Thursday (21-November-2019) — New Jersey

Indoor Hydroponic AeroGarden Farms 01-03 Week Nine (63 days) Update.

AeroGarden Farm 01, Left Tray, Day 63. Red Heirloom Tomatoes and Golden Harvest Tomatoes (seed pods from AeroGarden). Growth is still slow. One of the Golden Harvest tomato plants is about 3 inches tall, and has a few small yellow flowers. Reflectors didn’t seem to help much. At the last update (day 42), I cleaned the bath and replace the water (8.0 L rain water) charged with 16 mL of the Miracle Grow/AeroGarden plant food. New pH (6.24) and TDS (418 ppm). At day 54 pH (6.04), TDS (397 ppm). Added 8 mL Miracle Grow/AeroGarden plant food. New pH (5.90) TDS (580 ppm). At day 63 pH (5.86), TDS (597 ppm). Didn’t add any additional plant food. I don’t know what to think. Are these just very tiny tomato varieties? I will try to pollinate the small yellow flowers.

AeroGarden Farm 01 Left Tray at 63 days. Position 1-6 Red Heirloom Tomatoes. Position 7-12 Golden Harvest Tomatoes. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 400, 35 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
AeroGarden Farm 01 Left Tray at 63 days. Position 1-6 Red Heirloom Tomatoes. Position 7-12 Golden Harvest Tomatoes. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 400, 35 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

AeroGarden Farm 01, Right Tray, Day 63. A variety of lettuce plants (Red Romain, Deer Tongue, Paris Island, Black-seeded Simpson, and Red Sails (seed pods from AeroGarden)). At the last update (day 42) bath was too acidic pH (3.60) and TDS (804 ppm). I added 5 mL of buffer And 8 mL of the Miracle Grow/AeroGarden plant food. This brought the pH up to 5.99. At day 54 pH (3.79) TDS (695 ppm). Too acidic again. Added 4 mL buffer. New pH (6.10). At day 63 pH (4.47) TDS (509 ppm). Too acidic again. Added 2 mL buffer and 4 mL of the Miracle Grow/AeroGarden plant food. New pH (6.15) TDS (659 ppm). It looks like when the lettuce is in a robust growth mode, the solution becomes acidic. One of the lettuce varieties bolted, and has small yellow flowers.

AeroGarden Farm 01 Right Tray at 63 days. R03 Red Romaine; R02 Deer Tongue; R04, R06 Marvel of 4 Seasons; R05 Paris Island; R07, R09 Black-seeded Simpson; R08 Red Sails; R10 Dill; R11 Chives; R12 Genovese Basil. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 320, 35 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
AeroGarden Farm 01 Right Tray at 63 days. R03 Red Romaine; R02 Deer Tongue; R04, R06 Marvel of 4 Seasons; R05 Paris Island; R07, R09 Black-seeded Simpson; R08 Red Sails. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 320, 35 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

AeroGarden  Farm 02, Left Tray, Day 63. Mini-Jalapeno Peppers, Purple Super Hot Peppers, Red Fire Peppers (seed pods from AeroGarden) New Mexico Hatch pepper, Szechuan peppers. Growth is still slow, even after adding reflectors. One of the Purple super hot peppers has a tiny purple flower. At the last update (day 42) the bath was cleaned and and replace the water (8.0 L rain water) charged with 16 mL of the Miracle Grow/AeroGarden plant food. New pH (6.34) and TDS (400 ppm). At day 54 pH (6.16) TDS (405 ppm) so added 6 mL of the Miracle Grow/AeroGarden plant food. New pH (6.00) TDS (555 ppm). At day 63 pH (5.84) TDS (570 ppm), so no additions. I will try to pollinate the small purple flower.

AeroGarden Farm 02 Left Tray at 63 days. L01-L03 Mini Jalapeno Peppers; L04-L06 Purple Super Hot Pepper; L07, L09 Red Fire Pepper; L08 NM Hatch; L10-L12 Szechuan Chile pepper. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 35 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
AeroGarden Farm 02 Left Tray at 63 days. L01-L03 Mini Jalapeno Peppers; L04-L06 Purple Super Hot Pepper; L07, L09 Red Fire Pepper; L08 NM Hatch; L10-L12 Szechuan Chile pepper. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 35 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

AeroGarden Farm 02, Right Tray, Day 63. Romaine Lettuce (seed pods from AeroGarden). All plants are growing robustly but some developed brown tips. Several leaves harvested during the last two weeks. At the last update (day 42) the bath was too acidic pH (4.27) and TDS (459 ppm). Added 4 mL of buffer And 16 mL of the Miracle Grow/AeroGarden plant food. New pH (6.2) and TDS (760 ppm). At day 54 pH (4.20) TDS (222 ppm) so added 2 mL of Buffer and 20 mL of the Miracle Grow/AeroGarden plant food. New pH (5.80) TDS (720 ppm). At day 63 pH (3.77) TDS (369 ppm) so added 3 mL of Buffer and 7 mL of the Miracle Grow/AeroGarden plant food. New pH (6.00) TDS (525 ppm). With vigorously growing plants it looks like weekly, if not more frequent pH adjustments and plant food additions are required.

