There are a couple more things that I wanted to quickly note as far as coming upgrades go for the Colonel.

As my local hobby shop closed its doors, and its parent company seemingly went out of business, I ordered myself a pH Sensor off of eBay. Aside from the value a pH probe would bring to the unit, It will be nice to have the peace of mind that I can verify the wild readings I keep seeing from my hand sensor. I’d like to know if it is junk or not. pH Sensor will be delivered mid to late Feb.

I also stopped by the Dollar store to see what kinds of alternate growing mediums they might have for use in the garden, and I found 2 kinds... one is a glass gravel and the other is coloured rocks… it wasn't until after I got home that I saw the rocks indicated they weren't safe for fish tanks, (I'm guessing they'll mess up the pH)

As a test I put some of the rocks in a bowl and added vinegar, and after stirring the bowl a little it sounded like a cross between cereal (snap crackle and pop) and a fizzy drink. I didn't actually see any bubbles though.

In the morning, I compared the pH of fresh vinegar to the pH that had to rocks sitting in it, and there was a MASSIVE difference.

It just goes to show that you need to be careful when selecting a growing medium!

The last thing I picked up at the ‘rama was an impulse buy... that also happened to be an alternative growing medium…

Yes, its a pool noodle… AKA the hydroponicist’s secret weapon. They are apparently great for holding/supporting seedlings in low-cost hydroponic / kratky gardens while being pH neutral. :D