Finished the hydroponics system

I have a cold!  =)  However that did give me time between my naps to work on the project.  I got everything put together, tested, and planted.  Here is the rundown of what has happened thus far:

This is the lettuce seedlings in the rock wool and hydroponic nutrients at day 5.

Lettuce in standard peat starters at day 7

Here is the system.  It consists of a 4"x4"x72" pvc, 10 3" holes for baskets, 5 1" holes for the nutrient lines, and end caps.  Next to the table is a 10 gallon tote that serves as the reservoir.  There is a 3/4" black vinyl line that goes from the pump in the reservoir to a manifold.  The manifold has 5 1/4" drip irrigation tubes coming out of it that then go in between pairs of plants.  The line passes through a rubber stopper and then ends in a T.  The T sprays each basket, watering and feeding the plants.  Finally there is a drain on the right side that drains into reservoir.  It is also made out of 3/4" black vinyl.

Close up of the channel.  Starting from the left there are 7 strawberry plants and then 3 broccoli plants.  There are two different kinds of lights.

The left side has 150w equivalent CFLs in the 2700k range.  This is suppose to stimulate flowering and fruiting.  Each one puts out about 2400 lumens.

The right side has 100w equivalent 6700k (daylight) range CFLs.  These should stimulate vegetative growth, making the plants leaf faster, since the broccoli is much smaller.  Each one of these bulbs puts out 1700 lumens.

Here you can see the nutrient water streaming out of the T.  The water hits the basket splashing all around inside the Hydroton (the clay pellets).  The pellets keep the roots moist, but still allows the roots plenty of air, thus reducing the amounts of roots necessary and allowing the plant to put more energy into growing.

I tried two different kinds of sprayers, but they didn't work very well.

Here are the two bastards that never worked properly.  So I went with the simple but effective route.

Hydroponics Project part 1 - Backyard Hydroponic Strawberries

Today I got the top part of the DIY aeroponics channel done.  So far I am $60 in ($22 of which is a hole saw!) and have another $40 to go.  Luckily there is a lot of left over parts, and should be able to build a second one which I left room for, for about $20.  This one is set up for strawberries and it has room for 10 plants.

The lettuce tank will go underneath the aeroponics channel.  There is another light bank but I have to figure out a better way to secure them.  They will get full spectrum 1000 lumen CFLs, so total for 4 lights is 100 watts or so.  Not bad.

I get bored

So last night I was playing around with Google SketchUp, its like a cross between Autocad and Paint.  You can make some pretty detailed 3d drawings and models.  Its free.  So after tons of research on the best hydroponic systems, I drew up this. Walker pointed me in the right direction.




It uses simple parts found in Home Depot.  What isn't pictured is a resevoir (dark colored plastic tote with a pump and some tubing).

Hydroponics, what?

Well, as some of you know, I love being creative and I love growing things.  Florida has a great climate for growing things, however it also has a great climate for bugs, fungus, bacteria, and other plant pathogens.  After failing a few times growing crops in the sandy back yard, I was talking to Walker and he convinced me to go Hydroponic.

No, I am not growing anything illegal!

Since where I am going to live in the next few months is up in the air, this will just be a trial run and experiment. After hours and hours of research on the internet (the DEA is probably watching the house as we speak) I have decided to build two different systems for two different crops.





Lettuce  -  If you have seen the modern marvels on farming, then you know what I am doing here.  I place all the plants on a Styrofoam sheet and float it in a bath of  nutrient rich water.  The roots grow down into the water, the leaves grow up, and no bugs or soil problems to destroy the lettuce!

The floating bed lettuce system.  I made this drawing with Google SketchUp.

Strawberries - First I have to find a source for strawberry plants, turns out that growing them from a seed takes over a year.  I don't have that kind of time.  So the guys at the hydroponics place recommended some online nurseries that will ship me some rooted strawberry plants.   The strawberry system looks something like the system below.  The right hand  picture is what commercial hydroponic strawberry growers use.  

Getting Started

Luckily all I need for the first few weeks is something to start the seeds with.  I figured since this is an experiment of sorts, I should have a control group.  I started 12 plants in little peat disks like I normally would for soil gardening.  I then set up 40 starters using rock wool cubes from Grodan that were soaked in a very dilute nutrient solution from Olivia's Solutions (they are out of Calistoga!).  

The peat seeds have a two day head start on the hydro seeds, so we shall see who will win the race!  

Here are the pictures of the two starters:

Rock wool grow blocks on the left, peat on the right

Close up of rock wool.