AeroGarden Farm 02 Right Tray at 63 days. R01-R09 Romain; Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 640, 35 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
AeroGarden Farm 02 Right Tray at 63 days. R01-R09 Romain; Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 640, 35 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

AeroGarden Farm 03, Left Tray, Day 63. Broccoli, and Swiss Chard (seeds from Botanical Interests). All Broccoli plants sprouted, but one is growing much faster than the others. The remaining Swiss Chard plant that was moved to position 10 is also growing robustly. The Kale in L07, L11 came from a different Farm tray and are fighting to find some light. At the last update the pH (6.45) was OK, but the TDS (215 ppm) was low. Added 15 mL of Root Farm Base (4-0-1) and 10 mL of Root Farm Veggie (1-5-7). The new pH (6.25) and TDS (788 ppm). Harvested some Broccoli leaves, and Swiss Chard leaves. At day 54 pH (7.19) TDS (810 ppm) so added 4 mL of acidic Buffer. The new pH (6.06) and TDS (810 ppm). At day 63 pH (7.37) TDS (362 ppm) so added 5 mL acidic buffer and 8 mL of the Miracle Grow/AeroGarden plant food. The new pH (6.60) and TDS (575 ppm). With these plants the solution becomes basic, so requires addition of an acidic buffer. Some of the leaves turned brown when the plant food concentration went too low, and need to be trimmed.

AeroGarden Farm 03 Left Tray at 48 days. L01-L03 Broccoli; L10 Swiss Chard; L11-12 Arugula. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 250, 35 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
AeroGarden Farm 03 Left Tray at 63 days. L01-L03 Broccoli; L07, L11 Kale; L10 Swiss Chard. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 250, 35 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

AeroGarden Farm 03, Right Tray, Day 63. Cauliflower and Arugula (seeds from Botanical Interests). Two Cauliflower plants are growing robustly (F03R01, F03R03). The Arugula plant in F03R09 came from a different Farm. The unused positions were all plugged. At the last update the pH (6.86) was a bit high and TDS (327 ppm) low. Added 15 mL of Root Farm Base (4-0-1) and 10 mL of Root Farm Veggie (1-5-7). The new pH (6.64) and TDS (824 ppm). At day 54 pH (7.26) TDS (950 ppm) so added 3 mL of acidic Buffer. The new pH (6.10) and TDS (950 ppm). At day 63 pH (7.56) TDS (460 ppm) so added 7.5 mL acidic buffer and 7.5 mL of the Miracle Grow/AeroGarden plant food. The new pH (6.00) and TDS (640 ppm). With these plants the solution becomes basic, so requires addition of an acidic buffer. Some of the leaves turned brown when the plant food concentration went too low, and need to be trimmed.

AeroGarden Farm 03 Right Tray at 49 days. R01-R03 Cauliflower; R10-R12 Kale; Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 640, 35 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
AeroGarden Farm 03 Right Tray at 63 days. R01-R03 Cauliflower; R10-R12 Kale; Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 640, 35 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
AeroGarden Farm 03 Left and Right Tray at 49 days. L01-L03 Broccoli; L10 Swiss Chard; L11-12 Arugula; R01-R03 Cauliflower; R10-R12 Kale. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 400, 35 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)
AeroGarden Farm 03 Left and Right Tray at 49 days. L01-L03 Broccoli; L10 Swiss Chard; L11-12 Arugula; R01-R03 Cauliflower; R10-R12 Kale. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 400, 35 mm, f/8, 1/80 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (69.4 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (31.9 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. More sun and warmer. Overall a net deficit of 37.5 kWh.

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Author: David Mathre

I am a scientist by training (Eckerd College, BSc; Caltech, Ph.D.). I worked for 27 years as a Chemist in the Pharmaceutical Industry developing processes to manufacture medicines for human and animal health. I now spend my time as a photographer and world traveler. My interests include the natural world, wildlife, landscapes, sky, and seascapes, travel, and astrophotography. I look for unique ways of viewing the world and presenting my images. I have traveled to over 55 countries in six continents, often on Semester at Sea voyages. While at home in New Jersey, I spend time on home renovation and expansion of a wildflower garden/meadow.

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