Supplies

Looked around at Lowes to see what supplies they had and here is what I found on Dec. 27, 2008.
Vermiculite - 8 qt bag for $3.97, Perlite - 8 qt bag for $2.97, and lettuce seeds for $1.19 a pack.  No net pots, so we'll need to order those.  I've found a site that sells the 2" for 19 cents each.  I'll post the link after we get in the pots with a review of quality, shipping, and total cost.

I'll start with gallon ice cream buckets, like the ones at Wal-Mart as the planter pots.  I've got some and the kids will help emptying more for me to use.

Hydroponics

We have decided to start with the lettuce growing. Now I need to get 1 gallon containers and net pots. Then I'll need to get the grow solution and some perilite. We are going to put these in the window sills, and I'll need to add some shelves so we can add more pots in the windows. If this goes well, then next step is a little greenhouse.

Hydroponics

Here are some links I found that tell about it. Some are for DIY, some sell you stuff - ranging from okay to WTF?!.

http://www.howtohydroponics.com/dutch_pot_hydroponics.html

http://www.easyhydroponics.net/free-hydroponic-plans/index.htm

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/HS184

http://vertigro.com/

http://www.hydroponics.net/learn/hydroponic_gardening_for_beginners.asp

http://www.simplyhydro.com/system.htm

http://homeharvest.com/hydroponicsautopot.htm

http://homeharvest.com/hydroponicsmain.htm

DIY lettuce grower! This is the first one we are going to do - it's simple and will be done inside.


Update 5/9/09- Well this project didn't get started. I have done more transplanting ginger and Blue Thunder, that'll be enough for this year.