Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

Everybody saw this coming.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

After roe, women are no longer free.

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

T R E 4 5 O N

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

“Squeaker” McCarthy

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Let’s finish the job.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Hydroponics As Fashion Accent

Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Hydroponics As Fashion Accent

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Not sure it’s liable to make a serious dent in anyone’s food budget, but I can totally imagine hydroponic plants as air fresheners/CO2 filters. From the Washington Post:

The International Space Station and your 500-square-foot studio have more in common than you might think: Both environments are a great place to experiment with hydroponics…

Gene Giacomelli, a professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering at the University of Arizona and director of the Controlled Environment Agriculture Center, said that for those interested in commercial agriculture, incorporating hydroponics into large-scale production seems the way of the future. But is it possible to create a hydroponic system at home?

Absolutely, Giacomelli said.

“If you understand the fundamentals, what the plants need, and you have some practical use of tools, it can be just a kiddie pool filled with water and a floating piece of Styrofoam board with holes cut in it,” he said.

There are six kinds of hydroponic systems, the most basic of which is called a deep-water culture. This is what Giacomelli is referring to. It’s essentially a container of nutrient-filled water, with plants floating on top of it. You’ll need an air pump to introduce oxygen into the water, but it can be simply made with Ikea storage bins, a foam cooler, a bucket or any other container, as long as it sits in a place that gets a lot of light…

… But who wants a bunch of buckets or foam coolers in their apartment? Michael Zick Doherty, a permaculture designer from California, said that once you’ve got the basics down, it’s easy to transform a hydroponic system into something that adds to your home decor.

He designs hydroponic systems by taking into account the surrounding environment, whatever it may be: architecture, cabinet color, kitchen tiles. He’s a fan of using innovative materials: On a research residency in Singapore, he experimented with systems made of clay.

“I think hydroponics has gotten a pretty negative image because they aren’t aesthetically pleasing a lot of the time,” he said. “I think it’s easy to take that next step. Even pipes: Something as simple as making a wood enclosure around them would totally change the feel of them. Find ways to obscure the more mechanical parts.”…

Beautiful doesn’t have to be expensive. Britta Riley is the founder of a social enterprise called Windowfarms, and its first designs used water bottles to create a similar window system. She started an open-source website, on hiatus for this summer, so designers all over the world could share their designs…

***********
Anybody here had any experience with hydroponics?

Apart from indoor water gardening, what’s going on in your garden(s) this week?

Reader Interactions

77Comments

  2. 2.

    greennotGreen

    I don’t grow hydroponically, but I do grow a lot of plants under lights. At our local brewing/hydroponics store a few years ago I bought a 150W Sunburst HPS light, and I love it! I use it for supplemental light for windowsill plants in the winter. Its bright, warm light looks and feels like sunshine, and it’s just excellent for dispelling winter gloom. And growing beautiful plants under it can be pretty cheering, too.

  3. 3.

    satby

    Good morning! I’m all moved though no internet access and a million boxes to unpack. The critters are all getting adjusted to the new place. And last night I actually slept 7 whole hours!
    Can’t wait to share gardening pictures next summer.

  4. 4.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    Around here, having hydroponics in your window might raise questions with the local constabulary.

  5. 5.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @satby: I planted some roses outside my window, lets see how long it takes the landlord(or his minions) to fuck them up. I give him 3 months.

  8. 8.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Gloom, despair, agony on me,
    Deep dark depression, excessive misery.
    If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.
    Gloom, despair, agony on meeeeeeeee…..

    Tore something in my right shoulder yesterday while tightening a screw. Tightening a fucking screw. Woke my wife up at 4 am with strangled screams from trying to put my pants on in another room. My fucking pants. I’ll be calling the surgeon on Tuesday. Until then I still have plenty of V!cod!n left over from last winters broken ankle.

  15. 15.

    p.a.

    @OzarkHillbilly: why is it always on a holiday weekend? Extra day wait to see your pcp, or a 10 hour ‘visit’ to an understaffed er. Yech.

    2 of my 3 bell pepper plants (they’re each 20′ apart) have been hit by pepper maggot fly. Damn.

    Also too, good morning!

  18. 18.

    satby

    @OzarkHillbilly: oh man, shoulders are the worst. Sorry to hear that! I know everyone says to ice it, but when I ruptured the tendon ice was agonizing and heat felt better. Hope it’s not as bad as it sounds when you finally see the doc.

  20. 20.

    satby

    @Baud: Thanks!
    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I have to try to sneak back and get my iris plants and some bulbs. I’d love to lift the surviving roses too. They’re probably going to demolish the house, the sagging front wall is getting worse.

