Gardening Thread- Show me your gardens!

Just don't buy from a Hydroponics place. they are sky high prices.

Wow I got more interest than I was expecting.



It starts with the 55 gallon drum. It has a 250GPH pump that pumps the water into the top bin. Gravity takes over and 1" pvc drops down to the next bin and the next until it returns to the resivour. If the power goes out each tub will stay 3/4 full and the 55 gallon drum will fill to the top. It usually runs 24/7.



The 2" Styrofoam keeps the roots at a constant level. The plants are in 3" net pots that keep the top of the root open to the air and the rest flows into the bin. When you start you hardly add any water or nutrients. As the plants grow you have to increase each. By the time the tomato plants were full grown I had to add about 5 gallons each day. I would mix a powder hydro fertilizer in a 5 gallon bucket and dump it in the drum about once a week.

 

You can just buy them started, carefully clean out the dirt then put them in the net pots. I usually cut a hole in the center of the pot and let the roots hang down. I used a wood skewer to hold the plant in place and keep the top of the root out of the water.

 

I bought the net pots, pump and fertilizer from Amazon.

 

General Hydroponics Maxi Grow. I have high PH so I used PH down when I started it. It stayed pretty stable after that.

 

You can start with maxi bloom then switch to maxi grow later on.

https://www.amazon.com/General-Hydr...e=UTF8&qid=1495476370&sr=8-2&keywords=maxigro

 

Sorry that should have been 3" pots, not 2". They worked OK but you might want to go bigger on the tomato plants. They were pretty choked off by the time I shut it down.

 

I'd measure of ph levels daily. When shit goes south with it, it goes quickly.

 

U just got put on all kinds of watch lists by searching for this stuff lol
Seriously though check out the dope growing sites/forums for tons of awesome info

 

I'm sure that the ability to grow pot never occurred to Scott. He's probably not interested in that aspect of it at all...

 

Me neither t

 

Litmus.

 

The system I used was more like a pool chlorine test kit. Scoop some water into test tube, add special drops, match the color to a sheet to identify deficiencies or surplus of nutrients.

 

No problem.

Probably similar to this one?

$20 General Hydroponics pH Control Kit for a Balanced Nutrient Solution

https://www.amazon.com/General-Hydr...485219&sr=8-1&keywords=aquaponics+ph+test+kit

 

Pretty much.

 

cant wait to see this setup haha

 

I started out with an air pump and pumice stones but they kept popping loose so I gave up on it. Didn't seem to make much of a difference.

 

Yes each downspout acts like a venturi, you can see the bubbles as it pours into each bin.

 

Broody hen successfully hatched two new egg layers last night, and another egg had pipped and started a zip this morning. And she's got two more that when I candled them had developing embryos.

 

I got my 55 Gallon drum cheap from a food and tack store near me. It originally had soy sauce. they had power washed it twice before selling it.

 

This was my first attempt at backyard hydroponics. It worked well but I would get home from work and the system would be empty. The roots would plug up the 3" PVC and all the water would drain out. That's why I went with the tub idea.