Well ive been reading alot lately on hydro systems and ive come to this conclusion, and i think hellostupid said it best.... "hydro is hydro" But this post isnt about that, its just that ive chosen a somewhat different hydro system than what i normally see used here on GK, and i want to hear what you all think about it. I wanna find out what needs improvement, what you all think might go wrong, what problems i might have, and(hopefully not) if there are any problems that arent fixable. Ok here is my basic setup. Its about as simple as any system ive seen out there, and cost me about $20. 5lb bag of vermiculite 5lb bag of perlite 5 empty 2L pop bottles 1 cat tray(the kind people usually put rockwool in) an aquaculture air pump some tubing for it 1 airstone. Some windowscreen sold in rolls. I got all of these things at wallmart, which adds convenience factor to the setup!! Alright this is a passive hydroponics system, and i didnt make it up myself, i got info from some grow guides out there on the net, and some info from a hydroponics book at the library. Step 1) Cut the tops off of the 2L bottles at about the point where the plastic label comes to the top part of the bottle. Then slice holes in each of the 5 bottom pieces of the bottle. I used a lighter to kinda melt the slices into bigger holes in the bottles. Step 2) Set up your airstone along the inside of the cat tray, and put the tubing in, making sure its not crimped anywhere. You might need to soak ur airstone, read the directions for this. Step 3) Cut the screen into squares with sides about 4" each, and fit them into the bottoms of the bottles to cover up the holes. If you like, cut a big circle and fit it in there, but i just used squares for mine. Its just to keep the medium in the bottles. Step 4) mix up the perlite and vermiculite in a 2-1 ratio respectively, and fill up the 2L bottles, leaving about 3" of space at the top. Top each bottle off with about an inch of vermiculite, if you intend to germinate your seeds in the bottles(recommended cause its so easy, gives high seed germ ratios, and no transplanting for one harvests crop) Set the bottles in the cat tray, and its all ready to be filled up, with about 3" of water. It actually works out to be about 2 gallons or so, depending on the paticular ressy you choose. Let me know what you all think. So far the reactions have been mixed, since this isnt as common of a method as far as i know. My thoughts are that this is a mix between DWC and a Wick system. The roots get oxygen from the aeration of the perlite and airstone, and the vermiculite is the "wick" for the roots to get to the water. On a side note, i think that hydrogen peroxide might be a good thing for this system, because the roots are more ceceptible to root rot(mabye). Im not too sure about that, thats just the input ive gotten from some people. Im actually using this system right now, but its too early to tell if the system works well or not, i just started it 5 days ago, but ive got 5 3" plants all started from seed, which cant be too bad. Please tell me where im going wrong.
Along the lines of what you've probably already heard, my impression is the #1 problem with wick systems is they don't circulate. Meaning the water in your ressy might be chock full of O2, but you're re on equilibrium to move the O2 up the wick. If the wick is already wet, there is no new O2 moving into the root system. I think you'll find that sooner or later your roots wil find a way through the screen and start growing in your ressy. Then you'll want to raise the bottle so the roots aren't crushed. Also at this point you're gonna havta light-proof the reservoir. The big lesson I learned in the last 2 months is not to half-ass the beginning of the hydro project. I have transplanted 3 times and 3 different systems until I found one that makes them happy and doesn't require as much effort as a passive system. I chose DWC because I saw my roots poking out the bottom of the pots. Since installing a light proof ressy underneath the pots, root growth has been greatly increased, and water uptake during light hours is noticeable.
So your wick system basically became a DWC Quitin?? Also, their is no wick in my system, its just vermiculite/perlite, so the plants draw what they need, but also can get oxygen from the aeration of the perlite as well. Wether or not this is enough oxygen is one of the questions ive had from the beginning that noone has been able to fully answer for me.
sounds like "emily's garden" instead of using the pop bottles, try the "grow bags" only 5 cents each and disposable. light proof. i would add h2o2 even with the air pump. sound good too me. do a search on "emily's garden" for pointers. sound just the same. not to sure of you medium choice either. i think it might stay wet for a while, this may lead to a problem latter on. i use hydro corn, no problems. how hard is it gonna be for you to change the res? you will have to move the grls around, this sucks to do, wet and messy. good luck
I too have seen similar garden used too great success using this shallow water type DWC cultivation. Liz's garden uses the same principle but with sqare pots rigged the same way with hydrotro or hydrocorn. The hydrocorn has great cappilary wick type porous effect and assist greatly with airaition. I grow orchids using this method when they are really small before transplanting into larger systems. I believ it is classed as semi-hydroponics but dont quote me on thatHmm
If you flush the salt away from your hydro setup at least once every 2 weekz...i think you will succeed! As long as u don't forget to incorporate flushing(aka,"hydro diaper change")...you can't go wrong!!! I hope you post some pics...i'm a sucka fer hydro gardens!!! Peace! (Edited by hellostupid at 11:25 pm on Oct. 10, 2003)
Ill try to get some pics up sometime. Right now one plant is an embarassment, i wouldnt wanna put it up on GK. Makes me feel like this: The other plants are getting nice and big tho, its really alot of fun!
Hola, Amigos, Viva La revolucion! I went through a DWC stage in my quest for knowledge, and experience(what you get when you don't get what you expected!), then I took to trying various combinations of perlite, vermiculite, and horticultural charcoal. In nets, in strawberry baskets, in 2lt bottles(cut the other way). And with a combination of airstones set into the arrangement in a variety of locations. The most successful seems to have involved the plug style airstone inserted into the neck, giving off just a trickle of bubbles at all times. I think, with some tweeking, which you'll figure out as you go you can do fine. The root container must be dark, and also the reservoir, to discourage :boxer: algae and moss from using up some of your garden, and screwing with the pH. If perlite wasn't such a pain, it would be among my favorite mediums. It holds air even when it is soaked, dries fairly quickly, and wicks quite well. But it is sharp edged, and fragile root hairs can be scrubbed off if there is movement of the medium within the container. Vermiculite stays wet too long IMHO. It does hold some air when soaked, and is not as hard on the roots, but it's wick factor is not very high. What seems to be the problem with the puny one? Good luck, eg
Heh if i knew what was wrong with the little one, id have it fixed by now.... I think its got severe calcium defiency, its growing small leaves and it has the brown patches associated with calcium defiency. The thing that confuses me the most is how one plant can be so deprived of calcium, and the others are fine. Really confuses me alot heh.
here's a nice hydro page that gives you the low down on hydro http://lifesci3.arc.nasa.gov/SpaceSe....cs.html
High Quaker! Yep, sounds like calcium, but like you said, How come? Are all your babies from similar genetix? Is the puny one situated in any way differently from the others? There is always a scientific explaination when you are dealing with the variables of set up, genetix, climate, and human endeavor. Hope you can figure it out, and let us know what's up! The earth girl has an enquiring mind, and is always asking Who, What, When, Where, How, and especially: Whyyyyyy?!?! good luck...eg
