KennethT

Is there a purpose to growing carniverous plants, more than just the fun or novelty of it? I know very little about them, other than the fact that they are carniverous, as the name implies. Do they get all of their nutrients from their digestion, or do they need some from roots as well?

My parents tried to do that to me... I was prepared to sit all night, they were not.... hehehe

Once you get the trick, it actually goes pretty fast. I can do enough for 2 people in about 5 min. or so.

I used to be a renowned BS hater... then, years ago, I took a cooking class with David Bouley and one of the vegetables made was "roasted brussels sprouts leaves" - which is really "sauteed brussels sprouts leaves"... You core the sprout and separate all the leaves... then on high heat, saute with salt and pepper until the leaves wilt slightly and are a bit charred - the high heat gives them a sweetness and they're not vegetal at all. It's the only way I'll eat BS now.

I haven't been to Keen's in a few years, but I used to go once a year or so. I loved their "mutton" chop, but I was never crazy about the steak there - every time my friends ordered it (they'd usually get the porterhouse for 3), I would try a piece - it was always perfectly cooked, but always seemed a little dry. But their appetizers and sides are good, and it's not too loud if you sit in one of the smaller rooms upstairs.

Yields and flavor are amazing when it's done right... it's not the cheapest (especially as a small home hobby gardener) and especially compared with plunking stuff in the ground, but for me, growing indoors, it's the best - I never worry about soil borne diseases or pests and I have much more control over the health and nutrition of my plants... and you get huge yields (so your cost per harvest weight comes down), mainly due to the plant having everything it needs whenever it needs it, the consistent growing environment and lots of oxygen for the roots. If you're interested, there's tons of info on the web... some great, some not so good...

Been doing some experimenting with some new equipment as I get ready to try some new crops.... Capacitive moisture sensor Buried in some soaked and drained coco coir. You would think that it would have an extremely high moisture content - but coir has an amazing air holding capacity... The moisture content is just over 30%. ETA: Whoops!!!! I made a major math error in the coding of my controller which is providing those readouts.... Turns out that the humidity was more like 33% and the moisture was more like 82% - which is still good air holding capacity considering that it was completely saturated.

@Norm Matthews Nice sandwich press!

I usually get the dry version (not in soup), but I wanted something really warming last night.

Walking 5 blocks each way in 15 degrees? Totally worth it.. Spicy cumin lamb noodles in lamb broth at Xian Famous Foods....

I like the rooted stem for all tomato plants - I learned this when I got some starts from Laurel's Heirloom tomatoes - she recommended doing that and it created a nice big root system.

Spindly wimpy plants has nothing to do with staying indoors, it's mainly due to a lack of light. So, it's because of staying indoors with inadequate lighting. This may have been true 20 years ago, but with today's lighting, not necessarily so. Personally, I would never sprout seeds in soil, I don't care how "sterilized" it claims to be. I either start in paper towels or a 1.5" cube of rockwool. If possible, adjust the pH of the soaking liquid for either the paper towel or rockwool to about 5.5

I don't know about that... I've grown genovese basil many times hydroponically indoors and it has always been extremely flavorful... I think it is more genetics dependent..

Thai Chicken stir fry with one of my favorite herbs, grachai.

Pea plants are climbers... They usually need some kind of trellis in the wild... indoors too...

If this was for a business, I'd say that the sample should be sent to a lab for testing. Expensive, yes, but also necessary to pass state regulations and also so you can provide accurate dosing info.

According to the MagicalButter machine site, they recommend decarboxylating in the oven prior to using the MB machine. Evidently, that machine grinds (with an immersion blender) and steeps the butter at a set temperature for a given time.

Interesting - the only kind of chicken you will see in fast food other than in whole fried pieces a la KFC or Popeyes is white meat - you'd never see deboned leg meat on a sandwich.

Chicken parang curry...

They were relatively recently bought out by Osram, but it seems like their product is still made and supported in the USA - their service is fantastic, as is their build quality... but, unfortunately, you get what you pay for!!!

I hope that's for a LOT of seedlings!

Nice - KIND has a decent reputation, although for a pro setup, I really like Fluence stuff - their lights are unbelievable... I've been testing one for a while - it's a great piece of equipment and has no fans that can go bad, which would quickly ruin the LEDs. Hydro stuff ideally uses RO water because when you're adding your own nutrients, you can get imbalances if you don't account for what's in your water. One way to do this is with RO - you basically have nothing in your water. Another way is to get your source water tested (there are lots of local labs - or your municipality may offer it for free) and account for what's already there. This works well if you're making your own recipe from various sources, but not really practical in a home setup. LEDs in general don't give off UV - unless you have LEDs that are supposed to give off UV. In fact, some mfrs (like Fluence) offer a UV only fixture - which can be good for ripening certain, ahem, flowers.

In normal hydroponics, you would want to constantly aerate your reservoir to make sure you get O2 to the roots, as well as keep anaerobic pathogens at bay. In reality, aerating the reservoir only works really well if you keep your reservoir under 65degF since dissolved O2 in temps higher than that is very low. I'm dying to see how the tomato plant does under 13W of LED light... I have a hard time believing that will be enough to get any decently flavored fruit, unless they're providing some kind of new breed of tomato that loves the shade....

Evidently it's some type of prefertilized media that self waters with a wicking system into the reservoir

I agree also - but the problem is that non Rooster brand Sriracha is practically unavailable in the US.