I got my two deepwater systems set up last week, and got the nutrients tweaked, and added some mycorrhizae and a small amount of mosquito dunk (to prevent fungus gnats). So last weekend I got some coir in the baskets I'd plant seeds in, and my cloner set up for things I start cuttings for, and hopefully, they'll root. Turns out, most rooted in 4 or 5 days, though some just starting. Surprisingly, the Thai basil rooted best, though this is still early. And no sign of roots on peppermint cuttings.
Cloned Thai Siam Queen Basil, after about 4 days. 10-01 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Cloned Serrata basil, 10-01 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Cloned Gecofure Basil, 10-01 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Cloned Red Epazote, 10-01 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

These have to get much larger, to transplant to the hydroponics.

Today I dug up a parsley plant - I rinsed the dirt off, then rinsed the plant with an H2O2 solution. Then I soaked the roots briefly in a rooting solution, then put it in the hydroponics.
Parsley, going to the hydroponics, 10-01 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Parsley, set in the hydroponics clay pellets, 10-01 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I planted some seeds in the coir baskets; some greens that I always grow, like lettuce and mizuna, and some herbs - cilantro, Chinese parsley (leaf celery), and a couple I had old seeds for: hoja santa, and summer savory. Not even sure there would any viable in these last two, but I'd try. The mizuna is pretty old, too, but it was the first to germinate in 3 days! The youngest lettuce was up in 4 days, and the older one is just beginning to poke through.
Some really old Mizuna seeds sprouting in 3 days! 10-01 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Neat stuff. I would say reservoir temperature is the most important factor in root growth. They like it cool. And of course the more aeration, the better. You can use either air or water pumps for that.

What a fun thing to do in the off-season. I'm definitely going to enjoy watching you grow your stuff.

Cole_Robbie wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 11:27 pm Neat stuff. I would say reservoir temperature is the most important factor in root growth. They like it cool. And of course the more aeration, the better. You can use either air or water pumps for that.

I use both an air pump, with an airstone in each tub, and a powerhead from one of my fish tanks, with a sponge filter attached. This way, if either the air pump or one of the powerhead dies (which can happen with those things, KOW), there is another form of aeration. The water pumps keep the tanks slightly warmer than the basement temp., and the plants seem to like that.

Very nice!

Looking forward to following the greauxing!

I got 5 of the clones set in the clay pellet baskets tonight - hopefully they will take. I put both Thai basils, and one each of the Gecofure and Serrata, plus one peppermint. Hopefully, I won't need the extras!
The two Thai basil clones. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The Thai basil clones, set in the clay pellets. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Two Thai, a Gecofure, and a Serrata basil, plus a peppermint clone, set in the clay pellets, 10-04 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Here's that parsley, that was put in 3 days ago, showing growth in that center core, which was just barely started before.
Parsley plant, showing the growth in the center core, 10-04 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Dill, chives, and the old lettuce seeds have come up, plus a couple of weeds! Plants on the edges, plus they weren't what I planted in the baskets.

That parsley isn't doing as well as it looked like it would, so I dug up the other plant - the larger one, which is why I took the other, as I figured I could get more of the roots of the smaller one. I tried to get more of these, and not cut off any of the tap root, and I definitely got more of these.
A larger parsley plant, dug up for the hydroponics. 10-07 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Here it is, getting it into the basket, and getting ready to put the clay pellets in, to hold it in place.
Parsley roots, threaded through the basket, for the hydroponics. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Here it is next to the smaller one, which is turning yellow. Only one you yellow leaf on the large plant - hopefully, the last!
The new, larger parsley plant, next to the one not doing well. 10-07 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Late last night, when I went down for one last check on the hydro, I discovered something that I couldn't believe actually sprouted - some Hoja Santa! It's a Mexican plant, which I grew a few years ago, and vacuum packed a bunch of it, to freeze, and I'm down to the last pack of it (it kept well all this time, vacuum sealed). I tried starting some seeds in spring, with no luck, and this was sort of a hail Mary - if this didn't work, I figured I'd have to order new seeds. These are the smallest seeds I have ever seen - like dust! I just sprinkled all of the seeds on the moist coir, and pressed them against it. And this sprout, that I noticed last night, after 8 or 9 days, was like an elongated white speck of dust - I used a 15x eye loupe to confirm that it was, indeed, a sprout. I don't recall how fast those things grow, but the plants eventually get very large (about 4' in diameter) - I'll have to transfer them to regular pots, but this is how I started them before growing outside a few years ago.

Hoja santa is in the same genus as black pepper (and many other plants) - Piper - and is often called "pepper leaf".

That hoja santa never took off, and finally disappeared. I'll have to get some fresh seeds for that. However, most other things are doing well, though I have only gotten one cilantro plant. But the rest of the plants have really taken off in this last week. The Thai basil was growing into the lights, which is why I had to harvest a bunch of it, and figure out something to do with it yesterday! That parsley plant finally took off - the first plant didn't root, so I started another.
Thai basil harvest from the hydroponics. Still got more, for that sauce later. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Thai basil, after the harvest, and some red Epazote in the back, in hydroponics, 11-14 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Leaf lettuce, parsley, mizuna, and dill, in hydroponics, 11-14 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Wow, nice!

I posted this on my glog - forgot I had this thread.

I have been ignoring these things in the hydroponics, due to the holidays, and that dill got out of control! Too bad I don't know more people that even know what it is, when I ask them if they want some! (rofl)

Here's all the dill I just trimmed from 4 hydroponics plants. One very overgrown new variety - Tetra - I might pull out entirely, as it got some really immense roots on it! I wouldn't recommend it again for this, or container planting, but will plant in in the ground next year, and see how it resists bolting - Dukat is usually the best then, too. The roots were barely noticeable on the dukat, yet I still got a lot from 2 plants there, too.
Dill trimmed from the hydroponics, Tetra in the bag, Dukat out of it. 12-2 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Hydroponics basket of tetra dill, showing huge amounts of roots, 12-2 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Here's the other one that was shading out all the others - the epazote. Only one of those plants. I'll take these to the guy at the Mexican market tomorrow.
Red Epazote, trimmed in the hydroponics, 12-2 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Here's some other things finally exposed, after trimming all that stuff. I also cut the mizuna down to about an inch - I still have that growing outside.
Hydroponics herbs, exposed after dill and Epazote trimmed away, 12-2 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Bok choy, in hydroponics, 12-2 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Mizuna in hydroponics, before trimming, 12-2 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The only basil that didn't do well was the Mammolo, though it was shaded, so I'll give it a chance.

That Tetra variety of dill is absolutely unbelievable - I've never seen one like that! It is unmanageable, in this type of setup, as you can see - in just 11 days how much it grew . Dukat seems best to grow this way, but I will try it outside, next spring. Hopefully, it will resist bolting, like it does inside, and grows like this!
11 days since I trimmed this Tetra dill down to the stubs! This stuff is on steroids. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Mass of roots of the Tetra dill, in the hydroponics basket. I removed it, as it was unmanageable. 12-13 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Harvest of the Tetra dill, overgrown 11 days after trimming down to stubs! 12-13 by pepperhead212, on Flickr