fool4fish1226
Well-known member
SumDumGuy said:
AWESOME thanks for sharing :beer:
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AWESOME thanks for sharing :beer:
SumDumGuy
Well-known member
something to do when it's cold. we have hard water here in the winter. 
fool4fish1226
Well-known member
JMichael
Well-known member
Wow those seeds germinated fast. :lol: But on a serious note, I've seen that brown marble looking media used with hydroponics a lot, what is it exactly? And I'm no hydroponics guy, but I've read enough to know that's not enough stuff.
fool4fish1226
Well-known member
JMichael said:
They are clay pellets (they have several different names) but it seemed that allot of others were using them so that is what I went with and your right there is never enough :LOL2:
Not sure but everything seems to be doing well - I did find out that my PH in my tap water is super high
JMichael
Well-known member
Well I look forward to seeing your results. I've heard so much about how fast stuff grows with hydro. From the little bit of research I've done on hydro in the past, the liquid fertilizers they use seem to be on the pricey side, but then again I don't know how long a bottle would last either.
wow! Nice setup!
sunshine
Well-known member
I worked on an aquaponics farm for awhile my senior year of college and for awhile after graduating. We utilized deep water culture for leafy greens and herbs. Was a 6k plant farm, we had 4' wide by 150'+ channels about 18" deep and we used 2" thick 4'x8' foam insulation boards with holes drilled out for the net pots to sit in. From seed to harvest gourmet lettuce was a 49 day cycle.
I have a redneck reverse engineered dutch bucket system that I run at the house for tomatoes, peppers, and kale mainly. I didn't run it this winter because I spent 95% of my weekends in Georgia hunting, but I will be getting it fired back up here soon once I get these boats squared away.
The growth speed and fruit yield of a well tuned hydroponic system is truly amazing compared to growing in the ground, not to mention you have far fewer issues with bugs and soil based critters that give gardeners fits.
I have a redneck reverse engineered dutch bucket system that I run at the house for tomatoes, peppers, and kale mainly. I didn't run it this winter because I spent 95% of my weekends in Georgia hunting, but I will be getting it fired back up here soon once I get these boats squared away.
The growth speed and fruit yield of a well tuned hydroponic system is truly amazing compared to growing in the ground, not to mention you have far fewer issues with bugs and soil based critters that give gardeners fits.
JMichael
Well-known member
I'd sure like to see some pics of your tomato setup if you have any. Did you grow outdoors with natural light or was this indoors?sunshine said:
sunshine
Well-known member
Outdoors. Here are some pics
SumDumGuy
Well-known member
^^^^ nice.
I have seen some incredible success stories from dutch buckets. I have yet to setup one of these systems, but come spring it will surely be implemented.
pH is key. If you can keep it in the range that the crop likes explosive growth will occur.
There are alternatives to the pricey "hydroponics" fertilizers. I have no desire to pay extra for stuff that is mostly water.
Check out a 4-18-38 tomato blend (often referenced as MasterBlend - although there are other manufacturers). With this blend and some added calcium nitrate and magnesium sulfate a very good fertilizer can be had for cheap compared to the "hydro" stuff.
I have seen some incredible success stories from dutch buckets. I have yet to setup one of these systems, but come spring it will surely be implemented.
pH is key. If you can keep it in the range that the crop likes explosive growth will occur.
There are alternatives to the pricey "hydroponics" fertilizers. I have no desire to pay extra for stuff that is mostly water.
Check out a 4-18-38 tomato blend (often referenced as MasterBlend - although there are other manufacturers). With this blend and some added calcium nitrate and magnesium sulfate a very good fertilizer can be had for cheap compared to the "hydro" stuff.
sunshine
Well-known member
In the aquaponics system I ran, we had a bunch of fish, mainly tilapia, that provided the nutrient source. Given, you had to provide accommodations for nitrate fixing and such, but was relatively simple. As you mentioned, pH is key, but maintaining proper levels of bioavailable (often pH linked) nutrients is important as well. In addition, matching "compatible" plants together within systems is important. Tomatoes and peppers happen to enjoy similar nutrient and pH ranges and also happen to be the most consumed and expensive vegetable in our house. Kale does well along side of them as well. I tried growing some pickling cucumbers in the same solution and they tanked bad.
I usually utilize a General Hydroponics Flora series nutrient and formulate it myself, it is less than $20 per growing season and I had experience with their stuff previously. Will check out the product you mentioned.
Other key points are flushing your system with fresh clean unadulterated water. Nutrient salts build up and can actually become detrimental to nutrient uptake within the systems. I simply took the "spent" solution and dumped it on flower gardens or whatever then added new water, don't add any nutrients, let it run for a couple days then dump that water and prepare your new nutrient solution. Also, hydroton and perlite often have a TON of dust within the packages they come in and I've found that I am better off to give them some rinses first.
