Greens on floating raft - failure

My last experiment also regretfully failed. After being replanted into hydroponic system plants significantly withered.

Seeking for a reason of my failures I checked pH level of fertilizing solution. Test showed value of about 8. I was quite surprised with such a fast rise of pH level of solution. By adding some vinegar I adjusted acidity of solution back to 6. But when I checked pH level next morning it was 8 again. I repeated procedure of adding vinegar next 2 days in a row and both times next morning pH level was 8. I decided to check pH level of clay to find out if it is the cause of my problems. I put a handful of clay into 1 l of water for half a day and checked it's pH afterwards. Result of this test was 8 although in the beginning it was about 6. It became clear that clay was guilty in my previous failures also. I decided to use more neutral substrate for my following experiments. Most probably it will be coco-coir.

Зелень на плавающей платформе - неудача.

К сожалению последний мой эксперимент также потерпел неудачу. После пересадки в гидропонную установку растения заметно увяли.

В поисках причины неудачи, я измерил уровень pH питательного раствора. Тест показал значение около 8. Я был удивлен столь скорым изменением уровнем pH раствора. Добавив уксус, вернул кислотность до 6. Когда я измерил pH раствора на следующее утро, тест снова показал 8. Я повторял процедуру с добавлением уксуса еще 2 дня подряд, и оба раза на следующее утро уровень щелочи в растворе сильно превышал допустимый. Я решил проверить уровень pH керамзита, дабы понять, не в нем ли проблема. Поместив пригорошню керамзита в литр воды, оставил их на пол дня, после чего измерил pH воды. Тест показал значение около 8, хотя изначальный pH воды был около 6. Стало ясно, что керамзит был причиной неудач и в предыдущих моих экспериментах. Впредь я решил использовать для экспериментов нейтральный субстрат. Скорее всего это будет кокосовый торф.

Zaļumi uz peldošās platformas - neveiksme.

Arī pēdējais mans eksperiments diemžēl cieta neveiksmi. Trešajā dienā pēc pārstādīšanas hidroponiskajā iekārtā stādi manāmi panīka.

Meklējot neveiksmes cēloni, izmērīju šķīduma pH līmeni. Tests parādīja vērtību ap 8. Biju krietni izbrīnīts par tik ātru pH līmeņa paaugstināšanos. Ar etiķa palīdzību atgriezu šķīduma skābumu uz 6. Kad izmērīju šķīduma pH nākošajā rītā, tas atkal bija ap 8. Atkārtoju procedūru ar etiķa pievienošanu vēl 2 dienas pēc kārtas, un abas reizes no rīta šķīdums bija pārlieku sārmains. Nolēmu izmērīt keramzīta pH, lai saprastu, vai tas ir pie vainas. Atstāju sauju keramzīta litrā ūdens uz pus dienu, tad izmērīju ūdens pH. Tests parādīja vērtību ap 8, lai gan sākotnējais ūdens pH līmenis bija ap 6. Kļuva skaidrs, ka keramzīts radīja problēmas arī manos iepriekšējos eksperimentos. Turpmākajiem eksperimentiem nolēmu izmantot neitrālāku substrātu. Visticamāk tā būs koko-kūdra.

Greens on floating raft under LED-light

Finally I've received my order consisting of LED bulb. This is how LED bulb with red and blue diodes and 15W power looks like:

Wasting no time I prepared my self-made floating raft hydroponic system and filled it with fertilizing solution same amount and concentration as I described in my previous post. For this experiment I used basil and lettuce plants which grew in turf on my window sill.

After washing roots carefully I replanted basil and lettuce plants into pots filled with clay and installed them into hydroponic setup. After that I hanged LED-bulb above plants and switched it on.

Now I'll watch how my plants will develop. I hope that this experiment will be successful!

