project – bulb jar!
Yesterday I went to Maker’s Faire with Jon and saw a lot of cool ideas and products by today’s makers. At the Boswyck Farmbooth, I made a container out of a 2-litre bottle that waters the plant from the bottom-up. It got me thinking…
Using only a couple tools and empty jam jars, I made 4 prototypes of bulbjars. For the seed, I used birdseed* from the store or radish seeds. The control is on the right; filled 1/4 full of rye grass. Next is 3/4 full of rye grass. Next is 2/3 full with rye grass and ~50% perilite in the soil. The far right one is 2 radish seeds. You can kind-of see in the pictures that there are tubes coming out of the tops. Once I know these containers are hospitable, I would like to try this experiment submerged in water with just the end of the hose in the air.
I bought the hoses new, but the rest was just lying around :)
* I am interested in making bird seed mixes of vegetable species that provide full nutrition to the user. If a person can plant 5 servings of birdseed in their yard that gives them a balanced diet, it would be healthy and easy to sync with re:farm vacation boards…
The plants are not growing; while there are roots visible from the jars, nothing is happening above the soil. I think I need to try either a new type of plant or somehow increase the amount of airflow in the jars. I’m not giving up on the structure, but does anyone know how I can best modify them?