  23. 23.

    MomSense

    @satby:

    Hooray!!! You did it. Take your time unpacking. I just did a deep cleaning on two rooms yesterday and it makes me feel like I’ve moved to a new house. Going to do two more today.

  24. 24.

    Immanentize

    @Raven: Tech eaked it out yesterday. I thought Dublin would give BC home field advantage. Where was the IRA when they needed ’em?

  25. 25.

    ThresherK (GPad)

    @OzarkHillbilly: Hope you feel better. Yesterday I had to lift Spousal ThresherK off a foot-high sitstool as her knee-even with her walking stick and brace-couldn’t do it.

    Vaguely related to topic: Preparing to make a cheap joke about Seaman 2021’s kelp farming, I find in the 16 years since its premiere that kelp farming has become a real thing.

  26. 26.

    MomSense

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I’m really sorry, OH. You’ve had too much lately. Shoulders are amazing, sophisticated joints which is why they can go so wrong. I hope you can get some relief.

  28. 28.

    donnah

    Hurt your shoulder when tightening a screw? Pretty weak story, not likely to garner sympathy. Tell everyone you hurt your shoulder when you carried a woman from a burning building instead.

  29. 29.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    Flashback!

    Hydroponic gardens and forests
    Glistening with lakes in the Jupiter starlight

  30. 30.

    Immanentize

    For everyone who is in or can make it to the Boston area — I went to Tower Hill Botanical Garden (Worchester County) yesterday for their tomato fest. Besides getting to sample all sorts of cool tomatoes (Indigo Rose and Moonglow being new favorites) we got to see the new Patrick Dougherty stick work installation.
    His sculptures are amazing! And there will be a second one at Holy Cross College. Very rare to get to see two so close together. They are so beautiful and organic — made out of local saplings that are stripped of leaves and woven. So cool.

  31. 31.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    @Immanentize: Dougherty’s work is amazing. Cape Fear Botanical Garden has a small number of his stickwork figures. Blown away, I was. Anyone who has a chance should experience them.

  32. 32.

    Immanentize

    And speaking of hydroponics, I am sure that people know about the Highline park in NYC — built on part of an old elevated train track. Well I learned yesterday that NYC is also building the “Lowline” as well which is a huge garden space built on an abandoned subway track.

  35. 35.

    MomSense

    I grew Cherokee Purple tomatoes this summer and they are delicious. We’ve been eating tomato salads every night.

  36. 36.

    Immanentize

    @Comrade Scrutinizer: We were totally agog. This one is called “The Wild Rumpus” and so aptly named. Kids were just running madly in and out, playing hide and seek, screaming with glee. It touched them instantly were it was placed in the woods. For me it looks like a moving twiggy van Gogh. Amazing.

  39. 39.

    Immanentize

    @MomSense: I haven’t tried that type yet. I’ve got so many tomatoes right now. I think I will do crab-stuffed Rutgers tomorrow night. I love this moment of garden success

  40. 40.

    Monkeyfister

    @greennotGreen: The new LED lights are fantastic. No heat, all the light. I overwinter all my cooking herbs. TaoTronics UFO Led Grow Light, 90W works really well.

  42. 42.

    Monkeyfister

    Hydroponics isn’t hard, but it does take a LOT of not-tap water. pH and mineral content ppm can be a bit fussy to get set up initially with tap water. I ended up buying gallons and gallons of distilled water, and that gets expensive when trying to grow veggies. The H2OtoGro® Hydroponic BUBBLER System #4 ~ 16″x12″, 6 site from Amazon is good as a starter kit. Buy a digital pH meter, as the strips are fussy and not accurate enough. Buy a digital ppm meter, too. Fox Farm nutrients are the best, IMHO.

  44. 44.

    Hillary Rettig

    @Baud: I love the word!

    Has anyone else been on the tour that Epcot used to give of its hydroponics? This was many years ago so it (the tour) might now be defunct. It was kind of a weird outlier on the rest of the park and not many people have heard of it–but it was fascinating.

    Also love freight farms.

  45. 45.

    Monkeyfister

    Oh. Those clay balls that are used in hydroponics? Wash the living HELL out of them, and then soak them in vinegar overnight. They will screw up your pH/ppm SO badly if you don’t get them clean and adjusted. Nobody tells you this, and you’ll think everything is fine and in range. Come back an hour later and pH is up over 8, and no amount of pH Down will keep it down. Plants don’t like that pH slingshot at all.