Зелень на плавающей платформе под LED освещением

Наконец то я получил долгожданную посылку с LED-лампой. Вот как выглядит лампа мощностью 15W с диодами красного и синего спектра:

Не теряя даром времени, я подготовил свою самодельную гидропонную установку с плавающей платформой и наполнил ее питательным раствором как описывал в предыдущей записи. Для эксперимента использовал саженцы базилика и салата, которые вырастил в торфе на подоконнике.

Осторожно промыв корни, я пересадил саженцы базилика и салата в стаканчики с керамзитом, а их, в свою очередь, поместил в гидропонную установку. Над установкой подвесил приобретенную лампу и включил ее.

Теперь буду наблюдать за тем, как саженцы приживутся. Очень надеюсь, что в этот раз эксперимент удастся!

Zaļumi uz peldošās platformas zem LED apgaismojuma

Beidzot esmu saņēmis ilgi gaidīto sūtījumu ar LED-lampu. Šādi izskatās 15W jaudīga lampa ar zilās un sarkanās gaismas diodēm:

Netērējot lieki laiku, sagatavoju savu paštaisīto hidroponisko iekārtu ar peldošo platformu un iepildīju tajā barojošo šķīdumu tā pat, kā aprakstīju savā iepriekšējā ierakstā. Eksperimentam izmantoju bazilika un salātu stādus, ko izaudzēju kūdrā uz palodzes.

Uzmanīgi noskalojis saknes, pārstādīju bazilika un salātu stādus glāzītēs ar keramzītu un ievietoju tās hidroponiskajā iekārtā. Virs iekārtas piekarināju iegādāto LED-lampu un ieslēdzu to.

Tagad vērošu, kā zaļumi ieaugsies. Ļoti ceru, ka šoreiz eksperiments izdosies!

Lettuce on floating raft

I didn't write for a while because of massive amount of work and health problems. Therefore this time I'll briefly describe my experiment of growing lettuce hydroponically in floating raft system, also its results and conclusions.
3 days after planting lettuce seeds germinated. At this point I realized my first mistake. Every "How-to germinate lettuce seeds" manual I've read advised to water turf first and plant seeds afterwards. In a hurry I did it in wrong sequence - at first planted seeds and watered them afterwards. As a result in few cells I washed seeds too deep and they didn't germinate, in few other cells they moved and germinated too close to a wall of a cell.

I took a cover off my mini-greenhouse and left my lettuce sprouts to grow on a window sill under sunlight. They grew well. This is how they looked after a week:

In about two weeks lettuce sprouts grew big enough to be replanted into my hydroponic setup.

I put my floating raft hydroponic system near a window, turned its aerator on and filled tank with solution. I used Vito 1 liquid fertilizer dissolved in water in recommended proportions for this experiment. I had to adjust acidity of solution by adding a bit of vinegar to lower pH level above 6.

After filling approximately 20 l of solution into a tank I put a foam rubber raft on a surface.

Then I started replanting lettuce sprouts to clay. I took them very carefully out of turf and washed roots under running water.

Holding lettuce sprout above a pot so that its root hangs inside I carefully filled clay.

At this step I realized my second mistake. Clay granules were too big for such a little sprout. It was very hard to make lettuce sprout maintain vertical position. Next time I will use smaller granules.
As I finished replanting pots with lettuce sprouts were installed into floating raft hydroponic system.

Next weeks brought me problems. First of all - direct sunlight reached my sprouts through a window just till noon. Another half of a day they received reflected light only. Second problem started day after I replanted sprouts into clay. Sky became very cloudy and long raining period started. The sun was very rare guest whole next month and sprouts desperately lacked sunlight. In a week they grew just a tiny bit.

Whole next month was cloudy and rainy. This is how my lettuce looked like by the end of it:

One plant died and was thrown out. Others were very weak. Leafs were very pale, thin and brittle. Instead of growing upwards they just lied on raft.
I concluded that my experiment failed. It became obvious for me that I never should rely on natural factors while growing in artificial circumstances. Next experiments are pointless without artificial light. I ordered led-lamp with 36 blue and 90 red diodes and 15W overall power. Next experiment will take place after I receive my order. I believe that light will bring me success.