This week, we see the close of the CO2Boost side-by-side experiment.  I'm surprised at the results though...  As it turned out, the control plant outperformed the supplemented plant.  Both plants were healthy, but the control plant was larger and produced more fruit.  For me at least, this seems counter-intuitive.  I would naturally expect that additional CO2 could only help a plant.  In theory, even if the CO2 generator weren't working at all, you would expect a more equal result.

I have one issue with the study, but no real way to resolve it.  A sample size of 1 is never acceptable in good science.  There could easily have been a genetic difference in the plants that accounted for the differences.  However, with with such a small sample size, there is no way to tell.  Realistically though, we have limited space and limited resources.  An "ideal" study would have contained several plants in each catagory.  If we're speaking about ideal comparisons, I would have joined all the plants to a single reservoir (to avoid the careful equalizing each day).  Additionally, I would add airtight CO2 containment for a more controlled environment.  Although these changes would improve the scientific quality of the study, they would carry with them some significant expense.

In other news, we have some preliminary results from our outdoor aeroponics experiment.  The perfectly healthy plant that we placed outdoors last week isn't looking so good anymore.  The water chemistry for the outdoor unit is perfect.  My theory is that an uncooled outdoor reservoir is simply too hot to support aeroponic plants in the summer.  Although our plant is still alive; it's not looking as good as it once did.

This example doesn't necessarily defeat outdoor aeroponics, but it does show the need for greater reservoir control that we have at the moment.   In our climate, we don't typically have long periods of 60-70 degree weather, so reservoir cooling would almost certainly be required for any degree of success.

Also, we have just been provided with a stock of sample products from STG (sure to grow).  For those of you unfamiliar with STG, they manufacture a line of seed starting mediums.  Some of their products are direct competitors to rockwool, others are new and unique (like their roll-mats for growing wheatgrass and such).  We're starting testing.  At the moment, we're attempting to germinate three different kinds of plants in their "starting cube" product.  If we meet with success, we'll try some direct comparisons against rockwool next. 

Lastly, we're working on an update to the do-it-yourself aeroponic units.  We're making a small multi-site unit.  Updates to follow.