- Joined
- 10/16/09
- Messages
- 6,988
- Location
- Melbourne, Australia
- Real Name
- Astrid (formerly: 'featherbaby')
No idea if this is going to work 
but I'll give it a try 
.
Since Ceddy is now *finally* literally Gobbling up leafy greens (only took us 2 1/2 years to get there
) I've decided I want to grow her a small sprout/greens garden.
I'm not too keen on using any type of soil though so I'm going to experiment with a home made hydroponic option and to do so dug up some long buried school age memories when we grew water cress on tissues.
So here's what I did today to start it. If this works, I'm planning to post updates every few days until it's ready to 'serve'
Day 1 - Setting it up:
1. I'd bought a variety of sprouting seeds/mixes and mixed them all together. I wanted some wheat grass but couldn't find it so if this works that'll be in the next one This mix now contains:
Watercress, Mustard, Adzuki Beans, Mung Beans, Lentils, Fenugreek, Alfalfa, Radish and Broccoli sprouting seeds:
2. I grabbed a larger but fairly shallow Tupperware container I already had and filled the bottom with some water:
3. Added a plastic basket, bought at a dollar type store for $3.50:
4. I lined the basket with a 4-tier layer of unbleached paper towel:
5. I added a length of cotton rope, with the ends hanging out on 2 sides to be place under the basket in the water.
6. Added another 4-tier layer of paper towels and soaked it well, this will hold the seeds and (hopefully) become the base for the roots:
7. I spread out some seed mix and covered again with a layer of wet paper towel to give them a 'head start'. This last layer I will remove in a day or two:
8. Finally I topped it with two smaller baskets (also bought at the dollar type store for $1.50 ea).
Right now they serve to weigh the paper towels down.
After I've removed the top layer of paper towel, hopefully the sprouts will grow *through* the small baskets' holes. All going well, I'm planning to allow them to grow roughly to the top edges of the baskets before giving the whole thing to Ceddy to play, forage in and enjoy (Again, I hope)
To recap, in constructing it like this I'm thinking it will work as follows (that's my theory anyway) :
1. Using the larger basket in the bottom container, it will be easy to change the water in the container daily.
2. The cotton rope should act like a wick and keep the paper towels moist, making it self-watering without the towels having to be submerged in the water.
3. The smaller baskets should prevent Ceddy from being able to reach the paper towels as well as the water, only the actual greens.
but I'll give it a try .Since Ceddy is now *finally* literally Gobbling up leafy greens (only took us 2 1/2 years to get there
) I've decided I want to grow her a small sprout/greens garden. I'm not too keen on using any type of soil though so I'm going to experiment with a home made hydroponic option and to do so dug up some long buried school age memories when we grew water cress on tissues
. So here's what I did today to start it. If this works, I'm planning to post updates every few days until it's ready to 'serve'
Day 1 - Setting it up:
1. I'd bought a variety of sprouting seeds/mixes and mixed them all together. I wanted some wheat grass but couldn't find it so if this works that'll be in the next one
This mix now contains:Watercress, Mustard, Adzuki Beans, Mung Beans, Lentils, Fenugreek, Alfalfa, Radish and Broccoli sprouting seeds:
2. I grabbed a larger but fairly shallow Tupperware container I already had and filled the bottom with some water:
3. Added a plastic basket, bought at a dollar type store for $3.50:
4. I lined the basket with a 4-tier layer of unbleached paper towel:
5. I added a length of cotton rope, with the ends hanging out on 2 sides to be place under the basket in the water.
6. Added another 4-tier layer of paper towels and soaked it well, this will hold the seeds and (hopefully
) become the base for the roots:
7. I spread out some seed mix and covered again with a layer of wet paper towel to give them a 'head start'. This last layer I will remove in a day or two:
8. Finally I topped it with two smaller baskets (also bought at the dollar type store for $1.50 ea).
Right now they serve to weigh the paper towels down.
After I've removed the top layer of paper towel, hopefully the sprouts will grow *through* the small baskets' holes. All going well, I'm planning to allow them to grow roughly to the top edges of the baskets before giving the whole thing to Ceddy to play, forage in and enjoy (Again, I hope
)To recap, in constructing it like this I'm thinking it will work as follows (that's my theory anyway
) :1. Using the larger basket in the bottom container, it will be easy to change the water in the container daily.
2. The cotton rope should act like a wick and keep the paper towels moist, making it self-watering without the towels having to be submerged in the water.
3. The smaller baskets should prevent Ceddy from being able to reach the paper towels as well as the water, only the actual greens.
(rather than lifting the basket up and growing underneath 
) 
... 
