One of the best aspects of indoor hydroponic units is how very 'plug and play' they can be. Even people with a notoriously 'brown thumb' can have a lovely garden with very little effort. While you can get very precise and exacting, tweaking things to truly maximize longevity and harvest, it's really not necessary to get plenty of satisfaction and taste.
However, there are a few commonly grown seeds that benefit – if not outright require – a little special attention to get them growing.
Most of us who grow herbs in our hydroponics eventually reach a point that we face the same question: What do I do with all these herbs? I tend to pick what to cook based on what herbs I have to hand, but even still, eventually I can't keep up with how much are growing.
For very short term storage, you can treat them just like cut flowers; place them in a cup or vase with water on the counter, or even in the fridge for slightly longer periods. But that still isn't a long term solution.
So, what to do with all the extra?
For those who have been around indoor hydroponics groups for any amount of time, it's common knowledge that spinach just doesn't do well. Either it is extremely difficult to germinate, or if you get it to germinate, it bolts almost immediately, before you can even really harvest any leaves.
Thus, finding a decent substitute for spinach - in salads or cooked - is a common pastime.
As such, I set out to test two of the more commonly-touted substitutes, tatsoi and komatsuna, as well as a third, a relatively new hybrid heirloom of the two, chijimisai.
