#archerstem

Here's our data table showing the height of each kale plant we grew!

Today, we were happy to discover that both our systems were dripping consistently and the mint plants looked healthy.  However, the water levels in the gallon jugs of both systems were both significantly lower.  We remedied this by adding a half gallon of water to each system.  We also added one tablespoon of fertilizer to the system with fertilizer to ensure that the ratio of water and fertilizer was balanced.  Plants 1,3, and 4 maintained a consistent number of leaves.  Plant 6 experienced an increase in leaves and plants 2 and 5 decreased in leaves.  We will continue to monitor our systems closely.  Hopefully our plants will continue to thrive when we leave for Thanksgiving Break!

After assembling and turning on both of our systems yesterday, we checked on them today to find that the system with the nutrients was not dripping any water and the mint plants were dead.  We replaced the dead plants with new ones and we added an extra zip tie so that the tubing was further extended into the system and we then taped the tubing to the bottles to ensure that the water would have a straight passage.  We also closed the blinds to protect the plants from extreme sun.  We also added more water to water jug of the system.

-Chloe

This is what our mint seedlings look like today!  Mint has an estimated germination period of 12 to 16 days.  Our mint has exceeded the 16 day period and although the mint has improved significantly since it was moved to the peat soil, the seedlings are looking a little fragile.  On a better note, they do not have signs of overwatering, which would consist of yellowing leaves.  Hopefully, they will start to look a little stronger as they continue to grow.

There are six basic types of hydroponic systems: wick, water culture, ebb and flow, drip, nutrient film technique, and aeroponic. 

A window garden is a recirculating drip system. 

The wick system is the most simplistic system because it lacks moving parts.  It consists of a growing tray and growing medium that receives its nutrients from the wick, which draw the nutrients out of a reservoir below the growing tray. However, the wick system is not as efficient as the recirculating drip system because a large plant might require more nutrients than the wick system can supply. 

A water culture system is another simple system that has the same problem as the wick system: it doesn’t work well with large plants or long term planting.  The water culture system is usually made by placing a platform holding the plants that floats directly on top of the nutrient solution.  An air pump produces bubbles to supply plants with the nutrients and oxygen that they need.

 In contrast, the recirculating drip system is particularly beneficial for larger plants because you don't need a large quantity of water to support the system.  The recirculating drip system involves a timer that controls a submersed pump.  The timer activates the pump to deliver nutrients to the plants using a drip line.  The excess nutrient solution is then collected into the reservoir for reuse, making it a closed and sustainable system. Since the water and nutrients is used repeatedly by the plants, the amount of nutrients and pH levels diminish over time, which means that the system needs to be monitored to ensure that the correct levels of pH and nutrients are maintained.  

Another disadvantage of the system would be if the pump stopped working.   The ebb and flow system is similar to the drip system because it directly introduces plants to nutrients by flooding the grow tray of the plants with nutrients and draining the remaining solution into a reservoir.

         The nutrient film technique, the aeroponic, and the ebb and flow technique technique all have the same disadvantage as the drip system because their systems are susceptible to power outages and pump failures. 

For all of these systems, the plant roots dry out rapidly when the flow of the nutrient solution is interrupted. 

The nutrient film technique has a constant flow of nutrients instead of a timer.  The nutrients are pumped into the growing tray and then drains back into the reservoir.  Instead of a growing medium, the plants are grown in a plastic basket with dangling roots to obtain nutrients. 

Similarly to the nutrient film technique, the aeroponic technique often uses a plastic basket instead of a growing medium.  A time is used to control the nutrient pump, which mists the roots with a nutrient solution for a few seconds every couple of minutes.

http://www.homehydrosystems.com/hydroponic-systems/systems.html 

http://www.simplyhydro.com/system.htm

http://www.gardengroveorganics.com/2011/07/01/the-conversion-fact

  -Chloe

A diagram of our recirculating drip system drawn by Jacquelyn is below.  We based our diagram on these directions: http://windowfarms.com/howto/3plantairlifthowto1_27_10.pdf

Here are the changes we made to the diagram:

-using fishing line/string supported by rods the hook onto the window instead of using a rod

-using white paint instead of tape for root cover

-using two bottles and two airlift tubes instead of just one