For those who are not in the know, “Onion Happiness” is a well-promoted brand of pseudo-hydroponic system, which, according to manufacturers’ brochures, allows you to grow up to 1.5 kilograms of green onions per month from bulbs by forcing them. Why is the system pseudo-hydroponic, an inexperienced reader in this matter will probably ask?
It's simple: the hydroponic system involves the complete introduction of micro and macroelements into the nutrient solution in which the roots of the plant are located, and in this case ordinary settled water is poured into the pan, and the nutrients are stored in the body of the bulb while it was growing in the ground. So what is this miracle of commercial thought? Let's take a closer look at this. And it represents the following: a low tray into which water is poured, a lid-tray with recesses in which the bulbs are placed, a low-power aquarium compressor, an air duct and an air spray. The price for such a product both in stores and on the Internet is prohibitively high and averages more than $15.
Upon closer examination, it turns out that such an installation can be made independently from available materials that are widely sold and it will cost at least half as much as buying it entirely. So let's get started. We go to the nearest pet store and buy the smallest aquarium compressor, not a pump with a filter, but a compressor.
We also buy a meter of silicone tube and 2 air atomizer stones there. Next, we go to a flower shop or market and buy a tray for sprouting onions into feathers. The retail cost of such a tray is mere pennies - 1-1.5 dollars. Then everything is simple: we make a hole in the lid of the tray with a diameter of 6 millimeters (you can drill or melt it with a nail of the required diameter heated on a fire, or, in extreme cases, dig it out with a knife or scissors).
Then we pass a tube through this hole, from which we first cut 2 pieces of 10 cm each. At the end of the tube, which will be immersed in water, we put on a tee with short tubes and sprayers attached to the bends. We put the opposite end of the tube onto the compressor fitting. All. The installation is ready for use.
We install the structure on the windowsill, pour settled water into the pan, immerse the spray nozzles in the water and cover with a tray. Place the bulbs in the cells of the tray and turn on the compressor.
If the bulbs for forcing were chosen correctly (not rotten, with rudiments of feathers and roots), then after 2 weeks you will be able to harvest your first harvest of green feathers, but if the onions have not sprouted, then you will have to wait 21 days for the harvest.Of course, 1.5 kilograms of greens will not be there, because the advertisers of “Onion Happiness” have shamelessly exaggerated, and, nevertheless, this is much more profitable than buying such an installation or a ready-made green onion.
