As I have said before I like the idea of growing plants in water. By covering 60% of the surface with water cress, algae and evaporation should be limited and by introducing native fish, the mozzies won't get a look in. I am sure there will be plenty to learn and that's what I thrive on. It is nice to thrive on something that is inevitable !
Back to the story...yesterday Roger arrived home with a present for me - a big, black tub (no other colours available). This morning I could hardly wait for sunrise to get on with installing it, after a night tossing and turning thinking about what I would put in it and how much fun it was going to be. I have heard that some people don't get as excited as I do about growing food but I can't believe that would be true.
I cleared out a spot in my peastraw wall and found a whole lot of those little Chinese Seashells growing beautifully there. I also couldn't believe the number of bees working away in the yellow zucchini flowers and the blue chicory flowers (both of which are edible too). Anyway, I put the tub in place and surrounded it with more bales for insulation,and put about 2" of soil in the bottom. Next came the water. I only half filled it so the roots of things wouldn't have to go too far to reach the soil. Then I went off to scoop out from a pickle barrel base some of the watercress Deb gave me a few months ago and which has been eaten continuously in our salads ever since.
I noticed this morning that the roots of those water spinach that I bought on Friday had grown enormously in just 2 days so I put 4 of them into the soil at the bottom of the tub, with their heads poking up above the water.
As the sun rose a bit higher there was a real bite to it so I covered the tub with my white fabric. It just stops direct sun. I may have to add another layer of it but things growing in water don't need as much careful treatment as plants just in soil, I have found.
That's it for now.Eventually I want to have a whole row of these tubs along here. We are going to catch the rainwater from the carport roof to fill these and to use for hand watering the vegetables. The tank(s) will be placed on a stand, as tanks always were in my childhood, so there is enough pressure for this, without installing a pump.
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1 comment:
Its great you are enjoying experimenting or planning to grow water plants and doiing all this other stuff in your garden. I love watercress and grew it in a pot in the shade one year. The more I look at the garden I just think you have to try different things and change with the weather, its been lovely and humid, very different than having heatwaves and hot dry nights. Plants like life are an ever changing journey. Happy gardening.
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