The grow started with indoor germination under LED in the living room. I then graduated the plants to an indoor hydroponic NFT system which was super problematic.
Eventually they got big enough to be moved into the outdoor vertical towers in a converted car port. Germination through the early months, a system setup in March, then a stretch through April and May of cuttings, pest control pivots, and lots of build pivots. I still haven’t found a solution to mosquitos (turns out a big water reservoir in the Algarve is also a handy mosquito farm) so know that for every tasty bite of spice, I’ve been bitten to get it to you.
Nothing about it went in a straight line. Power cuts, algal blooms, aphid attacks, more power cuts, EC and pH trial and error, re-learning chemistry, learning a lot about light pollution, and often having a day or two to get the farm turned around between business trips.
By late May the frames were built and the system was stable enough to stop firefighting daily. It took about five months from “I saw a reel” to towers full of plants that looked like they might actually fruit.
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