Ball herb growing kit

[peterstanley]

I recently tried using the Ball herb growing kit for Basil. It's basically a small wicking system using a net cup sitting in a quart mason jar. The Ball version uses mostly perlite, with a thin layer of coco coir on top, which the seeds are sown in, and there is a layer of charcoal added to the top. I made my own version to run alongside it, a 3-inch net cup in a mason jar, but my cup had only coco coir in it. Both had a wick hanging in solution to draw up water and nutrients. They each seemed to perform the same up until after sprouting when I added nutrients. I originally wanted to compare the systems, the Ball version to the one I made, but I changed so many variables I didn't have a good comparison to work with. In the end, the Ball kit outperformed mine. I plan to run another test, keeping absolutely everything the same this time, except the growing system to isolate whether there was a failure with it. Has anyone tried this? You can find them in the canning section at WalMart. Here's the video where I show my setup and results, there are some time-lapses as well.

 

[DirtMechanic]

About the closest thing I have come up with is trying to sell my wife the idea that I should change the sink light to a grow light so we can have fresh herbs right there where we need them in the kitchen. I hope I can get a picture of her face that captures that wifely expression recognizing yet another undeniably great idea from her loving husband.