Ann's Air Gardens

Upside Down Tomato

I have to be the last person on my block to have an upside down tomato planter, but I'd been wanting to make one for quite some time, and although this one is not hydroponic, it certainly fits the theme of "Ann's Air Gardens." 

  You may remember this plant when I put it in a milk    carton here.   

 The roots and soil are held in place with a chunk of the same open-cell air-conditioner foam that I use as plugs in the AeroGarden's grow baskets.  The foam also helps keep soil from falling out through the opening when the plant is watered. 

I'm hanging it indoors in the shade until I get a fabric cover sewn.   I'm still thinking about the design, as I'd like the cover to come off easily for inspection, but also to protect the dirt from drying out and/or getting direct light. 

My theory is that the roots, which may have already adapted to water since this cutting was rooted in water and spent the first month of its life in liquid nutrient solution, will adapt to potting soil if I harden the plant off properly before abandoning it to the desert heat.  But I should note that the soil that I am using (Scotts MicracleGro Moisture Control) contains coco-noir, so that should help.

I'll add a picture when I get the cover made, and hopefully again when tomatoes appear.  There are buds on the plant now, but the shock of being converted might cause them to drop off. 

I Am So Proud of This

It is the first nasturtium I've been able to sprout since I've been doing soil-free growing.  After four unsuccessful attempts to get nasturtium seeds to sprout in the AeroGarden, I sprouted this one in the Sproutman's hemp bag instead, after nicking the sides of a handful of seeds and soaking them for a few hours.   All of the seeds sprouted in just a few days in the hemp bag.    

In this experiment, I have put one seedling in the MiracleGro Moisture Control potting mix and the other in open-cell foam in the AeroGarden.  

Although I gave up on trying to sprout these in the AG, I'm still interested to see if the seedlings will grow in one.  However, if memory serves, these do not like a lot of feeding, so I should grow them alongside herbs rather than other flowers.  

 

The lantana clones I blogged about recently looked like they were ready to be transferred from soil-less medium into dirt today, too.  Here is one that I grew from an end cutting with just two leaves on it, rooted in water.

At the right are the two original leaves, which I cut off and set aside, all of those still on the plant being new growth.

It took about one month for this plant to take root and then begin to flourish. It seems to me that most new plants I grow either from seeds or cuttings have a little growth spurt after about three weeks.

A Penny for your Thoughts

An unabashed plug for my favorite (and only) social networking program:

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Fastest Fig in the West?

Ever since my cousin gave me a taste of the figs that grow in her back yard, I've been hooked on the idea of reproducing that tree, as they are the best figs I've ever had.  So I've been searching for tips of propagating fig plants in the forums and apparently what I want to do is very far out on a limb.  Everyone says to take leafless wood cuttings when the trees are dormant and root them in the ground. 

The only discussion I've yet to find about hydroponic fig plants was rather negative.   But I still wanted to try putting new growth from the end of a branch into water just to see what would happen, and five days later it would appear that I have healthy roots, pictured in the insert at the top left:
So now I'm wondering where are all the articles about figs being grown as decorative houseplants.  Am I missing something?  Of course the first thought that came to mind was who might have a fruit-bearing bonsai fig?  I had to go all the way to Brazil for the answer:

This is no Banyan 

By now I am of course thinking I should Google up the keywords "hydroponic bonsai" and this is what came up:

Hydroponics and Bonsai

Very cool, and germane to this discussion because my purpose in wanting to try the soft cuttings was to see how fast one could propagate a fig.  If you read the closing quote from Dickens on the Hutchins page, then you'll understand what I mean when I say that I want to sit in the shade now.  

All this should lead soon to another topic:  is the notion that water/air roots differ in a significant way from soil roots really a fact or just another wide spread myth waiting to be debunked? 

 Cutting started 8/6.

 Roots showing 8/11.

 Moved to soil 8/14.

 For this experiment I am using Scott's    MiracleGro Moisture Control Potting Mix, which contains coconut fibers (coir) and a 3-month supply of plant food.  

The container is a trimmed down milk bottle.  I will poke holes in the bottom for drainage and set it inside a decorative pot until it is ready to be cut loose and put into something bigger. 

Cloned in the AeroGarden: A Million Bells

This is what became of the stem cutting I put in the AeroGarden 3 to root on June 23:
  It took root in approximately 3 weeks and then went on to open up 3 lovely flowers.  It is a good thing too that it is thriving, as the parent plant has just about succumbed to the desert heat and is no longer flowering.  It is not doing well at all out on the porch, so if I'm to be sure of saving it, I'd better take some more cuttings fast. 

I had cut all the buds off before cloning in order to give strength to the new roots, so I wondered how long it would take to bloom again.   Here is a shot of the Million Bells roots:
These roots are very fragile at the top and break off easily if the foam insert is moved.

Of course, the basil cutting in the back dwarfs the others.  The spiderette "cutting" was taken about the same time and it has formed an amazing root structure:

 
The new spider plant and basil are ready to be moved into passive containers.