brrrr...it's cold outside!

While i was away, my daughter got it into her head that it was time mommy had more flowers around the house...and she wanted mom to have tulips!...well, it's 14 degrees F outside, with ice on the ground...so after explaining the cold weather in January was bad for bulbs- she took it on herself to plant some petunias instead, in 'her' powerplant mini. She instructed mom on what to do...and here they are 4 days later!!!..they like my new prepara grow lamp and their green nutrient (more on this later).

Every morning she pulls over a bar stool and climbs up, clicks on the grow lamp and checks them out, normally followed by ooos and ahhhs, as they really have shot up. I'll be sure to keep the blog up to date.
I've been thinking these power plant products would be great for schools, they are just so remarkably engaging and fun.

Here's some nutrient update i mentioned above;
While developing new products Prepara has been continually upgrading their methodolgy and specifications of the products. The first thing they learnt was that you cant trust to any old nutrient for growing. So, if you have green nutrient..then you have the latest and VERY best available in the world....1 teaspoon per gallon of plain old water! voila!

However, if you have some yellow or aqua color nutrient, then you have the 'old' stuff (with different mixing instructions)...this will work, but be sure to 'upgrade' your machine to the new stuff...you WILL NOT regret it...it's amazing!..you'll get the replacement, currently from preparas web site, where they will sell you enough -at a great price-for many, many grow cycles.

While at the site download the growing instruction PDF...this was simplified and you will see the use of the 'timer' has been written out...this is now considered an option for those of you that want to save electricity, however the power plants can be left running 24/7 with no adverse effects whatsoever. plus- they really only use a tiny amount of power, so...its up to you. I dont use a timer and my plants grow splendidly.

reaching for the sky

here's a picture of the mint reaching out from the sponge. they look happy...!

you can see the basil behind, i used some in a cocktail mix yesterday, the weather is perfect at the moment, 80 degrees. i muddled (mashed) the basil with some ice, vodka and a cranberry mix i bought from William Sonoma, based on some legendary cocktail made at the gramercy tavern in NYC...it was refreshing, the perfect end of summer drink.

at last...i planted the mint

here are a few images of the basil pistou growing happily and healthily in my kitchen. she has continually sprouted new leaves and unlike the other basil i've grown, she doesn't seem to need paring back....she just grows up a little and sprouts loads of new leaves...she really is a bushy plant.

you'll also see alongside the power plant- my mint. i planted this morning, only took a few minutes, so keep checking back, as i'll be updating the site regularly.

for those of you 'in the know' prepara just upgraded the nutrient for the power plant series..this new stuff is awesome...they sell it at their site...enough for a couple of years growing.
(if your power plant came with the very early yellow nutrient you'll now find the new green stuff to be like steroids for your plants!!...they love it....and its natural and the stuff has won awards from the hydroponic gardening industry - FYI all the recent shipments of powerplant had already been upgraded to the new stuff...it's just the yellow nutrient that is the old stuff)

mystery-to be solved?

ok, so here are the leaves on the 'mystery plant,' a little more developed...can you guess what it is yet? (in the first two pictures)
i cant be sure what will happen with it, but i'll keep the blog upto date with it's developments.

also, the pistou is making great headway now...the leaves are doubling up and in a few more days i'll be pinching them back to encourage bushier growth.

oh, and btw have you checked out the demo video at;

http://www.prepara.com/power_plant.php


it shows how quick these prepara power plant minis are to set up.

basil pistou...and a surprise guest!

i finally got some time to set up the new crop.
my daughter dutifully helped mix up the nutrient. we rinsed the sponge, first under some running water. we placed the sponge back, in the correct orientation, and placed the seeds along the inside of the grow sponge slit. we dribbled mixed nutrient along the seed slit and filled up the reservoir with the mixed nutrient. and Voila we turned her on and that was saturday.

it's now wednesday and there's been some nice developments, as you can see. i placed the humidadomes over the sprouting seeds, to help concentrate the humidity, light and heat.

we are trying Basil Pistou seeds from Burpee. the seed packet says it's a small leaf basil, grows abundantly and is commonly used for pesto in France...cant wait to see its beautiful leaves.

i will admit that the second power plant mini has something very unusual in it (the last picture)...and i'll continue to keep the blog updated with photos of it....and you'll just have to keep coming back to see what it might develop into!

so far its been an absolute joy running the power plants, especially the level of care i feel for these developing plants, right in front of my eyes. every day i get to see a little more development and my daughter still grabs the kitchen stool to take a peep at 'her' plants.