Problems & Solutions

So after a couple months of looking at dead tomato plants (they really set the atmosphere), I decided to replace them with something less dead. I actually have been thinking a lot about this and was looking for a plant that I could commit to that would work better in the indoor environment. Here are some of the factors to consider:

Height. Chinatown has a maximum height of 3 3/4 feet from base to top. Without modifying Venice too much, about 8 inches of that 3 3/4 feet goes immediately to reservoir. So ideal plants would be max out around 1-2 feet to make my life easy. And when my life's easy, there's less of a chance I'll let everyone die out.

Variation. For awhile there, there were about 5-6 different plant types. Spinach, broccoli, cabbage, tomato, jalepeno etc. Different plants have different needs. Much like an orphanage, having different needy plants led me to neglecting all of the plants to some degree (compromising acidity in some, light in others, etc). Since you can't compromise too much if you want something worth harvesting, only the strong survive and you're left with 20 healthy tomato plants surrounded by a bunch of gimpy, shorter, unadoptable comrades.

Dirt is boring. As much extra work hydro stuff is, it's worth it to see progress. After you buy 14 timers, pumps, PH testers and everything else it's a shame not to use it. On the flip side, growing both hydro and dirt simultaneously is time consuming and annoying when the one group you're babying (dirt) tends not to get as big or move much. Plus, dirt is a bigger pain when it spills on your carpet.

Payoff: There's a fine line between legal and illegal things (that line is called the law), but payoff tends to factor in. When you spend 4 months growing cabbages only to end up with two ziploc bags full, it's time to reconsider what you're growing. I don't eat healthy. I hate tomatoes. Time to grow something I like.

My solution: Strawberries. Plants are short, researching one species is doable, there's not a lot online about hydro strawberries and strawberries are delicious.