Hydroponics: It makes me want to pee

[Mendolorian Girl]

My babies all died because of the lack of water and extreme heat But fuckem anyways...I have more seed and I intend to spread it.

If it's any consolation, my veg are also dying due to the constant rain and SLUGS AND SNAILS EVERYWHERE

Growing on a balcony certainly has it's advantages

[Aypse]

After about 12 days, I have a fresh crop of seedlings. On Friday I fired up the system, ran nutrients through it and reduced down the pH to 6.6. I also added a bit of hydrogen peroxide to kill any algae. Yesterday I weeded out some of the weaker seedlings and transplanted them strong ones into the system.

Also since my last set of pictures I added a fan to blow air on the grow light. THat thing gets pretty damned hot so I wanted to address that a bit. I also bumped up the size of my reservoir from 25 gallons to 40 gallons. It should make regulating the nutrients a bit easier when the plants are full size. I still need to add an oscillating fan to blow on the plants. That should help keep them cool and also promote strong stems.

I am pretty nervous right now. THis is my second seedling attempt and I haven't reached this stage before. I am really hoping that I don't cook them with the high discharge grow light. The potential benefit though is that the strength and spectrum of this light and the nutrient delivery should really help with strong foliage growth.



Here is a happy little bok choy seedling. It's an asian cabbage that is supposed to be so good you can eat it in salads, but also use it like any other cabbage. It also grows more compact and vertical than the cabbage I am used to...so its perfect for this system. Sorry about the green color in the photo. The light is actually brilliant white, but my phone camera doesn't seem to be able to handle it well and I just cant be bothered to photoshop it.



A bean plant. This thing was less than 1 inch on Friday and now its just short of a foot tall. Amazing stuff.



Tomato seedling.



Some strawberry seedlings. These things were planted at the same time as the bean plant above and just seem to be really slow growers. Hopefully they kick it into gear now that they have broken the ground. I have tried giving them a pep-talk and threatening them with dehydration, we will see if it works.



And finally just another bean plant. The bean plants seem to really struggle popping out of the rockwool cubes...which are basically 1 inch square insulation cubes. I think its because they don't really clear their seed and instead push it deeper into the ground in nature. Well, the rockwool is just too strong to push a big bean seed through so all the bean plants except for the tall one above have become a bit deformed out of the seed. I planted 5 total. All 5 sprouted, 3 got so deformed they died, the tall one above did really well, and this one started to get deformed as well. It grew a bit sideways because of being stuck which is why its so far to the edge of the netpot. I cut it completely out of the cube, striped the seed off as best I could, and then planted it back in. It appears to be in recovery and has a really nice color to it, so hopefully I didn't damage the root system too badly. Time will tell on this little one.

[Aypse]

Man, things have really exploded since I put them in the hydroponic system. I think its the combination of really strong growing light and higher strength nutrients. Just about everything has doubled in height in the last 3 days, stems have gotten much thicker, and leaves are a perfect emerald green. There are two plants that still look a bit weak...my cilantro plant seems to be stuck at a kind of sickly color...halfway in between green and yellow. If it doesn't improve, I am going to yank it for fear that it will spread a disease to other plants. I also have a plant that I think is mislabeled bok choy and is really a tomato plant. The original growth is yellowing but the new growth looks healthy....so it may be just dropping off its seedling leaves for mature ones...like everything else here I am largely clueless and am just driving by "common" sense. Right now I have 5 bean plants growing, but I am only going to keep two of them. I put them all together and explain to them that the next 3 weeks will mean life or death. I didn't get any kind of response so I am not sure if they understood what I was talking about.



I have run into a problem earlier than I had anticipated. The bean plants aren't really ideal for a hydroponics system because not only do they like to spread out, but they also need something to grow on and hold their weight. I don't think you can see it in any of the pictures, but I have chicken-wire fencing stapled to the ceiling up above the lights. I am planning on running strings to the plants to help support some of the weight of the fruiting ones. For the bean plants I hung a 2nd piece, suspended by strings, for them to grow on. I angled it out so that way I can get some space for them to spread out. I tied in my first bean plant, and its honestly a bit precarious right now. Hopefully the stem will stay strong enough until I can get its clinging vines wrapped around the wire mesh. Will it work? I have no fucking idea, but I am open to suggestions. Here is a picture from a side view.

You can also see an exposed electrical junction box in the background within a few feet of the hydroponics system....maybe I should replace that today....



Here is another bean plant. Three days ago this plant had not even broken ground nor did it have a real root structure. The picture doesn't really do it justice but one look at the color of the stem and leaves and you can just tell that its a very happy little plant. When those roots really start to pull their weight...man is that plant going to suck up the nutrients and grow.

