Growing Update

It's been a while since I have posted. A few of you may be curious how things are growing in the greenhouse. I must admit...I continue to learn what works, and what doesn't. Here are a few things I have discovered, being new to hydroponics.


In the above photo, I have red sails and buttercrunch lettuce growing in the hydroponics. What I didn't realize is that it is okay to start the plants in the little peat pots, but you must plant them deep enough in the baskets that you put into the hydroponic tubes or they can flop over. In addition to that I now know that the starts should also be put under lights so they don't stretch for the light and get "leggy". That also makes them prone to flopping over. Plants are good at compensating, but why not get it right? That is what this year is all about. Learning and improving as I go.


The second photo shows how some of my cilantro and chard is doing. In this third photo, note the lettuce in the uppermost tier is laying over. I will be avoiding this in the future by planting deeper and using lights prior to the plants going into the hydroponics.


In this photo you can see that my Currant tomato plant is quite happy. Note the basil, spinach, chard and Valmaine lettuce further down.


In addition to what has been previously shown, I just added a couple of tubs with growing medium in which I have planted potatoes. Here they are. We'll see how they do.


The potatoes are Yukon Gold, which I tried last year and they did well. I want to see what they will do in a greenhouse setting.
All in all, things are changing and growing and I am seeing what works and what doesn't. In the next post, I will show you what is happening in my old greenhouse.