Anyone have Hydro-stacker experience?

Hi, I'm new at Dave's. I'm thinking about buying a few Hydro-stackers to try out. Would love to hear from anyone who has tried them.

Interesting, but pricy at over $300 for a single 20 plant model.

Looks tippy

There is a 10 acre u-pick farmette near my house and it blew me away. Strawberries, cukes, squash, beans, etc. They seem to be very surdy and productive.

Looks like the set-up behind the scenes at the land pavilion in Disney's Epcot Center.. Looks cool but I think it's more work.. I got a set up similar to that a few years back but was a bit too much work.. I got the Aerogarden now.. Much easier and almost runs itself.. :)

Guess our posting crossed.. Guess if you planning a large set up and plan to be an expert on it.. It good but like I said, more work.. I like my Aerogarden.. Simple. Might pull out the other hydroponic set again if I want a larger set up.. But not right now..

Here is another picture I took. Cukes seem to grow real well in these things.

Each plant grows in so little soil, I would suspect that it would take a lot of water and fertilizers to get these things lookin' like the last photo!

girlgroupgirl

They say 1 quart 3 times a day for all 20 plants does it.

What is an Aerogarden?

It's an hydro/aeroponic system with intergrated lights. It's small so it's good for indoor and home use.. DH got me my first one when it came out 2 years ago and just got me the newest upgraded one for the holidays.. :)

http://www.aerogrow.com/?adid=msn1002.1

Is it styrofoam?

Yes, I understand they are high density styrofoam made to last 10 years. I stll hope there is someone out there that has used them.

What happens to all that styrofoam when the ten years are up? It can't be recycled, it would never degrade, and it would take up an awful lot of room in the landfill. Not to mention that styrofoam is made from petroleum, so the price for these gizmos is just going to go up indefinitely. I like the idea of the standing picking, but other than that, this setup gives me the creeps.

Actually styrofoam is extremely cheap to make, the only reason it's $300 a tower is because people apparently are willing to pay that.

I like the concept, but I wouldn't buy it for two reasons.

One, it's a visual eyesore. Styrofoam will always look cheap. I don't know how old the ones in the pictures are, but I doubt it's past their second season and I can already see dents and chips.

Two, styrofoam IS cheap. I couldn't spend $300 on a cheap looking item that cost twenty bucks at the most to make.

Unless the price drops and they use another medium (clay, ceramic, concrete, papercrete) I would pass.

I think that the concept is very interesting! The key benefit is getting more viable, producing plant per square foot of ground space. Also, the styrofoam may be important for its insulating properties--some other materials might cause summer heat to cook the plant roots.

I've been doing some web research while working on this post....

It seems like these systems would be a great way to grow strawberries, lettuces/greens, or herbs. I'm not as sure how they'd work for larger plants, but it would be fun to try.

If I was still living in the the small lot suburban house then something like this would be really beneficial. I'd guess I spent well over $500 on the two 4' x 8' raised beds that I built and they didn't have automatic watering. I don't think that I could have planted 100 different plants in the same space, so the price to plant ratio for the Hydrostacker isn't too bad either.

Looking at the corporate website, http://www.hydrostacker.com/ , the pricing for a single "Automatic" unit does seem high, but that includes the pump, timer, and other essentials for automatic watering. The single, "manual" unit is substantially less expensive at $120. For someone that is seriously interested, the automatic 10 stack (200 plant) package is $1159 or about $115 per stack. I'd bet commercial rates improve even more. (back of the envelope calculation...) If I bought a $1200, 10-stack/200 plant unit then the cost per plant space is $6, which includes planting medium and the watering system. That seems comparable to pots and soil, but includes a way to get more plants per foot, and automatic watering.

There's a competing product, "EzGro", http://www.theezgro.com/index.html, that uses plastic pots but doesn't seem to be setup for the higher volume use. They sell for much less, with individual manual stacks priced at $60 (plus about $25 shipping per unit). These might be worthwhile if one can engineer their own watering system. Also, the plastic stacks might be more durable than the styrofoam.

I think I might give one of these a try for some strawberries and lettuce. Does anyone know of any other similar products?

This message was edited Jan 1, 2008 10:44 AM

I had thought that raised beds were expensive, but $500 on two small raised beds, holy cats! I have a small city lot, but I use a tiller, soaker hoses, and meticulous planning of my garden layout to make the best use of space. I also use trellising and strings or baskets from overhangs like the patio and the carport. I grow a lot of things for my business and for me, but even so I have only about 1/4 of my back yard in cultivation. And I still have the small but sunny front yard to colonize. So I don't see the worth of these things from the perspective of having a small yard. I am actually going to grow strawberries next year but was planning to try them in both baskets and in between tree roots, so the squirrels can harvest them.:)

Looks like what these things are really best at is the tax deduction for their depreciation if you have a business that involves growing. I think they are just about as ugly as can be too, but there's no accounting for taste.

