Yes, well, I thought peppers were supposed to be self-pollinating, but lately I've been hearing rumors that some of the aeroponically grown plants need a little help:
Probably I am going to be pretty useless at this. Lots of reading to do.
But say, do you think we have enough AeroGardens?
While we were waiting for the last two to arrive, to make room for my cilantro experiment, I had to set up some "holding tanks" for plants that were wasting space in our first AeroGarden Deluxe.
Fabricating life support for the little nippers was an interesting task, and one which I wish we had tried years ago. Our summer condo is dark, but the porch is filled with glorious light (and heat!)
That seems to be just what the squash and okra love, though.
Going Beyond the AeroGardens
After studying the offerings of hydroponics supply stores online for hours, days, and then weeks, my conclusion was that to get what we wanted, we would have to make it. So here is my prototype for a network of planters suitable for our Arizona porch.
The grow holes are PVC pipe fittings, and as they do not screw all the way in for a tight fit on either side of my growing surfaces (flexible kitchen chopping mats cut down to size and retrofitted with holes), I fabricated washers for them out of the clear tubing which also is used to keep the stems upright.
An office hole punch was just the right size to make the openings for the air tubes which have air stones on the end that conveniently drop into the hollow legs of the planters we already had on hand.
The other ends of the tubing go to a 4-way valve:
Air from the pump passes one-way through a check valve to ensure that no water will spill back in the wrong direction in case of a power out.
Update on the Peppers: A New Flower