New to Hydroponics and questions about experiments

15 years ago

Hi. Trying my hand first time w/hydroponics. Already broke a few rules because I'm limited on equipment yet. Am I spinning my wheels or do my plants have a chance?

Made an outdoor hydroponic garden as follows: Filled an old fishpond liner w/water and only nutrient I could find--a Miracle Grow Water soluble tomato/veggie plant food at 1/2 required solution--33 TBLSPs/100 Gal. water instead of the 66 directions required. I wanted Peters but couldn't find it. I used a 1 1/2" thick 2x2 piece styrofoam w/holes cut to allow plastic cups plants came in to sit 1/4" into solution. Styrofoam just floats on top of pond.

I broke the rules by using tomato plants, eggplant and peppers in this setup when I know I've read that these do better in drip or NFT systems, but right now, don't have the equipment. They are in perlite first soaked in the solution. I did have a time packing it well enough to get plants secure.

What are my chances of success or did I spin my wheels jumping in without the expensive equipment necessary to do the job correctly?

I have another set of the same plants I intend tomorrow to either plant in soil or pots w/soil for a comparison of the two methods.

Thanks.

Connie

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Comments (4)

greystoke
15 years ago
Sounds like fun to me. {{gwi:996599}}
The "Miracle Grow" was (maybe) not such a good idea! It doesn't contain the nutrients in the right chemical form. Better see if you can find a source for proper hydro nutrient.
willardb3
15 years ago
The main difference between hydro and soil fertilizers is the nitrogen source. Ideally, only calcium and potassium nitrate are used in hydro, where soil fertilizer often uses urea and ammonium based nitrogen. The urea requires a soil orgainsm that does not exist in a hydro system to convert to a usable product. The ammonium nitrogen can cause root damage if too much is used. It seems to work OK with up to 15% of the nitrogen source.
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chuck
15 years ago
Hi I made a simular system some years ago and had good results. The key is to keep the water in the pond areated. I did this by re-circulating the water through some trougs with baked clay where I grew tomatoes, lettuce, and other things. After the nutrients passed down through the troughs, a pump with a float switch pumed it back up to the main tank which was a kiddies swiming pool elevated about 3 foot. There was also some plastic irrigation pipes with holes for cups to sit in where I grew hot peppers. This nutrient flow was also pumped back to the kiddie pool. The flow rate was pretty high, maybe 25 or so GPH. The pool only held about 100 gal, so the constant pumping kept the water well arieated for the floating part of the system. A good and cheap hydroponic formula can be found at SOUTHERN AGRICULTURE AND PESTICIDES. They sell it in 25 pound bags for around $20 bucks plus shipping. I have been using a bag now for several years. It takes about 2 teaspoons per gal. You also have to add calcium nitrate and epsom salts to the mix to complete the formula. It's all on the bag. You can see pictures of the system above by following the link below. Look at the floatnslope system. Also see the pipe system there. chuck

Here is a link that might be useful: floatnslope system
greystoke
15 years ago
Ingenious! Well done!

When I look at those constructions, I start having doubts about my own designs. {{gwi:1007445}}