[Seamus]

In a normal garden beans (and toms) tend to be grown up a piece of string suspended on a cane or whatever - chicken wire will be good for the plant, but it might make it a bastard to harvest depending on how much room you have, could help later.
Awesome setup and pics man.

Ed: prune your tomatos if you havent already btw, you should aim for max 6 horizontals off the main stem. Where the young branches come off the stem, youll often find theres more little buds waiting to grow off the same place, just pick these off with finger and thumb. If you leave it they grow into a bush, which is fine, but will give you a mediocre crop. Theres another way of doing it called the yorkshire method iirc but its much the same thing, with two stems.

[Diicc Tater]

people use hydroponic for plants other than cannabis! wow!

This was also my first thought.

My thought was that if he needs advice those are the people to ask.

[dpidcoe]

Here is another bean plant. Three days ago this plant had not even broken ground nor did it have a real root structure. The picture doesn't really do it justice but one look at the color of the stem and leaves and you can just tell that its a very happy little plant. When those roots really start to pull their weight...man is that plant going to suck up the nutrients and grow.

How do you expect the roots to pull their weight if they aren't inside the tube with all the water and nutrients? :P

[Aypse]

people use hydroponic for plants other than cannabis! wow!

This was also my first thought.

My thought was that if he needs advice those are the people to ask.

Actually its funny you say that...I have watched probably hundreds of hydropinics videos on youtube and at least half of them are either explicitly or wink-wink about pot. In either case, they have been quite useful.

[Aypse]

A moment of silence please for the seedlings who didn't make the cut....



They were given a short funeral ceremony and used to fill a small hole in my lawn.



I have also gone ahead and covered my basement windows. I don't want a friendly visit by my local policemen nor do I want neighbors who think I am growing pot.

[Calks]

Thought about this thread yesterday when I cam across some melon seeds. As I don't have a greenhouse and British weather is invariably shit growing melons for me would be a fruitless (yeah, couldn't resist) endeavour, but I did wonder how big a hydroponic setup one might need to try it.

Anyhow, interesting thread

[Joshua Foiritain]

I have also gone ahead and covered my basement windows. I don't want a friendly visit by my local policemen nor do I want neighbors who think I am growing pot.

Now it looks like a meth lab from the outside

[Aypse]

Thought about this thread yesterday when I cam across some melon seeds. As I don't have a greenhouse and British weather is invariably shit growing melons for me would be a fruitless (yeah, couldn't resist) endeavour, but I did wonder how big a hydroponic setup one might need to try it.

Anyhow, interesting thread

All you need is a 2' x 2' x 5' tall space really. A 5 gallon bucket and a CFL grow light ($10 bulb + $10 fixture from Home Depot) will grow several small plants or one large one. C/P from a site I like:

http://www.easyhydroponics.net

How to Make a 5 Gallon Pail Hydroponic System

1. Grab a 5 gallon pail or normal bucket and make sure it's sturdy enough to hold a hydroponic installation. Don't use metal buckets if possible, because the iron will oxidize and alter the pH levels of your nutrient solution, harming the plants you're trying to grow.

2. Go to your local store and get an air stone, an air pump and some tubes to connect the two. These are essential for your homemade hydroponic system, since they'll provide your plants with the oxygen needed to grow and perform their daily tasks. You can usually get them at the same place and they're not very expensive (you only need a low to moderately powerful air pump in order to make a 5 gallon pail hydroponic system work). (Check pawn shops too, lots of gently used aquarium supplies)

3. Get some plastic cups and measure their top circle. You will need to cut holes in the pail system's lid just under the size of the cups' top area.

4. After getting the cup dimension, cut several holes into your lid (hopefully it's a plastic lid you're using) and try to cut them so that as many cups as possible fit inside. Usually, for a 5 gallon pail system, you could probably squeeze in up to 5 holes the size of a plastic cup.

5. Once you've set up the lid, get a pair of scissors and plunge some holes in the cup bottoms and sides. These will act as suspenders for your plants, with their bottom buried deep in the nutrient solution, so make sure they have a lot of holes to allow nutrient flow to the roots.

6. Your homemade hydroponic system is almost done! All you need to do now is place the air pump and air stone inside the pail and securely connect them with air tubing.

7. Fill the bucket with nutrient solution, then place the lid on top of it and make sure there's enough water to reach a cup's bottom. Try to have the water and nutrient solution levels as higher as possible and as close as possible to the lid.

8. Carefully clean your plants' roots from dirt and other impurities and gently place them in the cups, with their roots hanging inside the cup and through the holes. Now simply place the cups in the lid holes and you're done!

