We have a new buzz in the research and development zone here at AutoPot HQ, we’ve taken receipt of a hive of 50 bees to help pollinate our array of plants! Without the bees, pollination of the tomatoes and various other plants would be a nightmare! The only other way to pollinate is go through each truss with a small brush, which isn’t practical. Thank goodness for bumble bees!
Also in the R&D room, we are testing vertical strawberry growing, using some simple shelving units and the easy2grow modules. We have added supplementary LED lighting, kindly donated by Paul at Budmaster and Jay and Nick from Venture LED. We are also testing different substrates and we are using EcoThrive Charge kindly donated by Gareth Hopcroft.
Shortly, we will be testing lava rock from the island of Cape Verde to see if it will sustain a substantial tomato plant. We have had to pre-soak the lava rock in water for seven to ten days, after this we have boiled the lava rock several times to remove any sulphur. Finally, the lava rock has been soaked for several days to stabilise the pH. Keep an eye on Facebook for updates on how we get on.
