Hydroponic lettuce

Here is a picture of my first 'bed'. Really easy to set up.... Ready to plant the next one....

How does this work? What is the purpose of hydroponics? I live in Zone 4a and think this might be a way of getting through the winter months. Food is getting so expensive.
Thanks for any help, Dee

I think it would work for you all, if you can keep the temp. and the light for the growth.

OK...so I used a styrofoam cooler. ANY watertight box will do but if it is clear plastic you need to paint it black so no light gets into the water.

Holes are drilled into the top and plastic cones (used by the forestry dept. to plant out seedlings) are inserted so that the bottoms of the cones are in the water/fertilizer you have filled the box with. My next round I plan to use plastic mesh. The cones are filled with spagnum moss and the seeds put right in the top. I put two seeds and if both came up I culled one of them.

Just keep the water/fert level inside the box UP so the cones can absorb it. It is a special fert. used for non-circulating hydropondic systems.

Where do you get the non-circulating fertiziler? Will you be using the plastic mesh in place of the plastic cones? And if so, why? Thanks, again.

This is very interesting, especially since I have two of those styro boxes. Can you post more about the water/fertilizer solution? How much is in the box and how do you refill the box once the plants start growing? Could you make your own cones - or mesh cones? More, please; you've really started a great thread, I think.

by all means tell us more.
Some friends and I are considering trying to grow tomatoes year round and this would be perfect, I had considered homemade EB's but I like the looks of this

The fertilizer comes from a hydroponic store.

I would use plastic mesh instead of the cones if I couldn't find the cones. I would even use galvanized metal wire mesh.

I fill up the styrofoam box to the top...mix the fert. per directions and add the gals. as fills the box. Put the lid on and wait. I check the level of the water every couple of weeks or so....fill it up. I will try to get the name of the fert. from the friend who gave it to me.

There really isn't any secret to it...or special thing...it is as simple as you see!!! If I can get DH to scan for me, I will draw it out for you. Today I will post more pictures so you can see how it is made.....

I know someone who grows peppers and eggplants this way too!!!

Aloha

In the past I have grown Chinese Bok Choi this way..... and am now growing Patio tomatoes in styrofoam Minnow buckets ( cheap..from WalMart) on my balcony.

Glad you are up and busy, Carol.

Here's one of our lettuce set up's.
These were just planted a few days ago, transplants.

This message was edited Jun 8, 2008 6:40 PM

Here's another batch, been harvesting here for a long time.

We have tomatoes & cucumbers, too.

Cucumbers.

We have raised tomatoes in the greenhouse in the ground for years. This is 8th year in a row for this house. Tomatoes go in the same spot every year. Kind of throws rotating for a loop, doesn't it. No disease in there.
8 rows of 40 per row. We get $3 a pound for the tomatoes out of here.

Close-up.

We also grow other things in the ground inside to beat the weather. These crops are at least 3 weeks ahead of outdoor gardens.

Try again for pic.
Kolhrabi & Romaine Lettuce. Green beans on the left.

This message was edited Jun 8, 2008 6:56 PM

Here's how we feed our tomatoes & Cucumbers.

CountryGardens--Is this considered hydroponics also? I notice you are using a growing media. Thanks.

hydroponics is a soil-less process, I had some friends years ago that grew with hydroponics,wish I had payed more attention back then.

Since you can control the temp, can you grow lettuce when it's very hot outside ?

What is the light-temperature formula using in hydroponics?

I don't know what we are doing is called, but we are pumping the nutrients to the plants. The planting soil only keeps the roots in place.

We are hoping to grow lettuce all summer.

If it gets too hot in the greenhouse, we will move the boxes where there is stronger shadecloth.

OK...Here is a larger production method. I have no pictures so you will have to imagine:

Take a 4' x 8' piece of plywood on sawhorses...so you have made a table. Nail an edge of 2x4 all the way around, on the 2" side so you have a flat table with the 4" high 'rim' around it. Lay a heavy duty plastic tarp over and tuck in the sides so that in effect you have a 4' x 8' 4" deep 'pool'..... Then you lay sheets of styrofoam over the top...as a cover....spanning the 4' width...and you cut holes in the styrofoam and then do just what I have done with my little box. This is how they grow hydroponic lettuce at the experimental station....a good backyard/garage project and it grows killer lettuce!!!

Thanks, AlohaHoya!

CountryGardens I noticed on the tomatoes you split the bags open and planted your tomatoes that way. Is it 1 tomato plant to a bag? I did my watermelons that way in the MG moisture control potting mix and they are doing great. By the way everything looks wonderful. deanna

Just little holes, 4 plants to a bag. 2 drip emitters per bag. We haven't checked, but think the roots are through the bottom of the bag into the ground.
Next year we will make that happen if it hasn't on it's own.

Do you have any problem with root rot? I used a similar system few years ago, but I put an aeration block and air pump in the bottom. I used standard fish aquarium supplies from department store. This made sure that the roots got oxygen even though they were wet. It's not wetness that creates a problem, its lack of oxygen due to wetness that causes root rot.