Indoor Hydroponics Moss & Algae Gardens!
Hello & Happy Canada Day to You! This month's hydroponics article here at Suite101.com will give a detailed description of how you can build your very own indoor hydroponics Moss & Algae garden. Indoor hydroponics Moss & Algae gardens are apparently going to become very popular among the elite and contemporary visionaries.
Check out this picture of a portion of a recently built indoor hydroponics Moss & Algae garden. Please note the grass which infiltrated the garden, it is being allowed to live...for now!
This garden is obviously in it's infancy, but there appear to be many species of mosses already starting to grow in it (like a total plethora, if you will) and it will flourish abundantly as long as it is kept moist and enough light is supplied.
The original patch of moss was harvested from a backyard here in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It appears to be quite a healthy sample containing mostly Sphagnum Peat Moss. A few of other types of Mosses & Algae are starting to colonize the tray as well.
This indoor hydroponics Moss & Algae garden was built based upon using the "ebb & flow" technique as described in our previous article "Back 2 Basics Part Vier!".
Here is a graphical representation of the basic building blocks of this system to refresh your memories.
This hydroponics systems consists of the incorporation of a simple plastic lined tray which is sitting on a support (pails) and the tray has 1 hole drilled in it to allow for liquid nutrient fertilization solution to be injected and then subsequently drained using a cheap multi-purpose utility pump.
The tray is filled with 2-4" of Perlite (Pearlite) and Vermiculite @ a 1:5 ratio, with some extra Vermiculite spread on the surface to encourage infestation of native species of algae and mosses. Some powdered Dolomitic Limestone was also added to balance pH & supply additional benefical Magnesium & Calcium for the Mosses and Algae.
The light source consists of 2 4 foot 40 Watt fluourescent light tubes, one full-spectrum & one not-so-full-spectrum, which cost a total of ~$6 plus the fixture which is a traditional economy utility type that is hung from chains attached to hooks screwed into the ceiling beams.
The nutrient solution being used is a professional-grade full-spectrum fully soluble hydroponics formula which we mixed in @ ½ strength and don't plan to change more than 1ce a month. We don't plan to bother checking the pH either.
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