When the average daytime temperature of our porch is around 105F, there are not too many plants that could be expected to survive transplantation, but when we got back to our Arizona home, I decided to try an experiment with the hardy Vinca plants that were available at our local Lowe's Hardware store.
I bought a six-pack and left them in a tub of water in a shady spot on our scorchy porch for a few hours. Then I gently shook off the dirt and anchored the plants in rock wool within some small plastic starter pots that I suspended over water in an ice bin:
Having read about the success others had with using foam board to cover the nutrient solution, I tried that, but found that the extreme heat made the foam board curl, which lifted the roots up out of the solution.
So I went back to my flexible cutting mat method. Look at these healthy roots:
In a few days I hope to have time to illustrate some of the inexpensive materials I used to set up this air garden and show how and why I implemented them.
Still haven't unpacked yet, but I'll be back soon!