Watching Grass Grow
By Mike on Sunday, June 29, 2008, 19:14 - Permalink
How many times have you heard someone say of some stupefyingly dull thing, "At least it's better than watching the grass grow"? - The implication, of course, is that there are few things harder to endure than watching grass grow.
This is a challenge I cannot - will not - leave unanswered.
Grass Cam
The Grass Cam ran for a week - updating this page every two minutes with exciting, live photos of grass growing. But all good things must come to an end.
Fortunately though, the Grass Cam was also capturing a still photo every five minutes. I've assembled these captured photos into this time-lapse movie:
It's worth watching all the way to the end - I promise.
About The Grass Cam
The grass we're watching grow here was sown on 01 June 2008 - it's about a tablespoonful of budgie seed mix - consisting primarily of millet varieties, with a few oat groats and probably some non-grass seeds too.
The stage upon which this drama will unfold is just a piece of thin plywood supported on battens, to which the pot is permanently attached.
04 June 2008 - Camera Problems
Turns out the camera driver was still set on 'indoor lighting' mode - which isn't really useful, as it's on a sunny, south-facing window ledge. The sun came out and today's pictures looked like they were taken by the light of a hydrogen bomb.
I set it to 'outdoors' and it seemed to be able to cope - hopefully it will just work from here on.
I was also a little bit concerned about the camera electronics overheating in the direct light of the sun, so I fashioned this stylish bonnet to shade it.
The first green shoot has appeared at the edge of the pot - not ideal placement for the camera - and in fact it doesn't look like grass, as it appears to have two seed leaves - it might be one of the other seed types in the mix - time will tell...
05 June 2008
The head of a small boy appeared momentarily in the window at about 08:30 - this is my son on his way to school.
Please don't let distractions like this divert you. Stop gazing out of the window and get back to watching the grass grow.
06 June 2008
Lots more seedlings have emerged - including some grasses.
07 June 2008
Grasses are starting to dominate now - interestingly, growth does not slow down in the night, even when it is pitch dark.
08 June 2008
Growth continues - really starting to fill out now.
09 June 2008
Still growing, although it's slowing down a bit - but some of the taller shoots have left the edge of the image frame. I'm going to run the camera for one more day then declare the experiment a success, I think.
10 June 2008
The 6th day of visible growth - and things start to slow down a little - I expect largely due to overcrowding in the pot.
11 June 2008
The 7th and final day of the experiment - and what a rollercoaster of emotion and excitement it has been! - Watching grass grow.
Don't forget to check out the time-lapse movie (it's at the top of this page), assembled from all the captured images from the entire 7 days.
Note
Before, during or after the video(s) embedded in this page, the player may display advertisements or links to additional videos - these are not affiliated to Atomic Shrimp and the selection is something over which I have no control.
