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The Time I Forgot to Clean a Grow Bed and Left It for a Month

Imamura here. This is the story of how putting off the cleaning of a grow bed led me, one month later, to face a green swamp.

The Cleanup I Put Off

The experiment that day ended quite smoothly. The data was as expected, and I could probably present it at the next day’s reporting meeting without any problem. On days like that, you start thinking about a beer on the way home earlier than usual.

I started cleaning up following my usual routine, and I finished draining the nutrient solution and turning off the LEDs. But I put off cleaning the grow bed. I was tired, and I took it lightly, thinking, “I can just do it tomorrow anyway.”

I checked off the items on the checklist in pencil. At the end, I looked over the list, confirmed that the checks were lined up neatly, and went home feeling strangely satisfied. Looking back now, I want to tap that confident version of myself on the shoulder and say just one thing.

“That part is not done yet.”

The Lab One Month Later

For about a month after that, I was buried in work on other projects and did not set foot in that lab. When the schedule for a new experiment was set and I opened the door for the first time in a while, warm, damp air clung to my nose.

It was a sweetish, rotten smell.

I stopped after taking one step inside. I could hear the air conditioner, but it sounded strangely far away. Before I even saw anything, I already had the feeling that something was wrong.

When I looked up, I could see a faint green color from the grow bed on the top rack. The closer I got, the clearer that green became. Ah, this is it. No, this is not it. Cleaning. Not done. One month. Moisture. LEDs. Nutrients. Algae.

Those were the only words running through my head, one after another.

The Green Bed

The moment I nervously looked into the grow bed, I instinctively took one step back.

What was in front of me was less a nutrient solution than a small ecosystem. Tiny bubbles floated up and popped on the surface of a greenish-brown liquid. Under the LED lights, a slimy green film covered the water surface.

“This is going to be hard to tell anyone.”

As I thought that, I poked the surface lightly with my finger, and the film split with a slick movement. At that moment, the smell trapped underneath rose up. My body reacted first, and only my face escaped backward on its own.

As a vertical farm manager, this was a completely embarrassing failure. But I also like living things, so somewhere in my heart part of me was impressed, thinking, “It can grow this much in one month?” When regret and curiosity arrive at the same time, you end up making a very complicated face.

Cleaning It Up by Hand

It was obvious that if I sent the algae clumps straight down the drain, they would clog the drain line. In other words, there was only one option: doing it by hand.

I brought rubber gloves, a garbage bag, and, just in case, a mask from the office. A colleague asked me, “What are you doing?” and I answered vaguely, “Just a small experiment.” I think I probably looked fairly suspicious.

Even when I tried to scoop it up with a net, the algae slipped away. When I tried to grab it by hand, it slipped through my fingers with the liquid. In the end, I had to make up my mind, plunge both hands in, and grab the clumps of algae.

The slimy feeling came through even the rubber gloves. As I worked, the inside of the gloves slowly started getting wet. During that stretch, the clock seemed to move strangely slowly. Even after scooping, even after wiping, there was still more left. It was a job I had made for myself, and still, it was quite something.

After about an hour, I finally removed most of the algae and scrubbed off the slime on the inside of the bed. By the time I finished, I was soaked in sweat, and my lab coat had several green stains on it.

There is no such thing in this world as a person with perfect planning. I learned that truth from a green, slimy grow bed.

Since that incident, I make it a point to check the checklist twice. Nutrient solution, LEDs, cleaning the grow bed. I pay special attention to the items I was tempted to leave for later, making sure to look at them one more time at the end.

Even so, deep down, I am still a little impressed that I managed to create such a respectable ecosystem in just one month. Of course, from a vertical farm management perspective, it was completely unacceptable. Senior staff now quietly tell it to new staff as a funny story.