Welcome to the hydroponics forum!

This should be an interesting forum.

Dave

Well, I might actually have experience at hydroponics if the total flooding we've all had this year counts! lol :)

LOL angie ;)
I'm interested to learn about this growing method so will be doing a lot of lurking and some questioning no doubt

Why hydroponics? Is it expensive to get started? Where do you do this? Basement? Kitchen? Is it just for vegetables?

I spoke to a Vo-tech teacher last winter. He used plastic eve troughs and a plastic tote box to build a hydroponic system for his students. They grew tomatoes that were huge.
I want to try the same method this winter.

Paul

So how are you going to go about it Paul?

It's not expensive if you build your own units. I have grown tomatoes and lettuce for 4 years now hydroponically. Here is my web page
http://www.cindys-stuff.com/challange.htm with my tomato challenge at Alabama hydroponics http://www.alabamahydroponics.com/ . Plants grow much faster with hydroponics than in soil. Here are more helpful links.
http://www.hydroponicsonline.com/
http://www.geocities.com/WallStreet/District/9046/hydro/lettuce.htm
I also have most of my orchids in hydro-culture pots.
Cindy

Here is my monster cuban oregano growing in an Emily's Garden system.

Here is lettuce and tomatoes that I had growing last year.

This picture is a little closer.

This is for me! Tomatoes in the winter, plus other vegetables. Thanks Cynthia!

The setup I saw was as follows.

Vinyl eve troughs capped at both ends.
A plastic tote box (the size that holds about 5-7 gallons)
a small pond pump.
some 3/8" vinyl tubing.
3/8" fittings for the tubing
A timer
Hydroponic rock wool
Water and nutrients are placed into the tote.

Drill a hole in one end cap place a fitting in the hole and connect the tubing. run the tubing to the tote and connect to the pump, this is the inlet.
Drill a hole in the other end cap, place a fitting and connect the tubing, run this tubing to the tote, this is the outlet.

Place the eve trough so that one end is slightly higher that the other. The setup I saw used a PVC pipe stand similar to the light stands we made last year.

Place cubes of rock wool in the eve trough. (This is the medium that you plant in)

Set the timer so that it runs for 15 minutes every 12 hours.

The nutrients are pumped into the high end of the eve trough and runs downhill via gravity, through the eve trough to the outlet which drains back into the tote. As it flows past the rock wool it is absorbed which keeps the rock wool damp with nutrients. The systems recirculiates the nutrients.

I hope that is is clear to everyone, I'll try and draw a sketch and scan it onto this post.

This is a very inexpensive setup and the vegtables they grew were unbeleiveable. Their setup was in a greenhouse, but I don't see why it won't work under lights.

Paul

Thanks this is a big help!

Woooooooo Hooooooo!! Another avenue for winter planting and growing!!

http://www.simplyhydro.com/hydrou.htm

"eyes"

I'm delighted to see this forum!

I have been contemplating a move for a few months now, and now that the garden here is gone for the winter, I'm having time to research and dream of a new home and garden. The mention of hydroponics has come up in my research a couple of times, so I will be paying close attention to this forum.

One of my goals is to provide (for myself) enough fresh greens and veggies during winter in my zone 6b. I'm leaning towards an attached greenhouse but until I actually sell and move, I won't know what's possible.

This is excellent! My first post and I'm excited to share my hydro/aqua and bioponic experiences. Anyone can do this and do it cheap or make it a major challenge if you want to get all fancy with it. PaulGrow described a pretty neat and simple system that is a hybrid of an "ebb and flow" system along with the "trough" configuration. I like it but I despise rockwool. Rockwool(RW) has to be soaked and pre-treated in order to get the desired PH. RW also needs to be switched out after 1 season as it does retain nutrients/salts, so its only for annuals IMO. For anyone who would like to expirament with hydro w/o spending a lot of money, I have a incredible system I copied from a General Hydroponics system. It consists of 1 shallow(6 to 8 inches deep) rubbermaid container, 6-8 netted pots/baskets around 6 inches in diameter, 1 small air pump from a aquarium, 1 air stone and tubing to connect the stone to the pump, 1 bag of "grow rocks(very similar to lava rock, just in pebble shape) and some hydroponic nutrients. The number of baskets can be changed to expand or scale down the system to accomodate the number of plants you want to grow. 1 basket for each plant.
Take the lid of the container and measure out an even spacing for each basket to pass thru the lid. The holes are then cut out so the netted baskets will fit in the holes w/o falling thru the lid. So if you have 6 inch baskets, cut your holes 5-51/2 inches around, this keeps the top of the baskets roughly an inch or so above the lid. Take the container and drill a small hole near the top of the container just below where the lid sits when closed. This hole needs to be just large enough for the air tubing to pass thru to the inside and connect to the air stone and air pump. The hardest part of construction is done now. Run the air tubing thru the side where you drilled the hole and connect the airstone to hose inside the container and connect the other end to your air pump(NOTE: the air pump needs to sit almost or as high as the container or you run the risk of your nutrients syphoning out of the container and into your airpump).Place your netted baskets into the lid of the container and snap the lid on. The netted baskets should be "hanging" from the lid and sit just above the bottom of container. You can now fill the container full of hydroponic nutrients, just make sure the liquid level is below the hole for the air tubing. Now you can "plant" your plants into the baskets using the growrock. Put an inch or 2 in the basket and then place the roots of your plant in the basket and fill them the rest of the way up just above the liquid level inside your container. Plug in the air pump and your now growing in a hydroponic system. Soon you'll notice the roots growing thru the baskets and all over the inside of the container, nice white roots everywhere.
The supplies per container will cost around 20-30$ and will last several years. Ideally, you should buy some PH up or down to adjust your nutrients to your plants desire. You can also purchase a aquarium PH test kit thats very effective for finding and maintaining the "ideal" PH level. I can't give you an equation to adjust the ph levels since everyones water varies greatly. A guideline for maintenance on the system is simple too. Make sure you keep the nute levels up to the top, use plain water to do this or it will throw your nutrient levels way off. I have a tds/ppm meter that tells me when my nutrients have been used up, totally changing out your nutrients every 2 weeks is a good guideline. You'll notice as your plants grow you'll need to top of your container more often. The roots displace water as the plants get bigger. I will be getting you some pictures of this system as well as several other designs like drip systems, ebb and flow, aeroponics etc..
I hope I've done a decent job of explaining this, please feel free to email me with any questions. I have roughly 10 years of experience growing w/ these alternatives to dirt farming.
DO NOT be intimidated by all the odd terminology and descriptions that may sound complicated. Most everyone that uses hydroponics finds it easier than growing in other mediums and I think it really is too.
I'm new to this site so I haven't had time to read up on any other topics. I will asap and see if I can help.
I look forward to getting to know you all and trading genetics. You folks have the greatest variety of plants on the web IMO and I can't wait to start swaping.
JD

