Any Hydro growers out there?

[AndyL]

(get yer mind out of the illegals) :facepalm:

Any hydroponics growers out there? Been playing around with it lately - after noticing most of our 'fresh' produce comes from china (even more than the california produce) . Harvested our first lettuce yesterday, tomatoes are up over 12" tall now (about 3-4 weeks in).

Graduated now from a little rubbermaid "test" box in the basement (under the fishtank - real organic ferts - maybe not the fastest growth but it works) to now building a much bigger system to go in the kitchen nook (big bay window area - might as well use that natural sunlight). So we can add a bunch more veggies...

Am I alone out here as usual? Bet there's a bunch of you growin something else hydroponic, (and I'll admit I've learned more off the ganga forums than the normal hydro ones)

[President Obama]

Yes I live at 312 Haddon Rd SW.

[Mar]

I've thought about it. How much does it cost to start up?

[2Valve0]

:rofl:
Definately had to get my mind out of the gutter.
Seems like too much work to grow your own food unless its summer. I have a massive garden that has about everything in it during the summer so I eat everything fresh, as well as an apple tree...but it doesn't require much effort haha.

[LowRiderHD2000]

I have been using hydro to grow for about a year. Right now we have tomatoes and green beans. :thumbsup:

[Cos]

I am also interested in growing tomatoes in the comfort of my closet.

http://i564.photobucket.com/albums/ss88/SilentWolf8979/Smileys/smiley-scared004.gif

[JfuckinC]

What are your concerns for mold and bugs? It's always interested me.. Can't you get the Styrofoam growing trays?

[urban.one]

:dunno:


Originally posted by President Obama
Yes I live at 312 Haddon Rd SW.

[Cos]

Originally posted by urban.one
:dunno:


I think he was joking that he has a grow op and that is his address.

[revelations]

Originally posted by President Obama
Yes I live at 312 Haddon Rd SW.

Look for the tin foiled windows and the front porch light that is on 24/7.

[AndyL]

My system was cheap to setup, mostly just tied into one of my freshwater aquarium systems - I'll grab a pic of the new system soon; everythings kinda in shambles as I get ready to move things over to the new system... Mostly made of leftover aquarium parts; grabbed a few things from the hydro shops - but those guys creep me out (think their mind is in the gutter too). But if you buy a system - ouch...

Right now I've got lettuce going great, tomatoes are really just starting to get going good, started out some strawberries, not sure how they'll do. Started germing some broccolli yesterday.

Mold hasn't been an issue, only a couple square feet of space - no different than the fish tank (just keeps the house humidifier off really). Got some pesky fruitflies that I gotta look into how to get rid of - not sure where they're actually coming from...

[van]

Yeah I did a hydroponics Basil plant when I was 10 years old in school haha. It's pretty cool and didn't do anything fancy with any equipment. Basically a peitry dish with the seed and once the plant started to grow transferred it into a styrofoam box with some kind of foam thing in it. Anyway, the plant grew in that and cracked it open and actually planted it in a pot. I had the same problem, fruit flies started developing so my mom got rid of the plant.

[Zero102]

I am interested in this as well, I am more of a DIY guy, I prefer not to buy big kits. I have grown a lot of food indoors under my grow lights and near windows over the last 18 months, but I was never sure how to move to hydroponics. Can you construct your own medium, or do you have to buy that stuff?

For the guy growing broccoli, good luck, I had 4 plants going for 11 months, they got huge but never properly matured and so were not terribly edible. Hope you have better luck with them than I did

[nonlinear]

interested as well. we always grow crap outside in the summer, but the growing season is way too short and it would be nice to have good stuff year-round. what is the approximate cost to start up a basic hydro setup?

[littledan]

Originally posted by nonlinear
... the growing season is way too short and it would be nice to have good stuff year-round. what is the approximate cost to start up a basic hydro setup?

lol :D

[Sailz]

Originally posted by nonlinear
interested as well. we always grow crap outside in the summer, but the growing season is way too short and it would be nice to have good stuff year-round. what is the approximate cost to start up a basic hydro setup?

http://www.progressive-growth.com/Hydroponic_Aeroponic_systems.php

[Kritafo]

We start everything for our summer garden. Which yes, is now pretty much our entire backyard. I will find the pic of what we did last year. We move everything to the greenhouse when the night time temps are above freezing as we have a solar heat sink for our greenhouse.

