Kratky-xhausted...

 This was one long weekend. And going to be one long week, well almost. I returned today, i.e. Monday morning, knowing that I was to leave again for three days this very evening. So I'm some place far far away from the adventure I got started back home...(equally far from the plants and the plants to be). But, one which left me 'accomplishedly' exhausted. He's the start point.

B.A. Kratky, Horticulturist

University of Hawaii CTAHR/TPSS

Beaumont Agricultural Research Center

875 Komohana

Hilo, Hawaii 96720 USA

The gentleman has come up with an amazing system. The details can be easily googled. I'd just simply outline what happened because of them today. As always was running late. Does it happen to all of us, that the day we're behind schedule is also the day we want to accomplish the maximum?

My aim: To set up a Kratky system to grow cucumber. When set up correctly, the system looks after itself till it runs out of 'fuel'. In my case, this may happen after 3 to 4 months. Which means, I hope for an almost steady supply of cucumber post fruition.

Items required: A huge container (200 l plus); Ideally, RO water to fill it up; Topping it up with the right nutrient in the right proportion; A netted pot which sits into the containers lid, cut to size; The cucumber seedling (with vibrant true leaves et al) cocooned yet in the grow plug, snuggled cosy into a rain of clay pellets, which have been poured into the netted pot. So it starts with this...

A plastic tank, I was assured was of 200 l capacity. But when I emptied these...

with my Maths of 20 x 10= 200, I realised that the tank was still short by about 100 l. Getting that much of RO water in a jiffy was not easy. Lugging it from the source into the back of the car was difficult. Lugging it from where the car was parked to the tank was even more difficult. And pouring that much of water, was kind of back-breaking. But that wasn't the problem. The problem was a drop-drop, drip-drip from the two plastic plugs you see at the tanks' bottom. You tighten them too much, they break. You live with, the nutrient rich water feeds terra firma along with the cucumbers roots. So, a plumber was summoned...who heroically, without much ado used the age old friend of plumbers across the world-a thread-to plug the leaks. The tank duly filled.

As I'd said, I was running late for the airport. So the preparation of the nutrient solution (between checking on the internet for details for the same and making unsuccessful calls to my garden-guru), the settling of the seedling into the clay pellets in the netted plot, the mixing of the proportional nutrient into the tank and the final placing of the netted plot, all happened within a span of about 15 minutes. I had a sheen of sweat on my forehead after that and I also forgot to take pictures. But, I promise to do so on reaching back.

Meanwhile, the frame for greenhouse, its foundation etc progress steadily.

Have never waited for a Thursday evening as eagerly, as I do now.