other nutrients that we use.  Technaflora has certainly done right by our orchid.

We have a sample of Orchid Focus still sitting on the shelf.  I'd like to try it, but the MegaGarden is always supporting multiple plants.  We'll try it once we have an "orchid-only" setup.  No date set for that, as yet. 

I'll be adding plans for building a lightstand for the Do it yourself aeroponic system in the next week or so.  It all depends on how distracted I am with the PVC tube gardens.  In theory, I'll have a number of Fort Laramie strawberries on my doorstep shortly, and I'll need a home for them.

I'm reworking the design on the PVC tube gardens, to get better irrigation with the sprayers.  More on that once I figure it out...

Here's the photo for this week: 

This week's post is a bit of a diversion from our usual topics.  Don't worry, we'll get to the DIY later in the post.

We've been experimenting with growing orchids hydroponically.  For the last several months, we've been growing a phalaenopsis inside the MegaGarden.  Although this plant wasn't originally a hydroponic plant, we've had great success after the transplant.  Although we haven't talked about it much on the blog, I'd like to take a minute to mention Technaflora nutrients.  We've been experimenting with them in the MegaGarden.  The orchid has done really well with the Technaflora mixture (vegetative stage mix).  I like that the Technaflora stays "in suspension" more than other types of nurtients that we've used.  On the whole, I like Technaflora quite a bit.

The orchid in question has grown several new buds, and will be flowering in the near future.  It's also grown several new roots. Orchids typically don't grow all that quickly, but this one seems very happy.

We haven't truly "re-potted" it.  Rather, it still lives in it's originally wooden block.  The block itself is contained within a pot, which floods whenever the MegaGarden cycles.  We have had zero problems with mold, which actually surprised us a bit.  As always, remember that adequate air circulation is required, to eliminate standing water.

Regarding the pests mentioned last week (thrips and leafcurlers)...

The Neem oil has really cleaned up the problem.  Neem oil doesn't smell as bad as it's often accused.  We don't mind it at all.  In addition to the Neem oil mixture, we also applied some leaf stimulator (from House & Garden) to aid in the repairs.  We're pleased with the progress:

We've also started a group of Black Beauty eggplant seeds.  They don't have numbers yet, but they will be used in an upcoming experiment in the spring months.

Here's this week's overview photo.  It's just the eggplant in the TurboGarden at the moment: