More fun with hydroponics

I'm still working on putting the second column of the window farm together. The problem I'm currently struggling with is that when I divide the air flow between the two columns, there's not enough pressure to push the water all the way up to the top.

In the mean time, I have some parsley and oregano that have sprouted. They didn't seem to be growing much more in the pellets and I knew that it was time to start feeding them some nutrient solution, but how? I'm still working on the second column. I remembered something I had seen and in fact had pinned on pinterest. It involved cutting a bottle in half to create a planter container with a wick that draws the water up. I also remembered seeing a version with 2 liter soda bottles and after having built my window farm, I know that plastic water bottles are easy to cut.



The idea then became a reality. I started with the parsley because it had sprouted first. I cut the center section out of a water bottle and then inverted the top into the bottom water reservoir. Into the upper part of the bottle, I placed a small piece of paper towel and then a layer of the rock wool cubes. I then set my pellet on top the rock wool and filled out the sides with more rock wool. The paper towel is used to keep the rock wool from falling down into the reservoir but also to help draw water upwards. The water is more of the hydroponic nutrient solution. I keep the water level filled so that the paper towel is sitting in it so that it doesn't dry out.



That new leaf on the right popped up once I planted it here.

As for the oregano, I only planted it a couple of days ago so I'm still waiting for it to grow a little more.

Window Farm Flourishing

It's been a couple of weeks since I've had the window farm in my window and all seems to be going well. The only real "problem" I've had is that the outlet in my kitchen periodically needs resetting. Thankfully, I tend to catch it after the pump has stopped running for a couple of hours so the plants haven't had a chance to dry out.

At the top of the column, I have some mint julep. I realized that having mint on hand is handy when you want to make mojitos. In the middle is the basil. At the bottom is some Thai basil. I had bought the mint from a vendor at my local farmer's market. I washed the dirt off of the roots and planted it in the rockwool cubes.

The basil has been interesting. I planted it in only a couple of weeks ago but now, the roots have already grown out of the net pot it's sitting in and you can see it at the opening of the bottle and starting to stretch out of the cap!



The Thai basil...well, I started this from seed in one of those little pellet things. Once I saw a couple of leaves pop up, I wanted to see what happens when I add it into the farm. I think it's been enjoying the constant nutrient drip. It's growing slowly but it is still growing and today, I just noticed that another seed had sprouted!



There is some parsley and oregano in the works so this week, I need to start working on my second column.

Pretty Pink Necklace

Last time, I gave you a quick preview of this necklace. Today, I finished it!



The large stones are some crazy lace agate that I found at Bead Fest. The larger round stone is cut in a way that I didn't want to hide one of the sides. The grey portion is also slightly transparent so I wanted to be able to hold it up and see light through it. There is a strip of peyote stitch that goes around the edge and I used netting to capture the stone.



There are some smaller faceted stones in the fringe and that connects the two pieces of crazy lace agate that are some left over tourmaline from a past project. The pink of the tourmaline fit right in.



Finally, that is a straight peyote stitch bale. I did think about adding some fringe or other decoration to it but it seemed to be enough as it is once I put the necklace together. I made a twisted herringbone rope for the necklace along with a beaded toggle to complete the piece!

Pink! Fringe!

I picked up the crazy lace agate and the dagger beads at Bead Fest. I managed to find some of the other beads from my stash. It's a work in progress!