Hailed as the world’s smallest automatic hydroponic system the LabBox from Pocket Grow is certainly small. Measuring just 6 ins wide by 5.5 ins tall the system includes drip feed watering and LED lighting. A micro controller automates the plant care, but for fine tuning you can regulate the system from your pc or cell phone. The makers state that their goal is “to create a collaborative agricultural containment experiment that promotes education, sustainable bio technologies and agriculture technologies”. The LabBox Grower is not currently available but is due to start shipping in January 2011. Read more..
Returning to the subject of slugs and snails that I mentioned in a recent post, I found two stories concerning these problem pests. The first concerns the apparent homing instinct of snails. An enterprising lady living in Devon, England noticed that when she removed snails from her plants and deposited them at the end of her garden they were soon back on her plants. Since one snail looks much like another it was hard to tell whether the snails she removed were returning or newcomers were taking their place. So she put a dab of nail varnish on the shells and was able to prove that this homing instinct was indeed true. Taking matters one step further she then tried to discover how far away you have to move the snails before they lose their ability to find their way back. It seems that the critical distance is thirty meters. More than this and you are safe.
Source: BBC
The other snail story is a problem waiting to be solved. In Kerala, India Giant African Snails have eaten fruit, flower buds, mulberry shoots, cotton plants and the leaves of maize. The village people call them ‘Rakshasa Hula’ or demon caterpillar. Read more..
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