Hydroponic Gardening DIY

spiderz said:
That just looks like a red and blue LED light. Doubt the light spectrum will be correct for plants.
still not a bad price for a 1.9W led light.
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Looked on Ebay and they seem to go for waaay less.
 
Zenbaas said:
Contacted these guys today and I see they only seem to sell in quantities of a 100. If you're not going to use all 100 can I maybe make a pain of myself and buy some off you and pay for sapo shipping?
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I'm actually keeping them for expanding ;) I have used about 40 already.
 
Zenbaas said:
Bought some rockwool from the hortishop in JHB today and their rockwool behaves like rockwool should behave...like a sponge.The other rockwool has resulted in a few of my seedlings dying because it doesn't hold moisture properly. For those that have missed it here is another thread with a few growlight DIY things going on :D

Will update this thread once I get everything set up and try to post where I bought most of the things as it can become quite a pain.

EDIT: Does this thread really belong in food,cooking and recipes...?
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Just to quote myself once more. This original rockwool is really ****. Once it loses moisture it simply refused to rehydrate :cry: Unfortunately have quite a few seedlings that I started in the crap so having a fun time keeping them alive atm.

5a5udapu.jpg
 
@Zen ...looking at you pic, going to give you some advice I've learned with my plants.

Front row - Lettuce is going to need more space.
2nd Row - Peppers? They will grow quite big.
3rd Row - Is that a cabbage? If so, it will grow a very wide diameter of first leaves before making the head.
3rd Row - 4th pot = Tomato? Will grow to shade everything.

Space ... stuff is going to get over crowded. Slows down growth when the light is affected by overhanging foliage of the plant next to it. My tomatoes (12 plants) manage to bush out so much that they affect my 30 buckets adversely.

My 3 cabbages base leaves are so wide they completely cover the buckets next to them. Once I have harvested I'm going to put a 30cm gap between each bucket. Also I wont back to back plants like tomatoes or peppers. I'll keeep an area in the corner specially for larger plants. Lots to learn as time goes on ;)

EDIT: I'm going to go measure the diameter of one cabbage to give you an idea of how much space it needs... brb

Almost 500mm
IMG_20130929_090741.jpg


Tomato growth:
IMG_20130929_090935.jpg
 
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SirFooK'nG said:
@Zen ...looking at you pic, going to give you some advice I've learned with my plants.

Front row - Lettuce is going to need more space.
2nd Row - Peppers? They will grow quite big.
3rd Row - Is that a cabbage? If so, it will grow a very wide diameter of first leaves before making the head.
3rd Row - 4th pot = Tomato? Will grow to shade everything.

Space ... stuff is going to get over crowded. Slows down growth when the light is affected by overhanging foliage of the plant next to it. My tomatoes (12 plants) manage to bush out so much that they affect my 30 buckets adversely.

My 3 cabbages base leaves are so wide they completely cover the buckets next to them. Once I have harvested I'm going to put a 30cm gap between each bucket. Also I wont back to back plants like tomatoes or peppers. I'll keeep an area in the corner specially for larger plants. Lots to learn as time goes on ;)

EDIT: I'm going to go measure the diameter of one cabbage to give you an idea of how much space it needs... brb

Almost 500mm
IMG_20130929_090741.jpg


Tomato growth:
IMG_20130929_090935.jpg
Click to expand...

ypymyqyn.jpg


Thank man. Don't stress I only use the DWC bubbler to propagate them until they are slightly larger and I can move them outside. I quickly realised with the original lettuce that there wasn't enough space but I never thought that there would be.
Some of the first lettuce is outside already.

pu8yzyva.jpg


Also the tomatoes will go in these :
ehe9eren.jpg




@Electric the ducting I used for the light is galvanised. The "walls" are basically shiny wrapping paper. I should maybe consider putting some more reflective on the inside of the galvanised ducting then.

EDIT:That cabbage looks awesome man...! Really wish I had more space for bigger setups :/
 
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Cool looks like you have nice spacing on the buckets! TBH I wont grow more than 2 or 3 tomato plants at the same time again ;)
 
SirFooK'nG said:
Cool looks like you have nice spacing on the buckets! TBH I wont grow more than 2 or 3 tomato plants at the same time again ;)
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Thanks I just can't wait to move them outside already...!
So looking forward to some of this:
1734805_120829172204_brandywine_tomato.jpg
6104583078_c1ebee817a_z.jpg
Black_Zebra_Tomato.jpg
 
A couple of my tomatoes have ripened, already chowed them! Realllllly delicious. My one lettuce also finished that last weekend. Also really nice. I must say I was worried a bit about flavor using perlite only. But pleasantly surprised. Then I just rinse out those roots that stayed and re-use the bucket. As for the Nutrifeed, works a charm. I just need to find it in bigger packets now. The 500g ones dont make it very economical.

I'm contemplating picking the cabbages early due to their size being an issue! But I cant wait for the tomatoes to finish fruiting so I can chuck the plants and clean up!
 
SirFooK'nG said:
A couple of my tomatoes have ripened, already chowed them! Realllllly delicious. My one lettuce also finished that last weekend. Also really nice. I must say I was worried a bit about flavor using perlite only. But pleasantly surprised. Then I just rinse out those roots that stayed and re-use the bucket. As for the Nutrifeed, works a charm. I just need to find it in bigger packets now. The 500g ones dont make it very economical.

I'm contemplating picking the cabbages early due to their size being an issue! But I cant wait for the tomatoes to finish fruiting so I can chuck the plants and clean up!
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I have contacted Starke Ayres directly and so far have been sent from pillar to post. Can't say they have been helpful at all so far but as soon as I know I will send you a message as well.
 
Zenbaas said:
I have contacted Starke Ayres directly and so far have been sent from pillar to post. Can't say they have been helpful at all so far but as soon as I know I will send you a message as well.
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Please post in this thread too!
 
Batista said:
Tis as simple as punching holes in a flat piece of styrafoam for the plants and floating that in an existing fishtank without any sort of filter, but just an airpump.Use cheap goldfish or guppies for your first run.;)
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this is giving me ideas... how many goldfish should one put in? Say I just want to grow one pot of coriander and one pot of italian parsley. obviously the tank will be big enough for both. Dont know of 8 or 10cm pots will be sufficient. But then how do you know how many goldfish to add? I need to go off and do some research :D
 
Zenbaas said:
That definitely sounds like a plan :D I've seen some of the guys use this Styrofoam with one side being covered by a silver layer which keep it together. Any ideas where one could buy this...? (Styrofoam sheets is definitely not something I normally go looking for :D)
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what is the purpose of the silver side? Is it facing up or down. And is it necessary? Im off googling anyway ;)
 
Nefertiti said:
what is the purpose of the silver side? Is it facing up or down. And is it necessary? Im off googling anyway ;)
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Doesn't matter. Normal styrofoam is sufficient and can be bought at any builders warehouse.
 
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