Good news for us... Our new hydroponic gear has arrived.  We spent most of the weekend getting it up and running; but we're pretty pleased with the results.

Some of you may remember the MegaGarden from the previous posts.  It's the red square on the right side of the picture.  The MegaGarden is a compact ebb-and-flow system.  We've been very happy with it, especially for wheatgrass.

The new addition is the TurboGarden.  It's the larger white unit, on the left side of the picture.  The TurboGarden is an aeroponic unit.  Aeroponics is a really unique method for growing.  The plants sit in net pots (which rather resemble pool skimmer parts).  Rather than being "flooded" like the ebb-and-flow, the roots of the plant are continuously sprayed with nutrient solution.  The spray is fired from small jets underneath the pots.  Although I haven't yet proven the theory, the idea is highly oxygenated nutrient gives far superior results.  We'll have to find out with a few trials.

If you notice a large difference in color across the picture, you're very right.  Nothing is wrong with the camera.  The D80 is just fine.  We're running two very different lights over the two units, with very different appearances.  We run a 125W Compact Fluorescent over the MegaGarden.  It's particularly well suited for vegetative growth.  We're using a new Hortilux 400W HPS (High Pressure Sodium) bulb over the TurboGarden.  The HPS bulb has a very yellow light, as it's meant to support fruiting and flowering plants.  We hope to grow the wheatgrass and sproutlings in the MegaGarden, and grow the mature plants in the TurboGarden.

It took a long time, but I'm really pleased with the PVC frame that we built for the TurboGarden. I didn't want to put any holes in the ceiling, as this is a new endeavor.  The PVC light stand worked so well on the MegaGarden, that we decided to build a bigger and better one for the new unit.  It's all done with 1" PVC, no glue necessary.  We wanted it to be stable, be able to support the light, and be able to support plants as they grow.  If you notice the frame at the top... We'll be dropping plant supports from those as the plants grow.

This closer shot of the TurboGarden shows that it's still mostly empty.  We moved our baby tomato plants into the new aero.  They're the small green fellows.  I'll admit that we bought some strawberry plants from Home Depot (the dark green leafy ones).  I wanted to see some fruit in the near future, and it looked like an idea setup.  We removed them from their soil and washed their roots.  They seem happy in the substrate.  In theory, the warmer light of the HPS bulb should cause them to flower and fruit.  Only time will tell.  The 15 strawberry plants in the back yard are already flowering.  We ought to get a large crop from the outside bed alone.

This picture is a much closer view of the strawberry plants (foreground) and the baby tomato plants (background).  I hope the tomato plants are old enough for the aero.  We should know soon.  They seem happy at the moment.

We're still working through the aeroponic thing.  I'm still experimenting with the best methods for water change and fill.  The TurboGarden holds much more water than the MegaGarden, so it's going to be quite the learning experience.