Alright, sent an email to the head of my local library about setting up a seed library there.
Seeds libraries are places you can go and "check out" seeds. Grow the seeds. Let one of the grown plants go to seed. Harvest the seeds. Then "return" the seeds back to the seed library!
Folks often think that hydroponics is expensive to start.
Every AI generated How-To article out there also says the same thing.
Yay corporate propaganda. It's all bullshit.
Meanwhile, I'm out here growing hydroponics out of a $10 dollar 5-gallon storage bin, a $3 firehouse sub 5-gallon bucket, and free 1-gallon protein powder bins.
I've bought nutrients in bulk with a bunch of friends. It's a couple cents per gallon of water. A gallon of water will grow a head of lettuce (for example).
Seeds are cheap or free.
I'm using $10 grow lights, or shelves with multiple LED grow lights that come out to a couple of dollars per plant (reused again and again and again on multiple plants).
I use the Kratky Method. Fill a plastic bucket with water & a couple cents of nutrients. And then leave it until its grown.
No pumps. No air... raters? raiders... no bubbling air into the water.
Don't get me wrong... capitalism will SELL you a cheap setup for hundreds of dollars. But this isn't a hobby... this is growing food cheaper than the grocery store.
Heck, watch this video for an idea of how cheap you can get.
So hydroponics are kicking off (as well as soil container gardens, backyard gardens, and community plot gardens) with me and my friends....
....and with that now is a good time to emphasize that this is not just a hobby (or a hobby at all for some). It's easy. sure. And takes little time, money, and effort... and is fun... and calming... don't get me wrong.
But we're not doing this for shits and giggles.
This is one part of a larger effort at bringing about post-scarcity food. (Note: One part. No one thing is a panacea.)
So right now, we have efforts to garden (hydroponically or otherwise) for one's self and one's family. That's good. It either supplements or fully replaces a corporate grocery store. Great.
But it's only part of it.
The next part is mutual aid. When we plant food, we also plant for our neighbors and greater community. For every 5 plants I harvest, I give away at least 1 plant. At least 20 percent. The question then becomes, how do we get the food out. How do we distribute it?
Food banks are fine. They're already set up. Many accept home grown produce. The issue with food banks is they are often means tested. You have to prove you NEED the food before you get it. That has a shit ton of issues and often just means that people who are hungry don't get to eat.
Instead of food banks, I've been using two solutions to distribute food.
The Olio App ( https://olioapp.com/en/ ): The Olio App let's you list your produce online. Folks can then request the item and arrange for pickup. It's like craiglist and uber eats and specifically is about giving away free food.
Community Fridges / Community Pantries ( https://freedge.org/locations/ ): Free fridges and pantries are physical nodes in your community where folks that have extra food, put it in the pantry. Folks that need food, take it out. Give a food, take a food. No need for apps, low overhead, works really well and is efficient.
The key to all of this is it's NOT charity. This is MUTUAL aid. You give AND you take. As we produce for ourselves we also produce for our neighbors. Everyone eats.
My proof-of-concept "Single-Unit Hydroponic Grow Bin".
I don't know if it will work. Follow this thread (for the next three months maybe) and grow with me... maybe... or just watch it fail... :P
The goal of this grow-bin is to be:
Exceedingly cheap (This comes out to around $11 a unit - reusable - and that's mostly the light. Each additional growth will only be a couple of cents per plant).
Exceedingly easy to make.
Have as little moving parts as possible.
Require as little maintenance as possible while the plant grows.
Not require any special space, set-up, or shelving.
Be able to stick anywhere you have a couple of inches of spare room indoors, even if you live in a very small amount of floor space.
Be powered by wall socket or by external USB battery (for folks that are charging USB batteries with solar cells).
If you want to grow more plants... make more of these grow bins and add them wherever you have juuust a bit more space.
This answers the obstacles of hydroponics being portrayed as requiring an expensive startup cost, having dedicated or expansive space for hydroponic growing, require special or complex equipment, or special knowledge and skills.
AND IT'S ADHD FRIENDLY!!!!
Start growing whenever you get around to it. Doesn't require following growing seasons.
Once you start growing, you can forget about it until it's done growing.
Note: This is an experiment. I don't know if this will succeed. But! I plan on tweaking it and correcting any issues as I test it out. So... I'm not showing you a finished product. I'm showing you the design and test phase. Maybe we'll get a finished product out of the end of it!
(Thread continues and will be added onto. Bookmark and check back every couple of weeks. - The next section will go into how to build this.)
When the leaves are growing THROUGH your halo light, it might be an indicator that your light is not powerful enough.
I'm calling it on this experiment. A lot of really cool things discovered!!!
First off, my basic build works! This is amazing! It means:
I don't have to germinate the seed separately, I can just plant it in the grow bin and ignore it until its time to harvest.
You can grow from a tiny single bin that has a six-inch diameter footprint.
The bin is modular. Do you want to grow more plants? Use more bins!
This addresses the following issues that often come up when discussing hydroponics:
"It's too expensive" : the grow bin is free (upcycled protein powder bin). water, nutrients, seed, rockwool, and pool noodle were all less than a dime. The most expensive item here is the reusable grow light. It was $10. A more powerful one might cost $15 or $20 retail (much less in bulk wholesale).
"I don't have enough space indoors" - this has a tiny footprint of half a foot and requires no special shelving. Place it anywhere you have a tiny amount of space.
