Admittedly, it's taken longer than expected to finish the new Do-It-Yourself plans for a homemade aeroponic unit. Today, I'm pleased to announce that the wait is over! Additionally, we've got our first challenge to the community. Read on for details.
I'm really pleased with how this project turned out. It's everything that I originally hoped. For those of you that missed the earlier posts, here's the history behind the project:
I've always been a fan of building your own gear. I build aeroponic units frequently. Based on some recent experiences with our TurboGarden (a 14 site unit built by Botanicare), I realized that a single site unit was needed. (We've recently had an eggplant grow much larger than expected. It displaced everything else in the TurboGarden, and is now a single plant in a 14 site system). Nobody manufactures single site aeroponics units. I wanted to design something that would be easy to build, inexpensive, and easy to care for over the long term.
I'm pleased with the results. I think you will be too. Check it out.
Additionally, finishing this project has given me an idea for the site... It's time for community participation. Anyone who builds an aeroponic system based on this design is welcome to send us a photo of their creation. We'll make a gallery of community-built systems somewhere on the site.
Since we're on the topic of building your own systems, I have another announcement for everyone in the Hydroponics Tuesday community. I'm not sure if it's fair to call this our first contest, but it's definitely a challenge to the entire community. A bounty, if you will...
If anyone in the community can improve on design of our latest DIY aeroponic system, it would benefit the community as a whole. If anyone has improvements to the design, send them into to me (with pictures, if you've got them). I'll set a reasonable ending date for this first contest... Say 04/15/2008. Whomever sends in the best improvements to the DIY Aeroponic System will be the proud recipient of some official swag from the Hydroponics Tuesday gear closet. Additionally, we'll publish all the good improvements on their own page, with credits. To everyone in the community... Fix my stuff, win a prize.
Ok. Back to business as usual. Our eggplant is the sole inhabitant of the TurboGarden. It's really doing quite well, with no signs of stopping production. We're still getting lots of little eggplants (it's a Bambino, the fruits are like ping-pong balls).
Depending on my lighting setup (with the pending rearrangement), we may be running several independent aeroponics systems for the several Black Beauty eggplants that are still young.
Here's the photo for this week:
| Plant | Type | Status |
|---|
| #01-#09 | Alexandria Alpine Strawberries | All of the Alexandria Alpine Strawberries were removed on 02/10/2008. They never had the life they deserved, as they were always overshadowed by the eggplant. |
| #12 | Bambino Baby Eggplant | This fellow has grown beyond all expectations. It's taken over the entire TurboGarden. The roots are massive. We've given over the TurboGarden, just to see how much more it can grow. |
| #18 | Black Beauty Eggplant
| This sprouting has been transplanted into a 6" net pot (with hydroton). Although it's still living in the MegaGarden, it's ready to move to an aeroponic system when it's large enough. |
| #19 | Black Beauty Eggplant | Surprisingly, this fellow is still lagging behind it's larger brother. I'm not sure what to do with it. It has yet to sprout secondary leaves, with no good explaination as to the cause. |
| #20-#25 | Alexandria Alpine Strawberries | A young batch of seedlings. I'm not sure their destiny at this point. We're awaiting the new Fort Laramie plants. |
Unnumbered Seedlings
| Black Beauty Eggplant
| We've planted 12 seeds for plants that will be used in an upcoming experiment. Planting date: 02/08/2008. Eggplants take a long time to germinate. They have not yet emerged. |