Hydroponic Systems Blog

Suppose you have saved your seeds from a prior year or you have some older 'store bought' seeds. Many times when planting such seeds only 60% may sprout. There is a more efficient way to go about this. Seed viability can be pretty much accurately determined before planting.

I think of a seed as a small factory just waiting for someone to flip the 'on' switch and start production. They are small airtight and sunlight proof capsules just waiting for heat and dampness to trigger them into production causing a seedling. Due to their complexity many things could go wrong making the seed unviable.

If air were to penetrate the seed casing the integrity of the 'seed factory' would be compromised and dampness would soon follow along with bacteria causing the seed to rot.

A foolproof way to check a seed for viability is to determine whether the seed casing is compromised. This can be done by dumping the seeds into a glass of water. The seeds that float are bad because air has penetrated the seed casing while the ones that sink are viable.

This is simple and extremely effective as a viability test. Using this method will give you a much greater rate of germination. Try it out ...

November 22, 2006 16:42 - Make a water fountain into a hydroponics garden

Have a water fountain in your home? I'm talking about a small mechanical-type waterfall or some kind of water fountain that pumps water up and over a rock or plate allowing the water to splash back down to the base of the fountain. If you do, you are very close to having a ready-built hydroponics garden.

To survive, plants need water, oxygen, light, nutrient and adequate temperature. A home water fountain fulfills 3 of these requirements: water, oxygen and adequate temperature. Water is recycled and aerated by splashing back into the base of the fountain so all you really need is a good light source and nutrient in order to have a hydroponics garden. Simply add hydroponics fertilizer to the water and position the fountain near a window or under artificial grow-type lights and you have a fully functioning hydroponics garden!

Of course you still need something to grow... In this case I would float plants in the base of the fountain allowing the roots to hang into the water. You can use small wooden platforms or pieces of styrofoam with a hole drilled through the middle of the float in which to insert a plant. What to plant? Lettuce or spinach would be perfect or any kind of low growing herb. I may just try this out myself...