"I can never remember to maintain my plants, they always die on me!" - This is ADHD Friendly! You plant the seed whenever you get around to it (no need to follow grow cycles). And then ignore it for two months and harvest it when its done.
The one thing that I'll do for my next build is use a brighter grow lamp. This specific lamp was strong enough to get it past germination / seedling and into full plant, but it's started failing once that plant has become mature. The leaves are a bit "leggy" meaning the leaves are reaching towards the light ot get more food. A stronger light means that it can chill and just be a plant without reaching.
All of that said, even leggy plants taste great! I'll let this one grow another week or so and harvest it!
My next experiment will be around grow mediums. I'm using rockwool in a pool noodle on this one and my other grow bins, but I want to try to use a cheaper method that still lets me plant the seed and forget about it until its time to harvest. Watch for that experiment soon!
Any #hydroponics people out there? My coriander is disappointingly leggy. Does anyone else have this problem? Do I need more light? More nutrient? Bury the seed deeper? After a little while the fallen ones die off and the healthy ones become straight (4 week old coriander) #GardeningAU
In the depths of winter, my herb garden is mostly dormant. So I treated myself to a small hydronics kit with a grow light to grow some soft herbs like basil and coriander 🌿Bonus, more light in my kitchen. Now I wait. #Hydroponics#Winter
Ok, now that I'm actually doing it, I can learn more about the Kratky method of hydroponics.
It's a system that doesn't use any electricity or pumps (air or water) for the hydroponic system (note: you'll still use electricity for LED grow lights... none if you use the sun).
I've found a great resource that breaks it down really well. Including details on growing fruiting plants (which take a lot more water and may necessitate the use of a passive float valve to maintain water from a separate reservoir).
This week's crop for the community fridge / pantry.
It's a small amount, but its just the start. 1 out of every 5 plants go to the community, even on first plantings. As I scale out, this will only increase.
This time is about 700g and going to freeze them while waiting for the next batch to grow (I have one more with parsley, one with #leek, #coriander, #mint, and #dill that are not producing as much. Each unit has 15 grow holes. One is almost empty. I am missing #taragon and I'm missing Iranian Shanbalileh (شَنبَلیله یا به فارسی دری شینبل (نام علمی: Trigonella foenum-graecum) ) to have all vegetables I need except to spinach that is not worth growing in small space that I have to be self sufficient in having all necessary vegetables for cooking different Iranian dishes.
This single Ikea unit has givene 5 batch of parsley since I started it and ther are no sign of decline as ww are getting closer to summer.
It has already paid off the initial cost I paid for it and from now on, it's all profit. Next it trying to setup the Mimi tower unit to grow them with solar powered water pumps and sunshine (no artificial LEDs for this trial.
Just need to buy some fertilizer because running low.
I have cut back my purchase of bananas because they are not local and most brands are from questionable companies.
Went to our local shop and found a huge pack of "old bananas" at discount price. So I purchased them.
This gave me the opportunity to create banana juice for my plants. Cut the peels into small pieces, added water and let it sit for w days.
Going to use the water as #potassium boost for my plants and crush the peels in a high speed mixer with coffee grounds, egg shells and a small amount of baking soda to adjust the pH level to create my speed #compost mix.
It will go into the bottom of the container I'm preparing for a friend with cherry tomatoes. Hopefully she will be able to grow them as tall as I managed (3M+) and get a lot of #tomatoes from it.
After a long time, found all the pieces for the hydroponic units at home.
It will be 2 different setup, one for the little tower with a solar panel powered pump without a timer and only depends on the sun.
The second one is an airpump with ESP32 as controller to turn it on and off and have a LiON battery for wheb the sun is not enough.
Will have 6 units planted in different parts of the apartment and balcony. Growing mostly leafy vegetables and herbs. Starting with parsley and dill that I have. Then add coriander, spring onions, kale, chuck boy and more.
Getting ready for the soon to come spring in southern France.
I reset my right hydroponics cubes. It had parsley and dill in each of them. However, the leaves were a little yellow and not appetising 😭 only coriander and basil seem to do well. So I’ll stick with those and have a rolling supply. #hydroponics
Like... my (self-diagnosed) ADHD and perfectionism means that I try to wait for the perfect time to plant to meet the local grow cycle!!!
But then I forget.
So I wait another year and try again.
Just to forget again.
I really LOVE indoor #hydroponics and automated / passive gardening.
When I remember to do it, I set it up. And then I forget about it. And then it grows on its own. And if I remember again, I can get some more things set up to grow again.
My indoor environment is consistent and stable. It doesn't really change. So that means the perfect time to plant is right now... or maybe after I take a nap. Or probably tomorrow now that I'm distracted. But it gets done!
Anyhow. I'm loving this.
I spent a lot of my earlier life trying to change and improve myself. And that was good. Now that I'm older and more set in my ways, I try and change the environment and space around me to suit my needs as they are.
#solarpunk and #gardening folks, I have a very exciting year ahead of me!! For the first time in my life, I have a garden, an allotment and enough indoor space for a small #hydroponics shelf. I'd really like to get max 2 books to learn about all these things, preferably telling me what I should prioritise for each UK season. Got any good book suggestions?
I also plan to document my exploits so stay tuned 👨🌾🌿
Oh wait, not quite over. Look, robot growing basil! I suspect you could adapt it to grow algae, which you could bundle into little pellets... Soy... lent.... GREEN! (damn, I think that's now trademarked). #hydroponics