Adventures in Hydroponics (Weeks 6-13)

Wildlife edition

In which my plants meet wildlife or just naturally fail to grow.

Day 44 (July 29, 2014)
When I go away on vacation, some opportunistic caterpillars visit and eat all of the watercress. Like, all of it. Ma’ayan snaps up some evidence! (Also super special thanks to Ma’ayan for babysitting while I am away!!) I expect that the watercress is mostly done for, but I keep watering it anyway.
2014-07-29-Caterpillars
Yes, I’m approximating the day count at this point.

Day 48 (Aug 03, 2014)
I’ve return to Berkeley to living and well plants, except for the poor watercress. (Yayyy basil and parsley growing up.)
2014-08-03-Basil
2014-08-03-Littlings

Day 60 (Aug 15, 2014)
Dear cilantro, I really insist you stand up straight. (Spoiler alert: they die. Turns out cilantro is notoriously difficult to grow.)
2014-08-15-Cilantro

Day 75 (Sep 01, 2014)
I’m learning all about Berkeley wildlife, which is pretty exciting. My basil plant is attacked by what I suspect to be a squirrel. It dug up the rockwool, leaving a mess and the roots of the plant exposed. I promptly stick the rockwool back into the cube as best I can and proceed to wait and see what happens.
2014-09-01-Basil-2

2014-09-01-Basil

Day 89 (Sep 14, 2014)
Oh dang, it’s the return of the watercress, 1.5 months after the ravaging. No special treatment, just water and nutrients at normal intervals (and the Bay Area climate).
2014-09-14-Watercress

Parsley and basil are doing well too.
2014-09-14-Parsley

2014-09-14-Basil

Cilantro still struggling though. They realllllly want to reach the sun. I believe these are attempt 35 or so to grow cilantro (which also fail).
2014-09-14-Cilantro

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