Two self-grown eggplant plants are supplied by droplet irrigation, recirculating, and thrive splendidly. They have always bloomed so opulently, but have carried few fruits. Since they are wind pollinators and are draughty, we assumed that they were pollinated. Then we tried to help. With a brush we pollinated the flowers by hand - the success is fantastic. Now at least 15 aubergines are hanging at the same time and you can watch them grow. We din't cut back the aubergines, like with tomatoes - but thanks to hydroponics the fruits still grow super. Now we are annoyed that we didn't help with the pollination earlier - but one learns by experience.
This video gives an overview of different hydroponic cultivation systems with short explanations on soilless cultivation.
More videos will follow.
Our earthless, hydroponically grown balcony garden in mid-September. The tomatoes are about 6 m high and are already climbing over the greenhouse. The greenhouse is completely filled with plants, so that the doors and the roof window cannot be closed anymore. The Deep Water containers are full of melons, leeks, salads, cucumbers ... .
Herb-Astrid at her favorite activity - harvest.
By mid-September, delicious, sweet strawberries are still growing on our self-catering balcony. But I think the strawberry season is coming to an end. Conclusion: the monthly strawberries work very well in the NFT planting system - so far we have harvested approx. 1.25 kg. Note that everything we grow is supplied automatically - the effort is nothing compared to earth cultivation - you just have to harvest yourself. We often left the plants for a week at their own - they are watered and supplied automatically. Has worked super.
Lettuce from hydroponics can simply be kept fresh by pouring it into a water glass. In this way the lettuce can be passed on to neighbours, which happens frequently because we often had overproduction. Our planning for next year must be improved.
In our greenhouse we planted peppers, chillies and tomatoes. They are irrigated by droplets. The plants themselves are supported by clay ball substrate. After harvesting the pebbles can be reused - which makes ecological sense.
So far we have harvested 2 kg of peppers, approx. 0.5 kg of chilli and 18.5 kg of tomatoes, but there is still a lot more to come.
Principle of soilless cultivation in water - garlic cuttings simply grown in a shot glass - Deep Water Cultivation (DWC) works the same - simply soilless cultivation.
Our tomatoes, grown in clay ball substrate with drip irrigation, are almost uncontrollable. By mid-September we had harvested 18.5 kg and the tomato plants are still hanging full.
We have cultivated Cherry, Berner, Balkonzauber, Phantasia tomatoes - all very tasty. If there are still a few sunny, warm days, we will have plenty to harvest. Freshly harvested from the shrub, the tomatoes taste best. We only harvest as many tomatoes as we can eat - what a luxury.