Hydroponic Help

When my plants are young,
I put them in rockwool
and then they grow a week.

But then some shrivel up and die,
Before they get to speak!

Bulb

Just a root
that sat on the planting table.
Then a green thrust
like the spikes on a deer.
Soon, it grows
impossibly tall
for such a small bulb.

How can so much fit in so little?

Eureka

Sometimes,
I am late in my office
I am reading an old article
and two little Legos snap together in my brain
I want to jump up
tell the world
how to calculate the efficiency
of photosystem II
by shining light on a leaf
and measuring what it throws up.

But then I realize
that they probably won't care
and by tomorrow I'll have to re-learn it anyways

The Eurekas of today
aren't what the used to be
or are they?

Leaf Disk

To study a leaf
I take a round punch
and try it
push it
and measure it
and it goes on
like it is still a whole leaf
oblivious for a while
that it is severed from its life force
a dead end
slowly oozing life
while I make a graph.

We aren't much different than that leaf disk.

Hydroponically Challenged

Plants like water
yes they do
to keep stomata wide.

For when they let
in C-O-2
the H-2-O takes flight.

But I am finding
it's not enough
to keep the roots real wet

Once transferred
from media
they need to have a tent!

Sucrose Blues

My needy plants
what can I do?
They need sucrose
high CO-2
but mold likes carbon
yes it does
and sucrose has
more than enough.

And so it grows
and swallows leaf
I need some way
to find relief.

And so I tried
ingredient new
"Plant Preservation Mixture"
into the stew
but now my seeds
have not vertical liberation
turns out the stuff
inhibits germination!

Eulogy

Two leather hands
help together with a grip strengthened by age
and rigor
scars from rock, metal, and dirt
recount a life of adventure
once moving
now still
once warm
now cold.

Now to the next adventure
a jaunt across the mist
to lands beyond.