Sadly I ate something from my upcoming ratings list but I, once again, failed to snap a shot before I dug in. By the time I remembered I was half done. So as an update, I have a food related topic: hydroponics. I use hydroponics to grow FOOD and FOOD alone so don't get all weird on me.

About a month ago I visited my local OSH and gathered 6 jalepeno plants. And knowing me, I had to grow them in a way that earned cool points. No soil and watering for me. Anyway, I bought the 6 jalepeno plants and small container of Schults Liquid Plant Food. The top has a built in dropper for easy measuring and stated you need to add 7 drops to a water can every watering. That's the main reason I purchased that fertilizer because 7 drops even if used every day would last me forever. And it was only 6 bucks.

If you want to try hydroponics you'll also need a light source with a reflector and full spectrum bulb. Those should be easy to get for around 15 bucks. You'll also want an aquarium water pump. The smallest will do you and should be as low as 10 bucks for one of those. And don't forget to buy some tubing that will fit on it. Maybe 2 feet for extra measure. Then you need 2 containers. They should be able to hold water and one should fit in the other. I just used an old tupperware container for the small one and a styrofoam cooler for the big one. It's better if you can get containers that won't let light through but it would work if you just painted the containers black. This would serve to inhibit algae growth. Last you need some absorbent material like cheese cloth and gravel for aeration and drainage to pot the plants in. Wrap the roots of the plants with the cloth or absorbent material and put them in the pot. Fill the remaining air space in the pot with gravel. I used an absorbent clay gravel called latterite. Oh and pots with some kind of openings on them so they can get wet from the outside-in.


Construction is pretty straightforward and you should be able to figure it out just from my pictures. The only thing you can't see is the pump submerged in the container. The tupperware container is where the plants are hanging out. The tubing from the pump goes up into that. I drilled a hole in the bottom and friction fit the tubing but you can just bring the end of the tube over the rim to fill it from the pump. But again, it's cool points for me. There are also drainage and overflow holes drilled in various places in the tupperware container. Remember you have water coming in but it has to go back into the large container before it overflows and goes all over your floor. You want the water to fill up to a certain point and let the overflow holes keep that level. I drilled 5 small holes in the bottom of the small container which drained slower than the water could fill up. A little below the rim I drilled a bunch of overflow holes so the water level could not go over the top. It might be easier to cut a notch at the rim but it might be annoying if you ever want to enclose the tupperware using the original lid. Those 5 holes in the bottom allow the water to drain completely when your water flow period is over. This is also to prevent algae growth. You can see how the light reflector is clamped on the side of the container so no details needed there. Optionally but highly recommended is a multi-timer that will turn on and off your water pump 6-8 times a day. These could get a little expensive especially if you go digital. I didn't want to pay for one so I just do it manually over the course of the day. This keeps your absorbent material around the roots moist. And remember that liquid fertilizer? Yep, that same material also holds some of the nutrients. Who needs dirt?
Jalepenos or whatever, have fun!