A really potent fertilizer that I became familiar with a few years ago is worm compost tea. Almost seems like you can see and hear your plants growing after a couple applications.
I usually utilize a General Hydroponics Flora series nutrient and formulate it myself, it is less than $20 per growing season and I had experience with their stuff previously. Will check out the product you mentioned.
Other key points are flushing your system with fresh clean unadulterated water. Nutrient salts build up and can actually become detrimental to nutrient uptake within the systems. I simply took the "spent" solution and dumped it on flower gardens or whatever then added new water, don't add any nutrients, let it run for a couple days then dump that water and prepare your new nutrient solution. Also, hydroton and perlite often have a TON of dust within the packages they come in and I've found that I am better off to give them some rinses first.
A really potent fertilizer that I became familiar with a few years ago is worm compost tea. Almost seems like you can see and hear your plants growing after a couple applications.
AllOutdoors
Well-known member
Nice pics and results! Seems complicated and time consuming. No disrespect whatsoever. I'm just a dumb ole' farmer/ gardener that is used to putting stuff in the ground. You guys have taken it to another level. Is this done inside or out?
sunshine
Well-known member
You can do them indoors or out. It's actually not at all complicated or time consuming. Everything is run on a timer, I only monitor water levels and use a conductivity probe to determine nutrient levels. If you run a hose on a float valve to your reservoir, you don't even have to worry about that running dry. I do a full water change out every 10-14 days. If you can mix oil and fuel for 2 strokes, you can do the math for the nutrient additions.
I did a side by side study with plants in the ground with automatic watering and this system produced tomatoes 18 days earlier and probably doubled production per plant, in addition to having substantial less issues with bugs and almost no weeding required.
Probably has a lot to do with Florida's sandy, nutrient poor soil that also drains too efficiently and flushes your fertilizers out.
I did a side by side study with plants in the ground with automatic watering and this system produced tomatoes 18 days earlier and probably doubled production per plant, in addition to having substantial less issues with bugs and almost no weeding required.
Probably has a lot to do with Florida's sandy, nutrient poor soil that also drains too efficiently and flushes your fertilizers out.
JMichael
Well-known member
Thanks for posting the pic. I don't have the room to do anything like this indoors and after seeing your setup, I think another obstacle for me would be how to keep the buckets upright. We generally have a few storms per growing season that will blow all my tomatoes over, cage and all. And I use some pretty substantial cages. So that would probably destroy a hydro system. How do you combat that problem?sunshine said:
sunshine
Well-known member
I made a wooden structure and just framed them in with 2x4s so they can't really topple over. If you look closely at the pic with the PVC return lines, you'll see what I mean. I also quit using the cages and screwed 2 2x4s into the side of the wooden structure and did a "Florida weave" with butcher twine.
Not my drawing, but here's an illustration of the concept.
Not my drawing, but here's an illustration of the concept.
fool4fish1226
Well-known member
Well it has been @11 dyas and most of my plants are starting to root - I will get pics this weekend and post them. I do have a question for you hydro guys - what type of PH meters do you all use?
ctboater
Member
I use a Hanna 98129, it does PH and PPM. Really nice meter but pricey, about $150. But you can get one that will work on Ebay for about $11 and up and they do work.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2060353.m570.l1313.TR12.TRC2.A0.H0.Xph+meter.TRS0&_nkw=ph+meter&_sacat=0
Hanna
https://hannainst.com/products/testers/hi98129-ph-ec-tds-tester.html
PS I have done hydro but doing soil now but still test the Nute mix for PH and PPM.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2060353.m570.l1313.TR12.TRC2.A0.H0.Xph+meter.TRS0&_nkw=ph+meter&_sacat=0
Hanna
https://hannainst.com/products/testers/hi98129-ph-ec-tds-tester.html
PS I have done hydro but doing soil now but still test the Nute mix for PH and PPM.
SumDumGuy
Well-known member
I am still using a $10 ebay, imported pH meter.
It has worked without issue for the last year, and with no calibration (I keep litmus paper around to periodically verify meter reading).
It has worked without issue for the last year, and with no calibration (I keep litmus paper around to periodically verify meter reading).
sunshine
Well-known member
I work in a lab so I test my stuff there. I'm spoiled. :lol:
As mentioned, conductivity/pH meters aren't all that expensive. Dip strips work fine for pH too.
As mentioned, conductivity/pH meters aren't all that expensive. Dip strips work fine for pH too.
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