Hey all, just wanted to post the results of an experiment I did. I usually grow my plants DWC (deep water culture). It�s were you plant your plants in a net pot and the roots soak in a solution of hydroponic nutrients. You add an air stone to airiate the water so the plants don�t drown. I knew about another method called the Kratky method named after a professor in Hawaii who developed it. Basically you plant the plants in water, but no ariation. The theory is that as the plant exsorbs (drinks) the water the water level drops. This exposes the upper roots to the air thus airiating the roots so again the plant doesn�t drown. I happen to have a small empty container that had lemonade powder mix in it. I was about to throw it away and I though...this maybe a perfect container to try some Kratky grown lettuce. The 2� net pots I use happen to fit perfect into the opening of the container.

The below plant is a little over 4 weeks old from seed. The plant looks good but is a bit leggy. I blame that on it really didn�t get good light. It was placed at the very edge under my grow light and only received indirect light. But all and all I�m pretty impressed. It really doesn�t get much easier than this. Once planted there basically is no maintenance. The plant has grow to that size only using about a cup of water (there is still about a cup left in the container). In addition it only cost me about 20 cents. I got the container for free, the net cups are like 15 cents each and I use a piece of pool noodle for my grow media in the net cup (maybe 2 cents worth of pool noodle). I�m going to try some more but this time with better lighting in hopes of getting a fuller plant.

I would've thought that the young plant would die before it absorbed enough water to expose the roots . Looks good .

Got a link for those "net cups" ?

Wow! Someone actually responded to this thread. Thanks Siberman! I bought my net pots at a local hydroponics store. But just go to Amazon and type in 2 inch net pots and you�ll have an endless supply to choose from. And yes, the baby plant�s roots were submerged in water until they get bigger (about 3 weeks) then on thier 4th week they really start sucking up the water. Who knew you could grow a full head of lettuce with just 2 cups of water!?

I gotta admit I have been growing this indoor micro garden for about 7 months now. I�m no tree hugger by any means but now that I know what I do, I wonder why doesn�t everyone do this? I was never a big salad eater but I do like it on my sandwiches, burgers and tacos. I live alone and most lettuce I�d buy would go bad before I ate it all. Then one day I figured why not just grow my own (I have past experience with indoor hydroponics, but that�s a different story).

I have had a fresh supply of lettuce for the past 4+ months and haven�t bought any from the grocery store! The more I read up on it the more I realized how much that one half head, unused lettuce I would throw away cost to the environment. It has to be grown in different places depending on the season to supply us with fresh lettuce. It�s then watered, fertilizerd and insecticides are sprayed on it to protect it from bugs.Then it has to be packaged and shipped (plastics and shipped via oil burning trucks) to get the the store. This is all well known, but to now know with minimal effort, minimal cost I can not only save that square footage of earth needed to supply me with my lettuce needs, it�s actually much fresher and better tasting than anything I could normally buy anyway!

i will attempt this

Great idea on the pool noodle

I've dabbled a little bit in the kratky method. Is there a special way of germinating seeds in a pool noodle or do you just slice one side down and stick the seeds in? I've only used rockwool.

Good luck Butch! If you have any questions let me know. Don't be discouraged if the first attempt or two doesn't work out as planned. Like many things, there can be a learning curve.

The pool noodles...I agree a great idea!, but not mine. Below is the video I watched were I got the idea. He sticks his in the holes of the reservoir he grows in. I wanted to use mine in the net pots. My pool noodle is orange because it was off season for pool noodles when I bought it and it was the only one the dollar store had left. I cut mine maybe 3/4" to 1" long. Then I cut a piece out like cutting a pie until it fits comfortably in the net pot (start with cutting a small piece off then cut more off as needed). There should still be a small hole in the center of the noodle. If you are starting plants (or clones) with a pretty good sized stem, you can go ahead and plant. For seedlings I just eye it and cut a piece off the chunk I already cut off to fill the hole. Below is an example of a seedling and a clone.

The main thing that attracted me to this method is because I'm cheap and I live in a tiny apartment. I could easily buy rockwool, but it's disposable and more [censored] I would have to store. I could also have used the hydroton, but then I felt it would be a mess if I wanted to clean it between grows. So the pool noodle has worked out great for me! You can get like 50 pot inserts off one $1.00 pool noodle. And they are fully reusable. I just throw them in a small tub full of water, add some bleach and squish them around in it for a few minutes. Rinse and dry and they are ready to use again.

And as to planting my baby plants in the net pots. I start my seeds with the old paper towel in a sandwich bag technique. But I stand them upright to make sure the seedlings grow upwards. Once the first set of baby leaves have opened and turned green and the root is easily long enough to clear the bottom of the pool noodle, I put them in the pool noodle that then goes in the net pot. (pic below...also note how I up-cycled empty sour cream tubs for my seedlings).

It's for a science project, I swear.

Are you cloning? If so, what and why?

Yup, one of the pics above is a clone. I guess it's more of a cutting, but we always called them clones back in my old hydro days. What is it?...a tomato plant. Tip of a sucker branch was cut and it was planted in hydro solution until it grew roots (and then becomes a full sized plant). Why? Mainly for fun and to make sure I still can. Also it helps in a small system like mine were I don't have a lot of grow room. As one plant lives out it's life, rather than start a new one from seed, you can clone it and have a mini mature plant much quicker (then starting from seed).

What age was the mother tomato plant? Do you have to take cuttings before a certain age or phase?

Good question. I guess there is no hard and fast rule. You can take one anytime the mother plant is big enough to cut off a small branch and not hurt it. The cutting above actually had small flower buds on it, but once it takes root and starts to grow they fall off. As to how old? Not really sure. Once the fruit has been harvested and it�s definitely on its end of life, it�s probably too late.

If anyone is interested I also developed a way to grow micro greens with no soil or media...just plain tap water. And those are fun because they go from planting to harvest in anywhere from 5-10 days. Non special grow lights or hydroponic nutrients needed.

I struggle with cloning/cuttings. Mom could do it with anything anytime.

I actually have great luck with it. Can�t think of a time when one didn�t take root. Heck, most of mine end up in the trash because if I trim up a plant I usually make a few clones for fun...but I don�t have room to actually grow them out. I have two tomato plants growing now (and they just started producing some small tomatoes) and both are clones.

My only advice I can offer is that I start mine with the cut end submerged in water. No root hormon or nutrients needed (at least to get it to grow roots). But, they can be very sensitive to ph. Tap water here is like 7.8...way too high for most plants. Instead of buying a ph meter and ph adjuster, try plain drinking water bought from a store (drinking water not distilled). Also make sure they are covered (I just put a sandwich bag over them) and keep them away from direct light for the first few days. The clone in the pic above is two weeks old from cutting. You can see the roots it has grown.

I saw the first part of the thread title and thought you met my ex wife.