Mastodawn

Basement garden is in full swing.

Purple tomatillos, 5 types of lettuce, cherry tomatoes and basil.

On deck: Sugar pumpkins, poblanos, tatsoi and chives.

Bonus: hydroponic spinach kratky experiment

#garden #gardening #grow #lettuce #tomatoes #seedling #seedlings #plantstadon #growlight #hydroponic #hydroponics #kratky #kratkymethod

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Marta 🌿🍃May 20

I never got to this in my video because my approach radically changed since writing the script. It didn't exactly matter for the video itself, but I think it's a good advice.
Originally I thought that beginner #Kratky #hydroponics gardeners like me don't need to bother about EC, as leafy greens are tolerant (in my one-season experience, tomatoes are tolerant too). But should make effort to lower solution's pH to lettuce levels (around 5.8). Which is a struggle as I found pH meters to be drama queens, while my EC meter is more reliable.
That was before I studied recommended EC/pH tables a lot, and also ran an experiment on my surviving kale, and then learned that it applies to all brassicas: they actually _like_ higher pH, and also like much higher EC, so if you have 'a bit hard' water like mine, you can ignore pH, scale the nutrients up to reach EC 2-2.5 (using a reliable non-fussy device to check), and be a happy owner of a garden with kale, pak-choy, mizuna, mustard greens, and a number of other 'cabbages'.
I'm currently unsure why the 'hydroponic beginner default' is lettuce, while it's so much easier to grow brassicas.
This year's young mizuna and pak-choy say hello (with sorrel in the front bottle).

Marta 🌿🍃May 15

It took longer than expected, but my #hydroponics video about Kratky bottles with 3d-printed parts is ready.
I tried other bottles but these 2l milk jugs are perfect in having wide throats, being stable against winds (I grow plants on an open balcony), and the size is good. They also pack well side-by-side since the bottom is rectangular.
The current batch of seedlings shown in the video is already bottled, mostly, with basil just about to. I'm currently out of empty bottles, and still need to sprout the seeds for the big container too.

All the models are made in FreeCAD, all the animations — in Friction2D. The milk jugs are local :)
The original inspiration by Hoocho's.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6ZlpEUcQ90

#kratkyMethod #Kratky #FreeCAD #Friction2D #3dPrinting

DIY hydroponics with plastic bottles and 3D printing

YouTube

wildepixel Mar 12

Dieses Jahr mal ein kleiner Hydroponic-Testlauf... mal seh'n, wie das klappt. Die #FronteraSweet ist gestern in einen grünen 10l Eimer umgezogen. Netztopf mit Blähton gefüllt und Wasser etwas gedüngt mit Hakaphos Naranja.

#chilisaison2026 #hydroponic #kratky #Chili #gardening

Briar𓂃🖊Jan 22

My experiment of growing a Marigold in my Kratky-style hydroponic setup. I wanted it to keep away pests...but also because its nice to see such a happy flower while there's snow outside.

I also have spinach and Swiss chard, and the very start of a strawberry plant.

#Kratky #hydroponics #flowers

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nora.in.stitches Dec 9

@tinker My first #Kratky #hydroponic attempts. Plant info in alt text. They are 5L buckets, with 4L of nutrient mix. They were established in my DWC unit, as I wanted to see if this setup supported already growing plants before I tried growing straight from seed (more likely to see issues sooner, was my logic).

Thanks again for your posts!

Marta 🌿🍃Nov 25, 2025

Made a short video about my experience growing leafy greens in bottles with 3d-printed inserts. The original idea belongs to Hoocho's Youtube channel (I modelled a similar insert myself), and was a gateway drug to #hydroponics for me :)
https://youtube.com/shorts/yeli_93LuXw
#Kratky #3dPrinting #HydroponicGarden