DIY, cheap as sin, Hydroponics

[antirem]

First time posting here, but I hope ya guys like this.

Kanzure from the irc suggested that I begin my diybio journey by
playing with hydroponics. Broke as I may be I whipped out a dirt
cheap hydro system.

-------
Pics
http://hackerblog.net/assets/images/diybio/1-close.png
http://hackerblog.net/assets/images/diybio/2-full.png
http://hackerblog.net/assets/images/diybio/3-bubble.png
(i have since wrapped electrical tape around the jar so light dosnt
hurt its little roots!)

Short Article
http://hackerblog.net/papers/hydroponics-on-the-cheap
--------

I fashioned two straws together and taped one of the ends off; I then
pricked the taped end with a pin so I had an improvised pump. I don't
know how ofter I need to give my spider plant oxygen, but hopefully
this solution works.

The rest of the project was run of the mill as far as hyrdo goes
except, I used a mason jar instead of a large container.

I am hoping this project will find itself as an article for the Garage
Bio Mag. I think that there should be a teacher/kids section in the
magazine on every issue. I am very new to biology and dont understand
half of what people are talking about, so from a beginners prospective
there needs to be something for us noobs.

It wasnt my intention.. but I think this is a great classroom project
to teach kids about biology. The best bit that it costs ~35 cents,
which any teacher would adore.

cheers
~mark
irc.freenode.net #diybio - antirem

(ty for the pointers kanzure!)

[Bryan Bishop]

On Sat, Jul 4, 2009 at 9:05 PM, antirem <reme...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I fashioned two straws together and taped one of the ends off; I then
> pricked the taped end with a pin so I had an improvised pump.  I don't
> know how ofter I need to give my spider plant oxygen, but hopefully
> this solution works.

Another idea is to use clay to make a mold for a seed in the future.
Make a flat pancake out of the clay, then push the seed on through so
that it has a tight fit, oriented such that the roots will be on one
side of the clay, and the stem on the other. You can then do
upside-down hydroponics.

- Bryan
http://heybryan.org/
1 512 203 0507

[Marnia Johnston]

This reminds me of my friend Phil Ross's work. He's an artist working with living systems, specifically automated vivs for individual plants. Pix of his work at http://philross.org/

[antirem]

On Jul 5, 6:31 am, Bryan Bishop <kanz...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Another idea is to use clay to make a mold for a seed in the future.
> Make a flat pancake out of the clay, then push the seed on through so
> that it has a tight fit, oriented such that the roots will be on one
> side of the clay, and the stem on the other. You can then do
> upside-down hydroponics.

I am using a spider plant bud, so the clay wont work for me.

Ive fixed my lid problem by replacing it with panty hose wrapped
around with a rubber band. Over time the hole for the plant will
stretch with the plant.

(I like Phil's work Marnia)