[Aypse]

This morning I drained out the system, replaced the water, and added nutrients to bring it up to just short of full strength. I was running 275 ppm in my nutrient solution which is quite weak. My concern was that since the plants are responding so well and growing so rapidly, that they might develop nutrient deficiencies, and so I decided to crank up the strength a week early. The nutrient bath is now 760 ppm. A side effect of that is that it made my water too acidic at 5.5 pH, so I also had to add "pH up." I don't really know how much to add and the instructions basically say its completely dependent on the nutrients...so I went with 5mL. I suspect I will have to triple that, but I want to wait until this afternoon to get a feel for how much of an effect that had. Hopefully a few hours of low pH will not harm the plants.

Oh shit, and I forgot to mention..I had to lower the entire system by 1 foot. Mental note....when building a hydroponic system and calculating the distance necessary between the tops of the plants and the grow light....don't forget to factor in that plants fucking grow taller. Many of my plants would have been too close once they got to mature height. I had to disconnect all the tubing, jack the whole thing up into the air, break the seal on the drain pipe, cut 1ft off all the legs, lower it very gently and evenly to the floor, replace the seal on the drain pipe, and then reconnect power cords and tubing. 2 hours of work, but it had to be done.

[Aypse]

Check this out.....grossly overpriced ($2600), but cool:

[Maximillian]

You can take this further and raise fish in a tank. Circulate the water through a gravel bed and grow plants hydroponically using the soluable fish waste in the water. The roots act as a filtration system and you return the water to the fish tank. Choose a fish that will eat vegetable scraps and then eat the fish as well.

Costly unless you are able to build the components yourself.

[Aypse]

You can take this further and raise fish in a tank. Circulate the water through a gravel bed and grow plants hydroponically using the soluable fish waste in the water. The roots act as a filtration system and you return the water to the fish tank. Choose a fish that will eat vegetable scraps and then eat the fish as well.

Costly unless you are able to build the components yourself.

Yeah, I saw that on youtube...amazing stuff. Its basically you feed the fish, the fish feed the plants, and both of them feed you. Cool but I don't much care for fish...neither raising nor eating them.

All of the lettuce and a few other things are showing strong signs of heat stress. It has been mid 80s around here every single day and I think its getting to be too much for them. The lettuce is limp and some has just toppled over, the bean leafs are floppy, and even one of the weaker tomato plants which have been growing quite well is bending over. I have a oscillating fan on the plants and the water reservoir sits on a concrete basement floor so the water stays at 78F. This morning I turned off the grow lights so they will be in very dim or pitch black conditions until tomorrow morning when I will put them back on schedule. I am hopeful that some time out of the heat and light will give them enough of a break to recover a bit. If it works I will work a dark day into the rotation. If it doesn't help....well I am out of ideas. Running an a/c unit...well its not impossible but I am reluctant to do so for a variety of reasons. Anyone have any ideas?

[Seamus]

lettuce and beans dont like it too hot, but ive not heard of tomatoes suffereing from heat yet. Having a dark day sounds like a good idea, or perhaps turning off half your lights as it might be the direct heat from them is causing the surface temp of the leaves to get above the ambient 80?
Probably not related, but what are your nutrients like as far as nitrates/phosphates are concerned? too much phos or too little nit can cause odd things with veg in a normal garden (again ive got no experience with hydroponics.)
One other thing it could be is if you're trial- and error-ing the mixture a bit too much, the change of conditions can cause stress with the plants. Try to only change one thing at a time, and give a bit of time to acclimatise afterwards (p sure youve said youre doing this but its easy to forget)

[Aypse]

I am fairly confident that my nutrient concentration is ok. The nutrients are specifically made for hydroponics and I am using the exact mixture recommended by the manufacturer. My testing seems to indicate that its coming out in the correct range as well. This doesn't really guarantee much....but it seems reasonable that the mix is good. I also had a very similiar issue during my first batch of seedlings where they got really weak stems and flopped. That was a combination of high heat but also dried out for a day.

So...what about something like this and on the inside frozen water bottles? Surefire success? Worst idea ever?

[Aypse]

So I have gone full-on meth lab now.



I have also added in the center a home-made a/c unit like the above video. It has two ice blocks and a 1/2 gallon of slushy water. I started it up at 4pm, lets see how it does...I am fairly skeptical it can cool a 8x8 room tbh.

[dpidcoe]

I am fairly skeptical it can cool a 8x8 room tbh.

Easy enough to estimate:
[mass of ice (grams) * 334 Joules/gram] + [final temp of water (in C, once it becomes even with room temp) * weight of icewater (in grams) * 4.18J/g*C] will give you a rough idea of how many joules of heat energy are sucked up by the ice melting. Divide that by how many hours it takes the icewater to match the room temperature in order to factor in time and make it a useful measurement. Convert joules/hour into BTU if you want to compare it with an AC unit.

[Spaztick]

An actual AC unit would be more efficient.