General Chat forum: OT Hydroponic growing
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| Damn....I wrote a whole article with pictures and links etc. and lost it. ARGHHHHHH. But here's the thing to GOOGLE A SUSPENDED POT, NON-CIRCULATING HYDROPONIC METHOD http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/VC-1.pdf There are a number of links on the Google page that are worthwhile looking at...especially the one on Tomatos. Bernie Kratsky recently retired ...and he is an enthusiastic veggie grower of the first order!!!! There was NOTHING this man did not grow... I will start something tomorrow...and you can see how I have made my set up to work for me, using recycled materials I had handy...and on a small scale. There are folks who set up a 4x8 table and sell at farmers markets...or to families .... or just eat themselves.... it is so much easier than the whole garden routine...no weeds, the lettuce really doesn't need to be washed (no dirt) and no bugs. What is wrong with that? I cut leaves off of that head of lettuce for dinner and it was delicious... Bob and I could be happily in lettuce with 2 or 3 bottles going.... I use 1 gal bottles of milk, clorox, dish detergent...you name it! I'll make a tutorial using little peat pots.... but here (as a teaser) is my recent new planting.... I covered the clear bottles in black plastic so as not to get algae in the water. The bottles in a row, waiting to be filled with water/fertilizer, the pots with the seedling and then covered with the black plastic. The black net pots are shown, as well as the yellow 'forestry tube' (with additional holes drilled in the sides).SEE BELOW Some bottles have necks that are too wide....so I cut 'collars' to hold the 'pots' I don't have to cover these with black plastic. Here they are planted.SEE BELOW Fire away with questions. I'll try to answer. Yes..you can sow seeds directly into the net pots. NO..once to set it up you don't have to touch anything until you harvest. HONEST!!!!!   Man...I find it hard to make sense of this.... SO.....I am off to bed and tomorrow will take more photos and answer questions.... What is cool is that Bob and I had a great salad tonight with the large outer leaves of that one head you saw in the photo. 3 bottles growing would keep us in lettuce at all times...but I like to share, so I grow many. Leap. The net will appear. |
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| Carol, Thanks for the tutorial. I am so interested in learning this stuff. I go on 2 -3 weeks vacations once a year and may be I can work something out....eventually. Right now,I ask people to hydrate my plants in my absence . Question/s- What is that white collar like thing under the net pot? Do you have to keep topping up the nutrient solution ? What solution do you have in the milk bottle? Is it water or water mixed with something? How come no bugs? There is no pesticide ,right? |
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| "Some bottles have necks that are too wide....so I cut 'collars' to hold the 'pots'" Will take some better photos to explain this.... NO, you do NOT top off the water...as the water level goes down, the roots continue to grow into it. The air space is en lieu of a recirculating pump, gives oxygen to the water and creates a moisture area the roots can live in. I have a fertilizer solution of a Peters forumula for hydroponics + calcium nitrate + epsom salts (will get formula for you). There are no bugs because they are growing in my greenhouse. Our 2 great veggie eaters here are slugs and Chinese Beetles.... If you go to the link you will see other tables and growing suggestions. You could easily go away and leave these alone.  Leap. The net will appear. |
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I was thinking of trying tomatoes hydroponically this year - I think you've just inspired me to get going!  |
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| YES...I am going to try the tomatoes too...in a 5 gal. bucket. Leap. The net will appear. |
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| Bell Peppers and chillies too??? |
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| Hmmmmm Not sure if peppers would work. I know cucumbers work. Will check at the Extension Office where this method was developed. I know that in the summer a friend of mine (he has a huge bed - did you see the pictures in the article?) grows BokChoy and I am going to try another asian green I love for salads it is so mild. OK...here is a photo of how the collar works....  Leap. The net will appear. |
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| Looks like a great option for growing in a sheltered place. By the windowsill or in a greenhouse. I saw some veggies growing hydroponically at Disney (Florida). They were huge plants. Tomato plants looked like small trees and they had cucumber and what not. Wonder if they still have that exhibit at Disney. |
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| The article is really worth reading. Some of it is way over my head too....but the basic information is wonderful. Leap. The net will appear. |
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| Yes,read the article. A bit complicated and I felt like I keep forgetting what I read,because it was quite packed with all the good information. Thanks. |
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| Wow Carol, have just overflown the article. Great idea to get some fresh vegetables from my balcony with nearly no work! Have, until yet, only heared ´bout all the systems with pumps and so on, but this method is stunning easy. May You can add a pic of your salad You are actual harvesting? And where is the fertilizer formula You mentioned above  Daniel Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Albert Einstein |
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It's now too hot to grow the lettuce....so I have harvested it all. This is what it looked like when almost mature: Yes...it would work well for balconies. I use a Peters fertilizer developed for hydroponics and I added calcium nitrate and magnesium...per the advice I was given. Check out your hydroponics supply stores.... Leap. The net will appear. |
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AlohaHoya wrote: Check out your hydroponics supply stores....  ...that´s good...You´ll get here nothing like that, no net pods, no special fertilizers, nothing... not even a fertilizer with 15-30-15 for the Hoyas, even my rooting hormones I had to order in the UK....maybe I´ll have some luck in an onlinestore....Just forget to ask if You have put the seed direct into the net pots or did You grow little plants first and put them later in there? Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Albert Einstein |
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| I did transfer seedling... A friend of mine collects plastic bottles that pills come in and she drills holes and makes her own "pots"!!!! Leap. The net will appear. |
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| Do it yourself is my second choice... I like pragmatic recycling! Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Albert Einstein |
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| Daniel...I can send you some hydroponic fert....you wouldn't be using very much (like 1/2 teas. per gal. of water and that lasts the whole growing cycle of the lettuce!!!!).... Leap. The net will appear. |
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Oh, I just figured out that I won´t get it in a regular shop that easy but I have to look after the "Headshops", potsmokers a really tricky in growing "weed"...  If I won´t get there anything, I´ll come back to Your offer, maybe You can fill the box up with some cuttings...  Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Albert Einstein |
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| Leap. The net will appear. |
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| I´ve got a noob question ´bout fertilizers.... I need a fertilizer 20-20-20 but can get at least only one with 8-8-8, so, if I take the 2,5 times measure of the 8-8-8, as preferred on the botlle, will I have a 20-20-20 fertilizer solution as a result??? Getting fertilizers in those high concentrations like you have in the USA is really not that easy here in Germany. At least I found a fertilizer for my Hoyas with the same ratio some of you use, 1:2:1, but it´s "only" a 6-12-6, you see, the concentration in the fertilizers you get is 2,5 times higher again... Thank´s for any helpful advise. Daniel Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Albert Einstein |
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| I don't know, Daniel...I'm too timid to double up on quantities....but you could use half strength and use it every time you water.... Leap. The net will appear. |
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