[Ended/Wicker Bottle] Tom Thumb Pea (Oct 31, 2021)

[ERR0R1755]

Since I don't have any AeroGardens active at the moment, I wanted to try experimenting with growing plants in soil again. Something that I had tried before was building a self-watering container out of a plastic bottle - which lets me reuse it one or two more times before finally recycling it, helping to reduce waste.

When I tried it last time, it became filled with tiny white bugs, so I panicked and threw it out - I later learned that those bugs are springtails, which help break down organic matter. They don't fly, leave the soil, or cause damage to plants or property - so if they appear again then I will appreciate the work they do.

I'm trying this again, but with a few changes - for the wick I am using a strip of cloth from an old tattered shirt, and instead of buying fertilizer or using my AG nutes, I dehydrated and powdered some food scraps before mixing it into the soil.

I also cut up some old bills to use as a thin paper mulch on top of the soil, which should prevent pests like fungus gnats from laying eggs. Time will tell how this works out.

[Sher]

Will be fun to follow.

[ERR0R1755]

I see a seedling! I've moved the paper to make room for it, and added a bit more paper. Until it gets established, I've been using a dropper to water it in on a daily basis, using water from the reservoir.

If I overwater it, the excess water just wicks back down into the reservoir, but that ensures that the root area will be wet until the roots travel further down.

[ERR0R1755]

I decided to remove the paper mulch, and discovered that the onion itself had not rooted. It looks like the root had grown between two pieces of paper, and as such, it did not reach the soil.

I removed the onion seedling (as well as all of the paper mulch) and decided to plant a Tom Thumb Pea in this bottle instead. I placed one seed from the last time I grew it in the middle of the soil and lightly covered it. I've adjusted the thread name and start date correspondingly.

[ERR0R1755]

I see a seedling! I've added perlite and powdered egg shells as a replacement for the paper mulch.

[ERR0R1755]

The leaves have started to spread out!

[ERR0R1755]

I woke up this morning to find over a dozen fungus gnats hanging out on and around this plant. I put a bag over the plant (trapping all the fungus gnats) and left it outside in the cold for a few hours, allowing all of the gnats to fly away. It got knocked over by the wind (blowing away most of the perlite) but I sprinkled some diatomaceous earth and I ordered some sand to try as a soil cover instead.

[Sher]

ERR0R1755 , the way I treat fungus gnats is mix 1/3 H2O2 and 2/3 water in a  spray botle and spray the surface of the soil once a week. it kills the larvae, and no more fungus gnats.

[ERR0R1755]

Nov 12, 2021 21:35:10 GMT -5 Sher said:

ERR0R1755 , the way I treat fungus gnats is mix 1/3 H2O2 and 2/3 water in a  spray botle and spray the surface of the soil once a week. it kills the larvae, and no more fungus gnats.

I would use hydrogen peroxide, but I think that would kill the springtails as well, which I want to keep alive.

It's a tough balancing act.

[Shawn]

it sees no more gnats and thrives

[ERR0R1755]

Dozens of fungus gnats again this morning. Oddly enough, they seem to leave all of my other soil plants / wicker bottles alone, it's just this one that they like.

I've returned the bottle (and all of the fungus gnats on it) to the cold outdoors. The sand I ordered is supposed to arrive today, which should prevent any gnats from laying new eggs as well as preventing any newly hatched gnats from leaving the soil.

[ERR0R1755]

I'm going to restart this again. I left it outside for a bit to see if the fungus gnats would fly away again, and they did, but I poked through the soil and found dozens of fungus gnat cocoons.

I'll wait a few days before replanting just to ensure that no fungus gnats appear from my other plants.

[lynnee]

Nov 13, 2021 15:16:48 GMT -5 ERR0R1755 said:

I'm going to restart this again. I left it outside for a bit to see if the fungus gnats would fly away again, and they did, but I poked through the soil and found dozens of fungus gnat cocoons.

I'll wait a few days before replanting just to ensure that no fungus gnats appear from my other plants.

That's too bad. The plant was growing so nicely! I'm off to Google fungus gnats, which I've never encountered.

[ERR0R1755]

Nov 13, 2021 23:03:39 GMT -5 lynnee said:

I'm off to Google fungus gnats, which I've never encountered.

You are either very lucky or have never grown indoors in soil

[lynnee]

Lucky, I think, but fungus gnats may be what killed my Christmas cactus. It developed a yellow fungus on the soil surface. That was a long time ago. The Aerogardens are so much easier to maintain, I've abandoned all indoor soil projects. 😄

[ERR0R1755]

Now that the gnats are all gone (thanks to putting sand on top of the soil for all of my soil-based plants), I'm restarting this plant in a new bottle and a new thread.