The Fort Laramie strawberries continue to surprise me.  This week, they managed to do it twice.  Firstly, I'm proud to report that they have started flowering.  Secondly, I'm even more proud to say that they have already managed to self-pollinate.  Strawberries are already on the way.  It's remarkable.  They are just freshly out of dormancy, and they're already hard at work.  Take a look at the blooms on this fellow (the bottom one has already shed it's leaves and started a strawberry):

The plant pictured above is the largest and strongest of the batch.  However, this doesn't mean that the rest of the group aren't doing very well also.  Here's a quick photo of the rest of the MegaGarden:

I really can't wait to get the strawberries going outdoors.  At this point, I'm thinking that we may try it in about two weeks.  It it gets too cold, we can always bring them back indoors for a bit.

Also, our eggplant seems quite happy.  It's much larger than last week.  It seems to be taking well to the House & Garden nutrients that we've been feeding it.  Strangely, House & Garden recommends a relatively low PPM.  Regardless, I cannot argue with results.

We've steadily posting updates to the CO2Boost Side-By-Side Study, each and every morning.  It's just starting to get interesting.  If I had to choose, I'd say that the supplemented plant is starting to gain a lead.  It's slightly taller, but it's leaves are much fuller.  Perhaps the results will be more pronounced in the next week.  Here is a side-by-side from the last photo session (all study photos are taken on Sundays):

Lastly, we have a bit more exciting news...  I've been contacted by an LED manufacturer in China.  They have developed a new type of LED-based hydroponic lighting.  Thus far, they haven't made any claims about their product.  Rather, they asked me if I would be willing to perform a test.  I'm always willing to test new hydroponics gear.

I'd be overjoyed if their LED lights work well.  I'd love nothing more than a way to grow plants without such huge energy usage (at the moment, I've got (3) 400W systems and (1) 125W system running.  That's a lot of power.

Theoretically, LED's are the plant lighting of the future.  However, thus far no viable LED-based lights have been available.  Lots have been on the market, just none have worked very well.  I'm hoping that these fellows can break the streak. I'll post further updates when possible.