Oops, creepy crawlers in the hydroponic set-up!

I saw some residue floating on top of the nutrient/water mixture inside my hydroponic set-up. Luckily I have a good microscope so I took some water samples. The results were astonishing. It was loaded with protozoa. Can you tell me which species and what I can do about it? Help is appreciated!

Hydroponics and protozoa video

Hydroponics and protozoa video 2

 

 

De eerste plantjes voor het nieuwe seizoen.

In mijn nieuwe verlichte kweekbak zijn inmiddels de eerste zaden ontkiemt. In de hydrocultuurbak heb ik sla (de Bolster), rode punt paprika (de Bolster) en kerstomaten (de Bolster. In de bak met potgrond heb ik sla gezaaid. De zaden hiervan komen van de sla van vorig seizoen. De sla in de hydrocultuurbak doet het op dit moment het best. Mooie stevige plantjes lijken dit te worden.

Rediscovered fossils collected by Charles Darwin

Somewhere in a cupboard there was a fossil collection waiting to be rediscovered. Luckily it recently was found be someone curious enough to peak into the cupboard. Now you can view it online http://www.bgs.ac.uk/discoveringGeology/geologyOfBritain/archives/jdhooker/home.html. Oh, by the way, it was the collection of Charles Darwin that was rediscovered. I thought you would like to know…

Update of the growing box and my vermicomposting box

Today I had to do some repair to the growing box. I had some leakage inside the hydroponics unit. About one liter of water flowed out of my box. Thankfully it did not create any short-circuits. Anyway, here are some photo’s of the boxes.

Growing box with hydroponics.

I just finished my growing box. Made of polystyrene. I added HF TL lighting, 2x36W. This provides also the heating. I circulate the water and nutrients every hour during the day, for 2 minutes. I hope that being able to jump-start the growing season this way, I will get more vegetables this summer. When the first results are visible (growing plants), I will post some photo’s on this blog.

Johan Rockstrom: Let the environment guide our development

Human growth has strained the Earth’s resources, but as Johan Rockstrom reminds us, our advances also give us the science to recognize this and change behavior. His research has found nine “planetary boundaries” that can guide us in protecting our planet’s many overlapping ecosystems.

Have a look at this TED video presentation at www.ted.com/talks/johan_rockstrom_let_the_environment_guide_our_development.html?awesm=on.ted.com_AADT&utm_campaign=johan_rockstrom_let_the_environment_guide_our_development&utm_medium=on.ted.com-twitter&utm_source=t.co&utm_content=ted.com-talkpage