Below is a photo of a chrome alum crystal
May 14, 1996
Here it is after about 1 month of growth. We'll see if it will grow a little bigger, and then we'll grow some chrome alum.
April 26, 1996
We took a field trip to Thermodynamics. They're a local company that grows quartz crystals for use in the electronics industry. They were kind enough to give us a tour of their facilities, and some beautiful samples of their products. They grow quartz in a sodium hydroxide solution under high temperatures and high pressures (10,000-20,000 psi)
April 20, 1996
The crystals that we've been growing have been of very low quality. To gain better control of the growth process we put the mason jar that contains the seed crystal and solution inside of a fish tank! The tank heater allows us to grow the crystals at a temperature a bit above room temperature, and keeps the temperature very stable.