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I have been wanting to grow with hydroponics for 12 years, but the expense has held me back. It is great to find someone who is willing to share ways to do it inexpensively. Ebb and flow is the only method that I have tried so far, but I want to try lots of other methods, too. I'll be waiting for your pics.

Heya sky. I see you live in Stockton, I have several friends that grew up there. We try to get down there for the mighty "Walnut Festival" every year. You wouldn't by chance know any of these last names? Salter's, Wainwright's, Settle's, Clayton's? I know how small of a town you live in so You gotta know atleast 1 of these families. The guys I'm talking about would have graduated around 83'-85' or so.
What a small world!
Thanks, JD

Sorry, but we have only lived in the area for about 6 years. I am actually about 7 miles north of town, and since I work in Bolivar, am not familiar with the majority of folks in Stockton.
I graduated in 73' :>)

I went to a yard sale last summer and a lady had what she called a waterbed, it looked like it had wooden sides lined with plastic sheeting, inside this "box" she had large pieces of styrofoam that had plugs filled with a growing meduim all sitting in a water salution. There were 3500 plugs all growing beautiful perennials, I thanked her for letting me peek and later that week sent her a thank-you note with my phone number (for when she was ready to sell some of her plants) I never heard from her and really didn't want to intrude, but I sure wanted a second look at her contraption. The one thing she said was this was the was they started tabacco plants in Kentucky. Does any of this sound familiar to anyone? I assume this was a type of hydropnics growing.

fran...yes, that is how the majority of folks grow tobacco starts. Here in NC there are huge greenhouses with float trays; usually in the greenhouse there is only enuff room for one small aisle down center.

I've started other plants in those trays also...tomatoes, lettuce.

It's a pretty amazing sight, eh?

Thank you for the new "keyword" to look up in the search engines Horseshoe.. I had no idea what the trays were called. This has led me to some very informative sites. I think I may start with a small float tray indoors and work my way up to the long garage length one this lady had. I was so impressed with the healthy-ness of her plants, they were all just bursting to grow.
You are right, it is a sight to see.

You can make a "pool" pretty easy. Just nail some 2 X 6's together into a box, or retangle, and line it with plastic to hold the water in.

The float trays are available from plant supply places. You'd enjoy it. Give it a try...(and the float trays last forever!)

I have only came across this thread so do not have time to backtrack, but if this question has been answered can someone refer to it please..this is directed at growing vegetables hydroponically...and what of the good beneficial organisms that live in the soil [altho now somewhat depleted]..we take probiotics..Primal Defense..a soil organism.. is there a way that it is introduced into the hydroponic therapy [or system]..I know it [H] is very popular now for growing and I believe Disneyworld uses and many restaurants but is it as healthy [even tho vitamins are injected into the system]..and what about the organism's that live in soil ?? this is the only way we have been able to get them..

Horseshoe, I have what I think is an easy question, but I have tried a few things and they haven't worked the way I think they should....
What medium should I use... I have looked at rockwool, but it is expensive and I think there has got to be something more, the pebbles seem senseless to me as they would not soak up any water.. I was thinking maybe fill my holes with spagum moss then a layer of light seed starter.

fran...I just use regular potting soil and it stays put and works very well. I fill the holes with the potting mix then firm it up by bumping the tray on my work table to settle the soil. How big are the holes in your float trays? Unless they are huge you shouldn't need to plug the bottoms with spag.

peterson89, I'm not all that well-versed in hydroponics and what is added to the growing solution. Wish I could help you out here. I do know that the vitamin content in plants is not necessarily contingent on the soil they are grown in. If you should come across any information on probiosis in hydroponics I hope you will come post it here. Thanks!

Pete
Keep taking your Primal Defense, it's the only way you are going to get it.

On my test float try we made the holes 2 in. I made them that big because I figure it was early and the plants would be a good 3 months old before they could be planted so I wanted to give them plenty of growing room. I had assummed on the rest I would make them a little smaller. The tray itself is 4 inches deep... too deep maybe?

I would plan on starting your seed 6 to 8 weeks before your setting out date. That would be perfect timing for them.

The holes you made...it would be best to make them beveled (smaller at the bottom, wider at the top). That will help tremendously.

The depth of your trays should not affect the growth too much; I'd keep that.

I'll look for a float tray and post pics here tomorrow.