  46. 46.

    OzarkHillbilly

    A couple years ago I went to an Aquaponics demonstration put on by a local farm. An interesting concept tho I am unsure of it’s energy efficiency. It was the inspiration behind my wanting to build the greenhouse that it seems will never get built.

  48. 48.

    Doug R

    @OzarkHillbilly: You know those 5 foot high concrete steps a lot of houses have at the front door? Took a tumble off one of those chasing a cat. Scraped my knee and separated my right shoulder. At least I didn’t hit my head. Happened in January, took until April until I was full speed at work. My right shoulder still doesn’t look right and I do exercises every work day to keep it in place, but at least I have a full range of motion now.

  51. 51.

    AMinNC

    I actually own a retail gardening business, and hydroponics is part of what we sell. We frequently have a small simple system running in our house for greens and basil all winter long. It is pretty simple, once you get some basic knowledge about pH and proper nutrient levels. As with most things, you can make this hobby as expensive/complicated or as simple/cheap as you want.

  54. 54.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Doug R: A buddy of mine has a shoulder that pops out on a whim. One time he was way back in a vertical and very physical cave where rescue is just not an option when it decided to separate. A half hour of fear and desperation followed before they finally managed to get it back in place.

  55. 55.

    chopper

    @donnah:

    this is BJ. wrecking your shoulder while turning a screw fits in just right with the bloghost’s crazy injuries.

    OH, I’m sorry to hear you pulled a Cole.

  56. 56.

    Monkeyfister

    @greennotGreen: HPS amber is kinda nice on the eyes. The LEDs I have are SUPER pink. When you look away from the growing area, everything turns its compliment green for a few seconds. Trippy.

  57. 57.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @donnah:

    Tell everyone you hurt your shoulder when you carried a woman from a burning building instead.

    Nobody would buy it. I would be the guy selling marshmallows.

  60. 60.

    ruemara

    @OzarkHillbilly: I’m very sorry. That’s no good at all. Quick healing to you.

    @satby: Congrats on the move and a speedy resettling.

    I’m going to get going on breakfast, laundry and doing some of the spillover work from trying to transition this old job to a new one.

  61. 61.

    JR in WV

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Dude, sorry to hear about your shoulder. I learned to always use a screw gun for screws long before I got new shoulders installed. In fact, I bought a new one for the camp in Arizona, and just left it out there. Milwaukee. You can even get large batteries for them that last twice as long.

    I always try to keep that last bottle in case something gets hurt…

    Be careful. I’m selling my PU truck, I’ll just hurt myself if I keep it. Pretending that I’m still able to work like I wasn’t an old worked for years, but now I really am. First I gave up plumbing. I still mess with little stuff, but probably shouldn’t. I should flea market my tools, that would be safest.

  62. 62.

    JR in WV

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I quit caving when my back started give me fits. Spending 3 days lying on my back waiting for it to stop hurting OR waiting for a rescue team to bring in a stokes stretcher was not appealing at all. So decided to just stop. Not fair to rescue teams to go in harm’s way when you know something is likely to go wrong.

  64. 64.

    hovercraft

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    I’m sorry about your shoulder. Tightening a screw, Damn!
    At least you had meds on hand, the fact it was from a broken ankle, not so good.
    You to be a little more careful as you traverse the earth, I’m beginning to sense John Cole tendencies towards bizarre mishaps. Weasels, now screws, just saying.

  65. 65.

    jnfr

    I already murdered one of our two zucchini plants as we were getting overrun with zukes. Today I plan to kill off the other one. We have a refrigerator drawer full of zucchini and there’s half a dozen more on the plant. We can only eat so much zucchini bread and ratatouille.

  69. 69.

    Ruckus

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    Used my shoulder as a bumper stop on a truck once. Of course the truck was moving at the time. Not to bring you down but that got me 6 months of PT, which didn’t help, surgery, 6 months of PT, which did. But 20+ yrs later I’m still having issues. With the other shoulder.
    Hope yours is just a pain that goes away.
    Getting old is a bitch isn’t it? Insert old saw here, Beats the alternative.

  71. 71.

    Gelfling 545

    @Hillary Rettig: we went on the tour last spring. We went mainly for me but turns out everybody else was fascinated too, even the grands ages 5, 7, 7, 8 & 16 at the time.

  74. 74.

    satby

    @Elizabelle: Boomerang Bubba is doing well. All five dogs now share the basement, and everyone rushes me to be first to go out. A dog run is next on the agenda! It is getting better, it’s day 2 and they now know they need to take turns.

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