Cucumbers Transplanted in Hydroponic Vegetable Garden

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The roots were going crazy so I decided to give them some extra room. The A-OK Starter Plugs were placed into 4" Delta Gro-Blocks.

Seattle, WA.

New Drip Irrigation System for My Hydroponic Vegetable Garden

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In a perfect world I wouldn't need an automatic irrigation system. I enjoy working on the garden and that includes manually watering my plants. It allows me to take a short break from life, think, and visually inspect the overall health of the garden. Plus it's exciting to see how much the garden has grown since the previous day every morning.

I was hesitant on selecting the drip irrigation system. Online research indicated that the drip emitters were a headache in terms of clogging and amount of maintenance needed to keep the system in proper working order. I was in need of a solution quick and it seemed like the best option available at the time. So far the system works pretty well and I have committed to deal with the issues as they come.

The first hurdle I had to overcome was how to keep the emitter in the basket. I first tried fastening the emitters to the net pot by zip tie. It worked reasonably well until I needed to do maintenance on individual net pots which required cutting the zip tie. I'm now using paper clips. I'm curious to see how long it will take them to rust. So far it works pretty well and this solution allows me to position the emitter exactly where I want unlike the zip tie. I believe the seedlings are Aunt Mae's Bibb Lettuce. The seedlings sprouted incorrectly but I put them in anyway to see what would happen.

Here we are looking at Aunt Mae's Bibb Lettuce, Salad Bowl Lettuce, Mustard "Myers Family Heirloom", Thai Basil, and Parris Island Romaine.



These are Red Sails Lettuce.



A view of the plumbing.



The reservoir, which holds the nutrient solution, and the return pipe.



The control system. The air pump aerates the reservoir, one timer controllers the water pump, and the other timer controls the lighting systems.



Seattle, WA.

HTG Supply vs. Sun Blaze T5 High Output Grow Light Review

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Seattle's short summers and thus growing seasons are my current bottle neck towards vegetable gardening. In an effort to increase my vegetable production throughout the year I've finally decided to try indoor grow lights to supplement those precious photons during the Spring, Fall, and Winter months. After a few hours of online research I was finally able to find an investment that fit my needs.

The HTG Supply Lamp was reasonably priced at $129.95 and to get it to my door with shipping I was out of pocket $155.12. The packaging was secure and the light arrived safely. One of the first things I noted when unboxing the fixture was how flimsy this unit is. The reflector is pretty thin and if you're not careful I can see someone easily damaging it with a few bumps here and there. You get what you pay for, right?

The light itself does what it is supposed to do. Compared to other units in it's class it does pretty much the exact same job. One thing I do appreciate about the fixture compared to other units are the built in mounting hangers. The chrome plated hangers are sturdy and low profile which is nice when you're trying to maximize grow space.



That being said, one of the features this fixture is missing compared to other units are the built in outlets to daisy chain grow lights off of a single electrical receptacle.

My local supply store stocks Sun Blaze T5 HO 44 Fixtures (4 Foot 4 Lamp) that are $140.11 out the door.



The Sun Blaze fixture is a tank compared to the HTG Supply fixture in terms of construction quality. It also includes the built in outlet to daisy chain additional grow lights which is very nice when dealing with multiple fixtures.



The only downside to the Sun Blaze unit are the built in wire hangers that are not as sturdy or low profile as I would like.



One last notable feature is a built in on / off switch also included in the Sun Blaze fixture.



If I had to do it again I'd support the local supplier and purchase the Sun Blaze fixture. Not only will I get a better light, I'll pay less too.


Seattle, WA.

Befriend Your Local Butcher

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USDA Choice Rib Roast from Shawn and Ted's Quality Meat Market.

Rib Roast

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USDA Prime Beef, Sea Salt, Fresh Ground Black Peppercorns, 9 hours of smoke (hickory) to 130 degrees in a Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker.