Grow Room

High above the beavering crew of the good ship AutoPot, swinging in the rigging and waggling his cutlass, it could only be our captain – Jason Ralph-Smith, never more at home than in his ‘Grows Nest’. Yep, the boss has been back up top in the R&D room, where one can get a verdant 360 degree vista of some pretty strange and savage adventures in cultivation. Join us as we wrestle him out of the way so we can get a better look for ourselves.

Looming large on our horticultural horizons of late has been a product line inspired by South Korea. It’s a new range of lifestyle modules designed to fit stylishly into domestic environs as initially requested by our friends at Griin Agriculture. These modules are currently being tested in the Grow Room with some typical South Korean faves as proof of concept. Growing in the modules right now are catnip and strawberries both of which are ‘catnip’ (we are reliably informed) to South Korean growers. 

Just to demonstrate that the modules will do everything a regular AutoPot module can do we also have chillies and tomatoes thriving therein. If you’re not of the South Korean persuasion but do fancy some of these then fear not. The modules will be every bit as available in the rest of the world as in the southern half of the Korean peninsula.

You’ve heard of ‘seed-to-plate’ but how about ‘seed-to-plate-to-seed’? Bear with us. Jason was recently eating some homegrown plump plum tomatoes on a plate when he suddenly decided, ‘I’ve had enough plum tomatoes for now’. He picked a couple of his surplus plum tomatoes up off his plate and squeezed the plum tomatoes plum-square over a couple of plummy pots in which he was planning to grow plum tomatoes. 

Pummelled by his fingertips the ‘seeds, goop, and all’ from the plum tomatoes were sent plummeting soil-wards. When he plum-ped up the courage to look again a week or so later he noticed that the tomatoes had germinated with fervent speed, much faster than dry seeds. These are now thriving in the grow room on a garden tray irrigated by easy2GO. Jason will soon be using the ‘wet-seed’ technique to sow fresh grow bags for the Tray2Grow systems at the R&D facility, more of which below!

Avast! The unmistakable junglistic vines of our Tray2Grow-cultivated tomatoes hove into view! These have been going for nigh on twelve months now and show no sign of relenting. Having delivered countless harvests the Sungold plants still seem capable of plenty more growth. So much so that Jason has had to start ‘knitting’ the vines into loops that reach up to the ceiling and descend again before repeating. The ceiling along with our capacity to ingest Sungolds will probably give out before the plants do so Jason is readying succession plans for a new batch in the coming months.

Similarly wending their way across the ceiling are some deliciously fresh and full melons. These have been produced using Tray2Grow too, using an interesting twist on the ‘pot configuration’. Here Jason has employed three 20L fabric FlexiPots per Tray2Grow, placing them directly onto the root control sheet. That root control sheet sits atop a sheet of capillary matting that draws water up from the tray bed. Of course, watering is controlled by the AQUAvalve in the Tray2Grow so there’s no need to bother with electricity, pumps or timers. Gravity-powered, the AQUAvalve will simply respond to plant consumption and introduce a metered fill as and when required.

The melons are potted in Biobizz Light Mix and fed using the Source range of nutrients, a combination which seems to be treating them very well indeed. Likewise potted and fertilised are our exuberant banana plants. As it stands we have a Red Banana looking pretty spectacular with it’s green-crimson foliage. Coming to join the party in a few days is a Blue Banana which retains the typical green leaves of a regular banana plant. 

Should either banana plant ever bear fruit then a real visual feast would commence. Both live up to their names when fruiting, producing vividly coloured crops. We’re reliably informed that the fruit are as stunning in flavour as they are in appearance, with the Red possessed of a sweet, soft taste and the Blue a vanilla ice cream-like character. May never come to that but tis free to dream!

Adjacent to the bananas and also in XXL50 modules, our papaya continue their wonderfully solid growth. Such permanent, healthy plants are a real testament to the possibilities of indoor gardening. These always elicit a nod and a smile as we pass them! Equally worthy of mention, but far less sedate, are a collection of special request chillies grown on behalf of one of the scamps from ‘below decks’.

Scuttling around in the Admin section of our metaphorical ship is Josh Smith, General Office Assistant. Apparently he is a fan of superhot chillies. Josh has petitioned Jason extensively to grow some superhot chillies in 1Pot XL modules. But in a twist that will surprise elders nowhere, the wee rascal has promptly declared that they’re too hot to actually eat. They are looking pretty. They are looking rampant. But they are totally impractical. Young-uns rejoice!

Far more practical are the plants currently under cultivation for Glee. Jason has a variety of beefsteak tomatoes underway plus chillies and various bedding plants. These will fill out our live demo display at the Birmingham trade show in early autumn. If you are a garden or lifestyle trade professional why not come and see us at the NEC 10-12th September? Tickets are FREE and registration is open right here, right now!

For more from the grow room including upcoming competitions follow our progress on Insta @autopot_global and on Facebook via @autopotsystems