We do everything imaginable. asparagus, strawberries, red raspberries, golden raspberries, black raspberries, 4 different varieties of cherries, honey berries, black currants, sea buck thorn, melons, lettuce tomatoes, peppers green red, hot we have 7 apple trees 3 hazelnut trees beans, peas, carrots, all the fresh herbs, beets, squash, zucchini, cukes, potatoes...etc... I think I have listed most of it. you get the idea...it's a full time job. lol. The drawback...you will hate your winters full of bland fruits and veggies unless you are a canning fool and dehydrating freak like myself. Everything at the store taste like garbage in comparison.

We use lady bugs for pest control as well as preying mantis. We have vermicompost for our fertilizer as well as our compost. You can use dry or make it into a slurry. But for most bug problems we go out and spray them with blasts of high pressured water or the old squish method. Time consuming yes, but it beats putting chemicals on all your hard work.

It's an awesome hobby, we bought a system with the greenhouse and do some hydroponics and some the regular way in trays of dirt.

There are some good plans on the net for pvc diy hydroponics.

[01RedDX]

.

[Kritafo]

Originally posted by 01RedDX
Do you grow for your own consumption or do you keep some and sell the rest?

I know of a popular herb that is excellent for roasting and baking, and many gourmet's would prefer to buy it from an experienced organic farmer, rather than a mouldy grow house. It's a very beneficial plant, like the ones you listed.

is this directed to me?

Yes we grow for ourselves. I can and dehydrate for our family and have a brother in law on AISH that also benefits from our bounty. lol.

What are you looking to buy? Never considered growing to sell. A while back my husband bought a homesteading book and it tells a family of 4 what they need to plant to basically survive a winter on the farm. It's been a great family bonding experience and a wonderful learning experience.

[AndyL]

Said I was gonna post a picture didn't I? Still working some bugs out - looks like I'll have to toss some lights up top - just not quite enough light through the window... But working pretty ok for now :)

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i277/cgyreefer/IMGP0510.jpg

[AndyL]

Figured I was bored so I'd update a bit :)
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i277/cgyreefer/hydro/IMGP0640.jpg
You might notice I chopped the lettuce - had gone to seed, wasn't harvesting enough... They've just started to get going again...

Fine carolina tobacco anyone?
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i277/cgyreefer/hydro/IMGP0642.jpg

Basil, Sunflowers and a broccoli - Yeah getting kinda busy in there...
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i277/cgyreefer/hydro/IMGP0643.jpg

[skylinegtr20]

Originally posted by revelations


Look for the tin foiled windows and the front porch light that is on 24/7.

& shoes strung over the lines out side:D

[AndyL]

Who has overhead power lines anymore? :)

[HondaKid]

Starting out this way reminds me of a west coast Breaking Bad. Beware when the cousins come to call.

[AndyL]

Yeah um... Kid in the house, live close to 2 schools - not a chance we'd ever grow something else...

[2.0turbo]

Originally posted by AndyL
Who has overhead power lines anymore? :)

Chestermere.

Very nice pics above of the crops so far.

[AndyL]

Yeah my tomatoes are sucking - Not quite sure what's up with them - probably just not enough light - should have done the middle row as the tall one...

[AndyL]

Well dunno what changed, but everything exploded over may long...

I have TOMATOES!!!

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i277/cgyreefer/hydro/001.jpg
Ok they're tiny but...

Carolina tobacco is taking over the middle tray.... it really exploded on me here... Lettuce is slow getting restarted though...

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i277/cgyreefer/hydro/002.jpg

Can't remember what this one is - basil maybe? It put on a couple inches over the long weekend too...

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i277/cgyreefer/hydro/004.jpg

Broccoli is putting on leaf like mad, will have to see what it takes to get some edibles from it...

[nonlinear]

^^hey, how do you pollinate the tomato? do you use a q-tip. or just hope the pollen somehow advects through the air?

[AndyL]

I stole one of the kids paint by numbers paintbrushes :rofl:

Just brush each of the open flowers with it, every day or two.

[nonlinear]

awesome man. looks great!

they've got 4 varieties of heirloom tomatoes at Sunnyside right now, if you're into that kinda thing.

[AndyL]

Right now I'm just messing around and learning / seeing what happens... Maybe next year I'll get serious with it - but for now just learning / playing. Honestly surprised it's working as well as it has been.

My hydro strawberries downstairs in the old system are doing surprisingly well too - but they're turning out somewhat small and misshapen - thinking about bringing them up into this system somehow, they're getting pretty burnt up by the flourescents I'm using down there... But damn they taste good :)