Food production is one of the oldest survival problems there is. On Jupiter 7, it also happens to be another excuse to experiment, build things, and see what happens.

Jupiter 7 Hydroponics: The Captain’s Survival Garden is the home for my experiments growing food with water, nutrients, limited space, homemade equipment, and whatever I can design or 3D print when the standard solution isn’t quite what I want.

This isn’t a laboratory and I’m not pretending to be an agricultural scientist. It’s a working garden and an ongoing maker project. I’ll document what I try, what grows, what fails, what I change, and what I learn along the way.

The Survival Garden

The garden includes small recirculating hydroponic systems, Kratky growing experiments, vegetables, herbs, and increasingly a few custom pieces of hardware. The goal is simple: grow food successfully while learning how these systems work and finding ways to improve them.

Current Experiments

Experiment 01 — Hydroponic Onions

Can a full-size short-day onion be grown hydroponically using a purpose-built support instead of a conventional net cup? I’m designing a 3D-printed open bulb holder that supports the plant while leaving room for the onion to expand and the roots to grow freely into the nutrient reservoir.

Open Experiment 01: Hydroponic Onions →

Around the Garden

Other growing projects include leafy greens, green onions, bell peppers, herbs, and future experiments with garlic bulbs, spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, and Kratky-grown crops. Each successful—or unsuccessful—experiment may eventually earn its own mission log.

Engineering Meets Gardening

Hydroponics fits naturally into Jupiter 7 because growing the plant is only half the fun. The other half is solving problems: designing holders, changing layouts, testing nutrient approaches, building prototypes, and finding simple ways to make the garden easier to maintain.

Grow something. Break something. Learn something. Try again.

Mission Log

This hub will continue to grow as new experiments begin, harvests come in, and the Captain figures out what actually survives.