hydroponic Thinking about a hydroponic system

[hot stuff]

I get free 5gal frosting buckets from Hy-Vee. I was wanting to do a large hydroponic system using them. I was trying to figure out the best way to use them.

I was thinking I could use a reservoir to pump water through drippers/sprayers on the top through pcv pipes and then draining it back through the bottom.

I could place the reservoir at the same level so they are constantly flooded or somehow place the bucket above the reservoir and have the bucket hold a certain level of water but have air in the buckets as well. I could use cups to hold a small amount of material to hold the plants up or fill the buckets with growing material.

Any other ideas of how to use 5 gal buckets? I'm thinking 10 buckets per reservoir or so. I'm looking at using 50-60 buckets.

 

[LGHT]

There is a nice topic already just posted a few days ago here Ebb and grow post and I believe he used 12 5 gallon buckets a reservoir and some pvc. I haven't built anything like that, but it looks pretty straight forward.

 

[Burning Colon]

Here is what I put together this weekend, actually I started it several months ago but I am so cheap that the hold up was the rockwool.....until it went on clearance pricing (I considered using cotton balls).

Cheap, Cheap, Cheap:
The bucket is about 2 gallons, I bought years ago and sat in the garage with kids toys in it. Dump! The baskets are used yogurt cups that the wife eats 100gram size, I used a utility knife to etch out the holes(I peeled the labels off, it was Silhoutte brand yogurt). I then use used fruit cups containers as the basket covers(Dole brand). The small pump is from an old aquarium package I purchased probably around 25 years ago(I have a back up pump that I bought maybe 15 years ago). The pump is attached to a 6" air stone that has to be 30 years old and I don't know how old the tubing is. Had a neighbour cut the holes in the bucket lid with his drill attachment. No way I am going to spend $25 for liquid Florgro(unless it goes on clearance pricing), so I mixed together some crystal fertilizer 10-52-10(Plant Prod brand, Plant Starter Fertilizer, says it has mirconutrients). Same stuff I use for my soil seedlings. Then, I went to my algea ridden fish tank and took a scoop of water and put it into the mix. Oh, there is a temporary partial cherry tomato plastic cover top covering 2 of the baskets until the wife eats more fruit cups. Tape on the side of the bucket lid B/L/RC marks the type of seeds(Bishop Cap, Hot Lemon, Caribbean Red(started with just a C then added the R but had no room on the right side of the tape so I put it on the left, "rouge caribbean" from some of my french heritage)).

Watched a youtube video (did a DWC hydroponics search) for the idea. Then, I went to a local store that had an Aerogarden on display and sniffed around at its build.

Right now the only concerns I have is: is the temperature going to be warm enough to germinate the seeds, and is the water level too high, I am keeping the middle baskets empty to monitor water level. I am going to turn the pump off at night and may attach a timer that I bought 18 years ago and no longer use to do that chore.

My goal is not to fully raise the plants in the system but get the plants to about 6-8 inches then transplant in soil.

 

[wordwiz]

Hot Stuff,

You could go DWC and wouldn't need a reservoir, only a good air pump, vinyl tubing and 1/4" soaker hose.

If you go with Drip, using PVC to deliver and drain the water, stick the PVC through grommets. If you want to keep to inches or four inches or even 10" of water in the bucket before it drains, raise the PVC to the desired level.

I just started a hybrid system. It uses misters to spray water on the roots that are about 9" above them. Water runs down the roots and is returned to the holding tank.

As one guy pointed out to me, the disadvantage of using one water source for all the plants and recycling it, if one plants develops a problem and spreads the contamination to the solution, then all plants will be affected.

Mike

 

[hot stuff]

@LGHT I saw that one but I thought the 2 reservoir might a little complicated for me.

@wordwiz How often does that happen? I mean one of the selling points of hydroponics is the plants are healthier and ward off disease better.

How often are you planning on having your plants sprayed during the day?

 

[Datil Patch]

The problem with plant infections was explaned some by Treemanjohn, and in a call I placed to Hydro-Gardens. Mike at Hydro-Gardens explaned that if you are growing on a long cycle and, even with aireation, let your nutrient solutions get too warm- bacteria, fungus, and algae can all grow. You need a chiller to keep the temps down in the solution resevoir to stave off this growth.

In an Ebb and Flow system and a multiple head DWC if you develope an infection in one plant, because the whole system is linked together, then all of your plants have the infection. That is one of the reason why growers of a certain "Herb" do weekly changeouts of the nutrient sol. Of course they have a higher price per pound yeild than pepper and tomato growers.

 

[wordwiz]

HS,

I don't have a clue how often it happens. It may be as rare as this growing season - the worse one I have seen in 50 years, or me may be something that occurs every 2, 5, 10, 20 or 100 grows. When it does happen, it's devastating, because you lose a whole crop. But growing up raising crops, we came to accept that as a small risk.

You can always add bunches of -cides to your solution: germicide, pesticide, fungicide, but then who wants to eat the fruit! I didn't mean to scare or deter you, only point out one of the possible pitfalls.

Mike

 

[hot stuff]

Yea, I didn't think it happened that often. But I'd probably do most of my stuff with several different reservoirs.