[Success/UL Bottle Garden] Zinnia (November 2020)

[ERR0R1755]

For anyone else that is considering getting one of these, one major complaint I have is that it is very hard to refill these with water. The booklet recommends lifting out the entire sponge/pod (which is 6" long!) but keeping the roots in the bottle, and then placing the sponge back in.

I started to do that the first time I refilled it, and (just like the AeroGarden pods) you could tell that the roots would be damaged if you put it back in. I pulled it out roughly 2" and lost most of the air roots that were there.

The best method that I've found, although it's difficult and annoying, is to lift it up roughly 1", push the end of a syringe into the sponge (where there are no or little roots), and very slowly add water using the syringe.

Once I'm done with this project, I will take a look at the pod's fit and see if I can find room for some tubing or other water inlet that would let me add water/nutrients without needing to lift up the pod.

[Sher]

I was thinking of trying Kratky flowers in some pretty bottles.  Thanks for the heads up about preplanning how to add water and nutrients.

Maybe I will look for wide mouth bottles and use 2" net cups.

[ERR0R1755]

Dec 18, 2020 23:16:22 GMT -5 Sher said:

I was thinking of trying Kratky flowers in some pretty bottles.  Thanks for the heads up about preplanning how to add water and nutrients.

Maybe I will look for wide mouth bottles and use 2" net cups.

I don't have any issues with normal Kratky, just these very narrow mouthed bottles since they're normal drinking bottles

[ERR0R1755]

[ERR0R1755]

I am definitely considering this a success!

[maskedsonnet]

What a lovely color!!!

[Sher]

It's beautiful, Error. And another bud to open soon!

[Shawn]

Very very pretty.

[ERR0R1755]

I finally got fed up with adding water via the top, so I inserted a small piece of tubing. It has sped up the refill time from minutes to seconds.

a very neat, clean and beautiful looking variety! I like !

[ERR0R1755]

[Shawn]

SO pretty

[Sher]

Gorgeous!

[ERR0R1755]

I improved the watering design further! I cut a soda bottle in half, and put a hole through the cap that the tube would fit. Now I can attach the half of the bottle, and fill that with water rather than bothering with my syringe.

[petunia]

Wow! This is awesome

[ERR0R1755]

It doesn't seem like the included nutrients were enough (I noticed the leaves starting to die on the edges) so I've been sneaking some AG nutes into the bottle. So far it seems to be working well.

[ERR0R1755]

Apparently I forgot to post pictures of this for the past few weeks, so here is one from the top:

[Sher]

I have been thinking about trying kratky flowers in a bottle or vase.

After seeing how yours turned out, I will definitely try it.

Will need to make a run to the thrift store or dollar store to find a vase size and shape I like.

[ERR0R1755]

Jan 31, 2021 18:05:53 GMT -5 Sher said:

I have been thinking about trying kratky flowers in a bottle or vase.

After seeing how yours turned out, I will definitely try it.

Will need to make a run to the thrift store or dollar store to find a vase size and shape I like.

If you use a standard bottle and start the seeds in coco coir / perlite / something that you can wash off, you can let it grow a bit in that, clean off the roots, and then have the plant support itself on top of the bottle with leaves.

It's a bit hard to explain, but imagine what I did here with straws and lettuce, except on a larger scale using bigger seedlings/plants and a bottle.

[Sher]

The lettuce growing in straws is a fun experiment!