Any tips? Every time I tried growing microgreens without any medium I failed. Mostly, because they dry out too quickly, even when spraying.

I now use a bit coco coir and it works wonders, but feels wasteful. Paper towels or cloth works too, but dries out a bit too fast for my liking, and the cellulose rots too quickly.

Oh, and how do you keep the seeds from smelling? Especially stuff like radish got bacterial very fast when I tried it

!nolawns@slrpnk.net

Ich hab schon viel davon letzten Monat gepostet, der Sonnen- und Düngerbrand war schon davor so.

Die Lichtmenge kannst du grob über eine App, die dir den ppfd misst bestimmen.

Hab ich gemacht, mit Photone. Daran hab ich auch erkannt, dass die Beleuchtung ungleichmäßig verteilt ist.
Hab sie dann gedimmt (auf 1/4), damit es nicht schlimmer wird.

Jetzt hängt sie deutlich höher und ist auf 2/3 der vollen Leistung. Insgesamt ist es im Zelt jetzt viel heller, aber nicht so punktuell.

Aber nachdem deine Blätter von den Spitzen aus knusprig werden, sieht das nach Düngerbrand aus. Hast du eine Möglichkeit den EC (und pH) Wert von deinem gießwasser und drain zu messen?

Hab ich vor nem Monat schon erklärt :)

Ich halte sie in Hydrokultur (Blähton) und hab EC + pH gemessen. Sie hatte, weil ich nie geflushed habe, einen falschen pH und zu hohen EC. Das Problem ist aber inzwischen behoben.

Weil zusätzlich noch vergessen habe zu gießen (Blähton ist ausgetrocknet), hab es den Brand.

War aber glücklicherweise sehr am Anfang der Blüte und daher nicht so wild.

nachdem wir nicht wissen die du düngst, musst du das selbst wissen und entscheiden

Masterblend 2 Part, 1,3 mS EC, nur Osmosewasser, und seit einem Monat Algenextrakt zur Stärkung. Geflushed hab ich zu selten wegen dem SCROG-Netz

Ne, auf meinem Balkon hat es ein anderes Mikroklima. Bis vor 2 Wochen hab ich die Pflanzen (insbesondere Basilikum) nachts noch reinholen müssen, aber inzwischen hat es tagsüber teils 30°C, und die Wärme speichert es auch nachts.

Notfalls, bei einem Kälteeinbruch, kriegen sie halt ne Haube für die Nacht.

Letztes Jahr war es zur selben Zeit kühler und da hat es sie auch nicht gestört.

It’s specifically made for extraction and has zero impurities

Hey, chemistry nerd here. Regarding extraction.

Many people here talk about ethanol (vodka, everclear), but with that, you either need to evaporate it to concentrate it, which kills a lot of flavor, or you need a high ratio of beans to solvent.

Another great option might be dimethylether (DME).
It is sometimes used for making cannabis concentrates for example, so you can get it specifically for extraction purposes on Amazon for example.
It’s delivered in pressured cans, you fill a metal pipe with your beans, and blast it through.

It will be freezing cold (-30°C), and the solvent evaporates very quickly and without residues. It pulls out everything, but mostly flavor compounds and lipids.
That way, you can get a highly concentrated extract without alcohol.

Maybe that’s a tip worth considering?

I can’t wait to finally let go of the tiny depression rectangle for ever

I think your problem isn’t the technology itself, but what you make out of it.

Smartphones are incredibly capable and useful if used correctly.
If you assess your problem spots (e.g. doomscrolling, news, chatting, etc.) and remove them then you have all pros without many cons.

I’m using a Pixel with GrapheneOS, which I dumbed down quite a bit. I’m rarely on my phone anymore, coming from a doomscroll addict.

I never heard of that and looked into it. I haven’t found anything regarding glass. Are you sure it adheres well to a bottle? Is it weather proof?

Sure, but for short lived, disposable stuff like leafy greens or herbs it’s perfect! There’s basically zero cost, and it’s totally passive. You also don’t need to wash/ waste any growing medium.

But for other more high value stuff, like weed or chillis, I use other, more sophisticated methods.

Tbh, looks like lots of (wasted?) filament.

I have something similar. My 3" net cups fit perfectly into many used pickle jars.

You can coat them with acrylic color and/ or put some rope around.

Correct! 👍 I haven’t observed much algae growth yet.

But I’m also experimenting atm how it turns out when I spray coat them.

This year I have a 50% shade cloth, but last year they were uncovered and hot afternoon sun fully blasted onto them, cooking everything to mush.

I now painted a few of them white, and I hope this reduces algae growth and heating significantly.

Kratky fascinates me

I love the Kratky method especially for easily disposable fast growing short lived stuff like lettuce (1-2 month grow cycle).

Other methods like your ebb and flow is better for high value crops like chilis and weed imo :)

Do you have trouble with algae in the glass containers?

With clear glass, which I used in the beginning, definitely yes.
With green/ amber ones nope, or at least only veeery weakly.

Currently I try spray coating a few ones with white pigment, and see how it turns out with heating up in the sun and algae compared to the uncoated brown ones.

Sure!

• Clear PETG (Polymaker Polylite),
• vase mode,
• 0,3 mm nozzle, 0,2 mm layer height,
• and +5°C hotter than usual + fan speed only 10%.

This makes the layers fuse more together and the print is even more robust! You can bend it almost how you want.

Polyester

… or some phosphate/ fertilizer for some extra fun 👀

And just in case society collapses, you can make some quick buck in the meantime selling your selfmade soilent green to the starving masses ☺️✨

Great writeup, thanks!

Aren’t you worried about the moisture damaging the wooden frame?

Also, !hydroponics@slrpnk.net would make a great addition!

Maybe just use cheap synthetic fertiliser if you want?
It’s used for potted plants, so there’s basically no runoff.

I personally love Masterblend, which is what plants crave ® /s (contains all essential nutrients and you don’t need much of it). You need to weight and dissolve it tho, but that’s not much extra effort for me.

But any cheap all purpose fertilizer with micronutrients will do.

Doesn’t that contain too much sodium? How do you prevent disease spread?

As you already said, compost would be your top choice. You don’t even need your own compost bin, as you could buy some from local composting facilities or neighbours. Or, you can start small with a worm bin (vermicomposting).

As far as drainage, using just rocks isn’t the best idea imo. Perlite or LECA are great, but pumice for example is a bit more environmentally friendly if you don’t reuse it.
They all have a thing in common: they create air pockets that prevent the soil from being waterlogged. Gravel makes the soil store less water, increasing aeration, but you need to water more often.

One completely different suggestion from my side would be to try !hydroponics@slrpnk.net That way, you don’t need any soil at all :)

Maximum nutrition/ calories: potatoes, tomatoes, beans

Maximum use: herbs, lettuce, strawberries, chillies

All as vertically stacked as possible (towers, trellises, etc.) and !hydroponics@slrpnk.net