I went on a holiday over Christmas, hence the missing “Week #2” post. Quite a bit has happened since the first week with what looks like the first set of spinach leaves sprouting. All the 7 plants in the 4 net cups look in good shape (Yes, I’ve still not cut the excess plants). Their stems are thick, they have a sprawling root system and their leaves are a vibrant green except for two leaves from one particular plant. They have some unusual transparent blisters on them. I can’t seem to find their cause or what they are online. Diseases I’ve read about online show distinct colored blisters which these are definitely not. None of the other leaves on the plant seems to be affected. I’ll just wait it out and see how this develops. Fingers crossed I don’t have my first casualty next week.
I’ve added a total of 4 liters of fresh water to the nutrient solution to maintain the level of water in the reservoir. I’ll probably have to replace my nutrient solution in a week’s time which is convenient because I’ve noticed a couple of tiny worms in the water. They haven’t caused an issue yet but I’d like to clean the tanks out sooner rather than later. Another thing that happened was that the perlite started turning green on the surface which was a sign of algae. So I replaced as much of it as I could, but from what I’ve read it isn’t a major problem, especially in the short term. And the purple stems? Still there. I’m hoping it’s just genetic because everything else seems perfectly fine. On a side note, I’m finally up to date on these blogs.
January 4, 2018
Fledgling Urban Farmer 