Hydroponic Gardening DIY

[scully_g]

Apologies, I have updated the link...

 

[Zenbaas]

Just a quick recap for those who are interested. The lettuce I planted using the Seagro nutrient eventually wilted and died. This was in the heat wave that we experienced but I had a couple growing in the Nutrifeed solution at the same time and they survived (see image below). I don't think that the Seagro is suitable for Hydroponics unless someone else can prove me wrong but for now I will stick to the tried and tested Nutrifeed.

My tom thumb Lettuce and basil

Yes heat and lettuce don't mix well. Despite everything I also still find the Nutrifeed to be a good product.

 

[Mila]

Ohhhh why did I find this only now!!


How do you keep your water cool? We are struggling with root rot.

 

[Zenbaas]

Ohhhh why did I find this only now!!


How do you keep your water cool? We are struggling with root rot.

Bury the reservoir or insulate with reflective or "ceiling" insulation. You have to keep it as far away from the suns rays as possible.

 

[Basil959]

Ohhhh why did I find this only now!!

How do you keep your water cool? We are struggling with root rot.

I pop a frozen bottle of water into the tank and pop one in the freezer same time... rotating them daily. works for me...

 

[IziWhatNow]

Growing some tomatoes in SWCs.

View attachment 326995

Awesome! Keep us updated on those tomatoes' progress

 

[wetkit]

Hi Guys,

I have been thinking about doing hydroponics now for some time, but never really got round to it.
Now after my 3rd year of trying to plant something in the ground, I have decided to try it.

There is a great many tips in this thread, so thanks to all!!!

Lastly, I come from an electrical background and many many years back we used a product called Pratliperl.
Yip, you guessed it, made from Perlite
Pratley have now also done a plant version, Grolite.
See here...
http://www.pratleyminerals.com/farming-horticulture/grolite

The best part is my local electrical supplier can get me a 10kg bag for only R200.
Bargain I think

 

[Zenbaas]

Hi Guys,

I have been thinking about doing hydroponics now for some time, but never really got round to it.
Now after my 3rd year of trying to plant something in the ground, I have decided to try it.

There is a great many tips in this thread, so thanks to all!!!

Lastly, I come from an electrical background and many many years back we used a product called Pratliperl.
Yip, you guessed it, made from Perlite
Pratley have now also done a plant version, Grolite.
See here...
http://www.pratleyminerals.com/farming-horticulture/grolite

The best part is my local electrical supplier can get me a 10kg bag for only R200.
Bargain I think

How many "litres" does 10kgs work out to roughly?
EDIT: Looks like 100l. Is this available to anyone or do you have an account with them?

 

[chopsuey]

Growing some tomatoes in SWCs.

Is this a traditional Self Watering Container setup with soil, compost and perlite(wick) that uses normal water, or some sort of hybrid SWC/hydroponic system that uses inert grow medium with nutes ?

How did this system perform compared with your dutch buckets ?

 

[Zenbaas]

Is this a traditional Self Watering Container setup with soil, compost and perlite(wick) that uses normal water, or some sort of hybrid SWC/hydroponic system that uses inert grow medium with nutes ?

How did this system perform compared with your dutch buckets ?

This was with soil, compost etc although many people also use it with inert growing mediums and nutes doing it manually. It worked pretty well but a well set up dutch bucket system will invariably smoke it That said you do stand the chance of getting better flavour out of your produce (talking about tomatoes specifically) but the soil mix can be tricky I learned last year.

 

[chopsuey]

Thanx.

Just trying to look at available options due to my small backyard and even a smaller part of that gets enough sun. (although you have showed us what can be done with a balcony)

Would like my plants (tomatoes ?) not to grow much above a 2m wall, due to renting in a complex and don't wan't to deal with the body corporate (... actually don't really know if would be an issue).

The point being that in a traditional dutch bucket system one loose some height due to the reservoir placement. So trying to think/find some alternatives.

Have been following this thread from the start, but always seem to be thinking-about/have-time to build something to late in the summer season, so this year I'm starting to at least think about my options a bit earlier.

 

[Zenbaas]

Best advice would be just get going with it. Thinking it to death will only result in more procrastination . Remember you can always "top" your tomatoes when they get to a height where you don't want them to go higher. You also get dwarf varieties that will only grow a meter or so depending on the type.

I would recommend a large reservoir under the buckets. My current setup is somewhat complicated due to lack of space and many buckets so I wouldnt recommend it outright.

 

[wetkit]

Ok, so this weekend I decided to build a green tunnel.
Space was a limitation, as well as plastic.
Plastic I was lucky enough to get some rejects from work.
Plastic conduit was R12 per 4M length from electrical shop.
Used 38 x 38 battons, 6,6m long and some 75mm screws.
My youngest son, now 12 years helped with the construction.

I must say I was extremely amazed that the 20mm conduit did not break. Most of them I fixed with a screw as well.

Hopefully this week I can get the doors done, but I completely misjudged the amount of wood needed.
The tunnel is 2,2m wide and 3,3m long. The wood box frame is 1m high.
So to date I have used at least 6 lengths.
Each door would also need a further 2 length. One for the door itself and one for the frame of the door.

Here is the progress to date...

 

[Zenbaas]

Looking good there man.

 

[akescpt]

Ok, so this weekend I decided to build a green tunnel.
Space was a limitation, as well as plastic.
Plastic I was lucky enough to get some rejects from work.
Plastic conduit was R12 per 4M length from electrical shop.
Used 38 x 38 battons, 6,6m long and some 75mm screws.
My youngest son, now 12 years helped with the construction.

I must say I was extremely amazed that the 20mm conduit did not break. Most of them I fixed with a screw as well.

Hopefully this week I can get the doors done, but I completely misjudged the amount of wood needed.
The tunnel is 2,2m wide and 3,3m long. The wood box frame is 1m high.
So to date I have used at least 6 lengths.
Each door would also need a further 2 length. One for the door itself and one for the frame of the door.

Here is the progress to date...

View attachment 374661View attachment 374663View attachment 374665View attachment 374667

What plans are you working from?

 

[wetkit]

Much earlier in the thread there is a tunnel make by SirF'king.
I used his idea, but just using my own head.
The 4m plastic conduit gives you a radius of 1,25m if you bend it in a halve circle.

 

[SirFooK'nG]

Much earlier in the thread there is a tunnel make by SirF'king.
I used his idea, but just using my own head.
The 4m plastic conduit gives you a radius of 1,25m if you bend it in a halve circle.

I Like the solid wood base idea ... nice. More head room. My tunnel is cramped. Must do a new one sometime. Monkeys managed to rip my plastic and f#** my shyte up ... so nothing growing right now for me.

 

[wetkit]

Ok, due to the rain and cold work is progressing very slowly.

Question: Does anybody use PH and PPM probes?
There is cheap ones (R300) and expencive ones (R1300).
Just wing it?

 

[Zenbaas]

Ok, due to the rain and cold work is progressing very slowly.

Question: Does anybody use PH and PPM probes?
There is cheap ones (R300) and expencive ones (R1300).
Just wing it?

I use both. It can be useful in diagnosing problems but if you mix and change your nutes regularly then it's not really all that necessary IMHO.

 

[wetkit]

Ok, so progress is very slow.
Been away for work too much.
Got the water running yesterday and very chuffed with the progress.