Need More Space.

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Growing these plants is really exciting, each one is unique, and they are all pretty happy! Today I watered them with a mild dose of Earth Juice: Grow (NPK 2-1-1), Earth Juice: Microblast (micronutrients), and seaweed extract (good growth hormones etc), I will just water them for probably two weeks or a month, then feed again, I am keeping track of what I feed them and when to find out how to get the fastest growth.

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I filled the cabinet I built with 25 pots, each with a living tea plant, and the tray of 71 lettuces, it's a tight fit. The cabinet is 3ft by 3ft, and with about 1000-1300 lumens per square foot (about 1/5th the brightness from the sun) It is just not bright enough to grow bigger plants. So I will make a bigger cabinet with a brighter light. I haven't come up with the dimensions I will use for the cabinet, but I have a 400w metal halide lamp I will probably use.

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As you can see from the above picture this lettuce is really stretching out because there is not enough light... I should really just put them outside, I wish I had a green house for them. Anyway, this further proves it's not bright enough.

Great Success, and Fast Growth

Well as of today 17 plants have germinated, and are turning into young and beautiful tea plants. I have 4 species of tea plants now, Large Leaf, Small Leaf, Guangzhou, and Rosea.

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I will be moving all of the plants into 1 gallon pots tomorrow. I will also be buying a 2 bulb T5 fluorescent light, to use with my T12 lights, the T5 is more powerful, but overall even with the t5 light it will still not be as bright as it is outside, but about half as bright, which is good because tea plants like shade or partial sun. I am also going to make another swamp cooler for the closet they are in to increase the humidity. I'm thinking about making a cabinet with similar dimensions as the closet garden they are in, I would have more control over the environment, so I could make a cleaner, and more efficient garden. I'm very excited about these new plants, I will do my absolute best growing these.

New life for the tea garden.

Well I bought 50 tea seeds, and put them into 6" deep bed full of coco peat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coco_Peat) and have kept it moist for about 1 month now, today there are eight poking out of the soil, and I bet there are a lot more on their way! I will be moving the germinated plants into pots once I get more pots. I will be using organic nutrients from earth juice with an NPK ratio of 2-1-1, they call it a blend of good things from the land and sea, and it works with hydroponics.


These plants will be grown in coco peat indefinitely, in about two years when they are big enough to harvest from I will start taking clones and try hydroponics again. I can make a more stable environment in soil than I can in water, which will make it easier to keep these plants happy. I picked coco coir because it keeps a very aerated mix, holds water well, and lasts long. Roots need to breathe, and coco peat holds around 1000 times more air than soil, I believe this will make it easier for the plants roots to grow, and allow more vigorous growth overall.

I'm also growing 71 iceberg lettuce's, I'm thinking about making a hydroponics system just for them, but I'm not sure yet, I have to make a home for them soon though. They are growing in jiffy pellets, which are inexpensive seed starters full of peat. I've gotten excellent success, 71 out of 72 seeds germinated.