Hey, Are you getting these from chester out in myyaka? I had them. there pricey and they work just a good as dirt...
He's got a nice place huh?
Rich

Interesting concept!

I just received one EZ Gro unit today( the economy one with 3 pots) $39.95 plus s&h. I was also lucky to be able to buy two manual hydro-stacker units from the farm in Delray Beach.(the one from my pictures at the beginning of this thread. So I'm testing hard plastic(EZ Gro) and Styrofoam(Hydro-stacker), and the whole vertical concept. These two systems are hydroponic, so my real test is against my Earth Boxes (EB,s). Lots of pictures coming soon from my adventure.

Rich, I was hoping I didn't have to order them from Chester.

Dreaves, the farm in Delray Beach is growing the most beautiful tomatoes in the hydro-stackers

Y not from Chester?
He invented them.
Rich

I hoped I was going to get a good deal locally, and I did. I have nothing against Chester

Yeah, I didnt meen that in a bad my. Sorry if I did. HEck if there cheaper ill get a few! =] LOL
Post some pics
Rich

What an interesting concept!

here are my first pics of the verticals

one more

BocaBob

Bob,

The picture of the EZGrow won me over. I ordered a single stack and some strawberry plants tonight. If it works out, then I'll have to invest in a few more and maybe build something to automatically water/feed.

I'm trying some 'Eversweet' strawberries that are supposed to tolerate higher temperatures. They are "ever-bearing" so that should give the hydroponics a chance for a higher yield. It will be interesting to see how it goes!

Go Dreaves!!!!!!!!!

I have eight of the EZgro "poles" and four verti-grow poles........That is enough for 240 plants. The EZgro is by far the best of the vertical pole growing systems. The pots are solid and should last for years and years. They are deeper and hold more grow mix than the vertigro. They are mounted on 3/4 inch electrical conduit and they are not going anwhere even in this Texas hill country wind. I had an automatic watering system for the vertigro but did not use it this year. I went back to hand watering. I also experimented with not using the hydroponic fertilizer that comes with the system. I used time release fertilizer in the pots and it worked fine. I have also used the hose attached miracle grow liquid fertilizer and it worked fine. I tap the plants with liquid fertilizer about once a week otherwise its just plain water. Occassionally, I mix some fish fertilizer or kelp fertilizer in a 2 gallon spray can and squirt a little bit right at the base of the plants. Everything has grown like gang busters. I think I am going to give up on the fish ferts........too stinky......and these pots are right up here nose high. From my experience.........I offer this advise for anyone wonting to try the EZgro system and save some money.....buy the pots only from EZgro for about $7 a pot (plus shipping).......buy 4 cu ft bags of perlite and vermiculite locally (about $24 dollars each where I live).........buy 3/4 inch electrical conduit and fittings locally........and build your own system. It might pay you to buy one kit from EZgro, the 3 pot one for about $40 (plus shipping) and look it over real good and you will then see where you can build your own system and save some money. You can use a peat based grow mix in the pots but I strongly recommend the 75% perlite with only 25% vermiculit, coir, or peat..........never more than 25% of the type of mix that hold more water. The 75% perlite mix insures that you can not overwater your plants. Then hook up a cheap timer to a water faucet and automatically water your plants from there with a drip system. The amount of water required per pole varies depending on whats growing in the pots. Lots of foliage requires more water. Tomato's for instance. I planted one pole in medium heigth sunflowers and they sucked lots of water. You can adjust the timer and the size of your drippers so that you add just enough water so that water just begins to drip from the bottom pot. I have grown all kinds of plants successfully in this system with a lot less labor than any other system.

Jay - Great going!!!!. ............Boy, this was one of my original threads last year I really like the fact that you only fertilized once a week and that was enough I have been feeding 3 times a day every day (I can't put any periods in, the computer is going crazy) I'll try the once a week feeding on some as a test

Bob

My strawberries did miserably this year. I'm going to move the system close to the house and use it to plant herbs. I think that should work pretty well.

David

David - Mine was also a failure, but I think the reason was that all the farmers that grow berries down here plant them in November and harvest up to late spring. I planted mine in the spring. This year I found a company that ships small quantities in the fall. We will see if that really was the problem

BocaBob

What company is that?

http://www.willisorchards.com/product/Sweet+Charlie+Strawberry+Plant

Are those all everbearers, Bob?

Short day June Bearers I think, don't hold me to it. I ordered Sweet Charlie and Chandler because they are grown in big numbers down here.

BocaBob

I'm tempted to try those SB too. Mine are the old TN Beauty. I really wanted to thank you for posting that link. Their prices and selection are really good for some of the things I had planned on this year. It's gonna be a killer trying to decide on what to order. Thanks.

If anyone would like to split the 50$ minimum order at Willis Orchards...i would love to do it.