hi i am attempting a similar setup.what are the plants you could get good results

Hello Sundarms sorry about the previous ph and ec chart it was over 3 pages and my lack of knowledge converting to one continuous document failed, attached is another attempt but on one page of ph and ec tips. I wish you every success in this fun adventure.

Sundarms I have posted this link before, but as you have similar weather to us I thought this link on the various hydroponic methods may be of interest.

Here is a link that might be useful: Leafy Asian vegetables

hi robert sorry as i am a surgeon i had a busy schedule.so i coulnt update my works and didnt respond to ur valuable suggestions.now that i had setup my raft sytem.since my tomato seeds didnt germinate i had planted 5 sweet corns 3 beans 2 dummies.one week old.initial pH is 6.3.EC2.added 10 liters of nutrient solution.container capacity is 30 liters.how often should i change solution,check pH and EC.

Here is a link that might be useful: picasa web album

Hello Sundarms, 10 litres of nutrient solution seems a lot I usually add about 1 litre approx to 200 litres on my ebb and flow system to arrive at a nutrient EC of about 1.6 to 1.8.
In my Floating raft system which is small of about 20 litres , I generally add a small amount of nutrients to achieve approximately the same EC level.
For smaller plants eg chinese vegetables I add and then forget until the plants are ready for harvest.
Unless you have thirsty plants like tomatos it would be wise to keep an alertness to the nutrient levels as tomatos will absorb a lot of the solution.
Tomatos are thirsty ones, so I would check every week because as the nutrient level goes down the EC levels rise .
Only if the nutrients go down appreciably would I consider adding new top up solution.
If this were the case I would add water to keep the solution at about 1.6 to 1.8 EC because as the plant matures it will develop a thirst for a higher nutrient level, but if it gets depleted before maturity , be wise not to overdo the top up too much, I think the test trial may be wise to observe how the plant reacts to the addition of new solution.
As for Tomatos or any other vegetables if they have taken up nearly all the available solution , keep in mind not to drown these plants and allow enough room for the roots to oxygenate
As for PH I seem to add the solution then forget, however with tomatos etc I would check at random.
PS for 40 years of hydroponic gardening I did not have a PH or EC metre and generally had success.
I have added a photo of a previous crop of chinese vegetables , to indicate not to flood the root system and only allow about 1cm of fluid to cover the bottom of the pot, as you can see the roots have not drowned and as they have taken up the nutrient the roots will go deeper and deeper. Best of luck.

Hi Sundarms your plants look a little yellow, check your nutrient levels in your pots as they look a little sick. Also check your PH and EC levels .

hi sorry i was away for a long time.i am posting a few pictures of my drip hydropnic setup.6 weeks old ladies finger and cabbage sprouting.ph and ec okay ph 5.9-6.ec around 1250.i kept sweetcorn,ladies finger cabbage in 2 containers in deepwater culture setup.they failed for two reasons.container was not heat proof as ididnt paint it it white and black.sun heated up the nutreint solution.aerator also failed i didnt notice it.so i am starting fresh batch taking care these problems dont get repeated.

my new visitor to terrace garden it was running over ladiesfinger.what is this bug

6 weeks old ladies finger in cocopeat started its fruiting 3 days ago.

LOL the insect is a Cotton Stainer pest, like our Florida species which leaves unremoveable stains in cotton, is a pest for OKRA, papaya, guava and other fruits, including citrus. It also loves Florida Cranberries (known commonly as Meshta, Chukor and Mathipuli in your part of the world).

Did I mention it was a pest for Okra? LOL. What you are calling Ladies fingers and bhindi, we call Okra here ;-)

Very nice progress on the Okra here they get over two meters tall plants, great luck on your next try with the others in your improved system!

You need an entomologist to classify the bug's exact species of what you have and you can verify first if it's the bug Antilochus coquebertii.

This post was edited by PupillaCharites on Sun, Mar 23, 14 at 20:25

If you really want to confirm the exact bug, send an email to the excellent agricultural scientist Uzma Manzoor ( khan_uzma11@yahoo.co.in ) in Uttar Pradesh ag university who will know this easily. Because the bug may very well be Antilochus coquebertii which is a cannibal in the same family of insects as the Florida cotton stainer Dysdercus suturellus which in India has the very close species usually Dysdercus cingulatus, also called the red cotton bug in India but even though it is also called red cotton bug, it is mostly a terrible okra pest in your country.

The interesting thing to me about your okra garden visitor is he looks like he is wanting to suck the juice from your new tender fruiting okra and spread infecctious pathogens into at as it does, but he looks like Antilochus coquebertii. It's interesting because Antilochus coquebertii is carnivorous (insectivorous) biological control that preys upon its close relative cingulatus, and may or may not actually eat the okra, even though he is the very same family and appearance of his Indian okra-sucking close cousin cingulatus. So please email Uzma Mazoor to kindly ask if that bug is a pest or a benefit, because it is acting like a okra-sucking pest and might be interesting for the scientist too if it is doing that in your picture to know whether it is a pest, beneficial predator or can be both.

This post was edited by PupillaCharites on Sun, Mar 23, 14 at 15:33

I have been using kratky for leafy greens as well as cucurbits. I have had great success with Cucumbers especially the parthenocarpic variety ( seedless). In my experience, I have seen the parthenocarpic varieties work best in this system. as the nutrient solution in the reservoir is limited these seedless varieties yield start yielding from their day they start flowering.

I tried Cucumbers, Bottle Gourd, Water melon, Swiss chard.
It is one of the best systems if time is an object. No maintenance whatso ever.

Here is a link that might be useful: Growing Cucumbers in Kratky system

Hi,

I'm about to start a Kratky system and I bought the closest liquid fertilizer to the recommendations I could find here in Europe.
One question remains about the concentration.
The label says "4ml per liter, which means 1 unit of fertilizer per 250 units of water", but it also says that this is for "plants in fertile ground or earth".
Do you think I should use the same concentration in the water of my Kratky system?

Thanks a million!
Antony