Since we've recently concluded the CO2Boost Study, there is a remarkable emptiness in the grow room.  We've in the process of preparing for our next round of experiments.  However, in the meantime, things look pretty bleak:

All three eggplants have been taken down to make room for new experiments.  One important thing to know... Some breeds of eggplant have thorns!  Black Beauty eggplant thorns are very unpleasant.  They are very tiny, hard to see, and very sharp.  You don't notice until they get you in the fingers.  They are surprisingly difficult to remove.  I highly recommend gloves.

It's surprising how much the eggplants weighed.  They were really quite large.  It took longer than I'd care to admit taking them down.  Also, I will confess that I didn't save the 6" net pots for reuse.  They were so embedded in the root system that extraction just wasn't practical.  The root system actually had to be "torn apart" just to remove the eggplants from the aeroponic units.  I felt bad taking down perfectly good plants; but sacrifices much be made...

On a lighter note, our MegaGarden provides something much more attractive for photos...

The strawberries are continuing to thrive. No complaints there.  We've removed a few of the new sprouts, as they've been moved to new homes.  In the left-hand corner you can see a herd of little lettuce sprouts.  The lettuce sprouts are about a week old, and they look quite happy and healthy.

As a followup to our earlier post... We've started testing STG (Sure To Grow). Our first-round test is very basic... We planted three types of plants (cantelope, basil, and tomato) to see how they germinated.  Thus far, it all looks like a success.  I'm much more impressed with this second generation product than the original Sure To Grow.  This new generation is more "dense".  It holds water more readily and is less likely to "float away" like the earlier generation.  We'll probably start trying some one-on-one comparisons with rockwool once we have some more room in the MegaGarden.

Everything looks really happy in it.  I'm pleased.  We'll post more in-depth opinions as we proceed further. 

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. 

Our first foray into outdoor aeroponics didn't end very well, and most of the blame resides squarely with me.  I'll admit that I put the young strawberries out into the cold world a few weeks too early.  We lost most of those first-round plants.  However, we did learn a few things from the experiment.

We have a few more strawberry plants now, and I thought it was time for a new experiment.  I've taken a single healthy strawberry plant, and placed it back outside in the tubular aeroponic unit.  Here's a photo of the little guy in his new home:

In the past, I've always heard that root-zone temperature is critical for strawberries to survive.  This experiment will serve as a test.  For reference, we've had a real streak of hot weather lately.  Our daily high temperatures are between 95 - 100F each day.  The water temperature is about 85F, as the reservoir is buried about 18 inches into the ground.  I'd like to see how strawberries survive with such a warm root-zone.  We'll find out shortly.  Admittedly, if they survive at all, they will likely require frequent hydrogen peroxide cycles to keep down the extra bacteria growth.

On to other issues...

Our "food" eggplant continues to thrive.  Here's a photo of one of the upcoming fruit.  None are ready for harvest yet, but about five are in the works.

The "food" eggplant has been great.  No complaints at all.  It's doing very well, living in the original DIY aeroponic unit.

Also, the CO2Boost Experiment is still underway.  At this point, both plants are roughly equal size (but different shapes).  It looks like the control plant will be the first to deliver fruit, but the supplemented plant isn't far behind.  Be sure to take a look for the latest updates.

Lastly, a brief discussion of our strawberries and their runners.  Here's a quick photo for reference:

That confusing jumble of strawberries actually serves a very valuable purpose.  Our Fort Laramie strawberries produce runners (much like any strawberry that I've ever met).  These runners typically don't find many places to root in a hydroponic system, so we give them a little assistance.  When we see a runner begin to produce roots, we place the little fellow into a rockwool cube.  We leave the runner connected to the parent plant until roots have fully formed (and begin to escape through the edges of the cube).  Once the runner plant has roots, it's strong enough to be cut free from it's parent plant.  The process is much easier than cloning, due to the naturally convenient habits of strawberries.

We've got a list of people waiting for the little fellows, and I expect that we should begin deliveries sometime in July.  The runners reproduce fairly quickly, and all seems to be going very well. 

I'll be the first to admit that this week's post is a complete digression from our usual discussion of indoor gardening.  This week, I've decided to mention something that doesn't get a lot of coverage around here... soil gardening.

Admittedly, we don't do a lot of soil gardening anymore.  We've switched to almost exclusively hydroponic growing... With one notable exception.  We have a strawberry patch on the property.  It's fairly old at this point (about five years).  Additionally, the plants are very strong and rooted.  Most people don't think that strawberry plants can survive the winter; but this myth is highly overrated.  Our strawberries winter every year.  For reference, we live in Delaware.  Delaware is a small northern state.  Although our winters aren't Siberian, they certainly aren't Florida either.  Freezing temperatures are the norm, with lows in the single digits.

Valiently, our strawberries return every year.  We really don't make a lot of accomodations for them. They stay in place, uncovered, through the winter months.  The only real attention that the strawberries receive is some hydroponic nutrients and some sugar precursors (Sugar Daddy) to make the fruits sweeter.

Here's a recent photo of some of the fruit, taken by the wife:

Additionally, one more angle:

Do remember though... Soil gardening isn't without troubles.  Thus far, our two biggest problems are slugs and small dogs.  Our dogs have decided that they like strawberries, and sadly, our dachshund lives at exactly strawberry level.

A photo of the usual suspect:

Lastly, I've recently added a new article...   Wheatgrass Yield Calculations.  If you've ever wanted to know how much you need to plant; this one's for you.