Flowers are starting to show up on the squash

My babies will be four weeks old in a couple of days. I have lots of side shoots, new leaves, and last night, I saw some flower buds getting close to opening!

You do have to watch your systems

I had to travel for a few days, and my plants grew so much that their water requirements exceeded the flow. When I returned, they were looking pretty sad.
I just had to turn up the valve a bit, and within a few minutes, they were perking back up.

Day (23) of the Squash

These are the squash/watermelons that were planted from seed on July 4. As you can see, for plants that are 23 days old, they are doing very well. I can see flowers and many side shoots developing already. It is a lot of fun watching their rapid progress.

We had a minor setback with one of the trays. It was not getting good flow, and tray 5 wilted a bit while I was away. I turned up the valve a bit, and everybody was happy. With so many plants, I won't be missing much. They came back right away, but will be behind the other four trays.

July 16, 2009

Latest pics.

Latest pictures

The top picture was taken yesterday. The changes are pretty obvious. The second set of true leaves are coming out now.

Baby plants are growing fast

Between Sunday and today, the first 'true' leaves appeared, and have now grown to silver dollar size and larger.
The nutrient solution is still very mild, about 680 PPM of TDS. I will add some more strength to the solution before departing on a four day trip. I expect to see solid gains. Will post pictures soon. Check back.

Plug for Atlantis Hydroponics

These guys have been really helpful. I got several components for my systems from them, and also the nutrients. They have the best prices I could find for Pure Blend Pro Grow and Bloom, and I have to credit a lot of my success to using these nutrients. Their website address is: http://www.atlantishydroponics.com
Pure Blend Pro Grow (3-1.5-4) and Pure Blend Pro Bloom (2.5-2-5) are getting me results like in the pictures. These plants were placed in the system in the last week of April, so they are about two and a half months old. The only problem I have had is that the roots are seeking out the reservoir. I'd let them go for it, if they only wouldn't fill up the drain pipe and potentially block the flow. I have been lifting up the pots at the ends of the trays, and pulling the roots back. Right now, both pots are barely inside the trays at all, pretty much sitting on a three inch thick mat of roots. The plants don't seem to mind it. They have plenty of air, and the bottom layers pull in the nutrient. Support is provided by the trellis system.

Baby squash and melons

All 25 are up and running. the one in the lower left corner already has a four inch long root running up the bottom of the tray. These are the healthiest sprouts I can recall seeing. I am not sure which is which, because I put about 12 seeds of each in the same cup, and tried to plant equal amounts. I did put mostly watermelons at the bottom end of the trays, but I do remember putting a squash in the middle tray. Anyway, we will see what is planted where when the leaves/produce appear.

Squash/melon sprouts

I took these pictures on Wednesday and last night. As of now, all the cups have either a sprout that has broken through the surface, or will in the next day or less.
I am using covers on all the cups that have not sprouted yet, to try to give them a better shot at germinating, although I am not sure that is necessary.

More squash and melons sprouting

As of last night, 10 out of 25 cups had sprouts either about to break through to the open, or were already standing up nice and tall. I am expecting the rest to pop up pretty soon. I'll post pictures soon.

The Model 5525

This is the first system I built from scratch. It successfully housed 25 lettuce plants and grew them to maturity in about 30 days. Due to the July heat, they finally started bolting last week, and they were removed. I have re-planted the system with zucchini and butternut squash, along with Jubilee Watermelon. The seeds were put in the system on July 4. As of last night, about three or four of them had broke through the surface. Watch for pictures in this blog showing the progress.

New pictures of the NFT system

I took these pictures last night. The tomatoes have reached the roof line of the house, and the earliest cherry tomatoes are turning red. There are perhaps a hundred to two hundred on two plants. The four cucumber plants are doing well enough that I have had to trim the roots once, and should do it again now before they grow down into the reservoir again. The system goes through a gallon or two of nutrient solution per day. The system was planted on April 26, so it is a little over two months along. Keep in mind that all these plants are sitting in a container that is about half the diameter of your typical yogurt cup. The PVC frame is as large as I can make it, and I will not be modifying it unless I have to.
At the top is a picture of the day the system was planted.