Scoop1

Hi all, Aligator, if you wanted a few plants just for you to eat, it is possible if you have a big fridge, but there is a lot of effort involved, if you are still interested let me know and I will explain what is involved.

Cheers

Scoop

Hi all, they look sensational rice, the tomato dry matter content is great, and it could even be improved a little more along with the taste, by raising the Nutrient to EC 3.0 - 3.5 when you have lots of good fruit set, but don't forget Part C stays at the dilution rate of 1-100, if you do that you will not need to use Part D, because excessive levels of Potassium will cause antagonism with the Calcium and you will end up with BER { blossom end rot } as you already know,

Cheers

Scoop

Ps - Very impressive plants rice !!!

Hello All, I was trying a few cucks and nutes, this the wife's grow now,

and just getting some tom's to eat.

rice555

Hi Rice they all looked very nice , things are all happy, but the leaf miners are a pain, I finally got the corn nutrient sorted, wow that took some effort, strange plant!!!

Cheers

Scoop

Hi all, I agree with rice555, there is some excellent tomato growing information on the "Hydroponic Farming" thread that will help most of the questions asked here

Cheers

Scoop

Hi all, just thought I would update the tomato situation, the weather has been pitiful with some sunlight { very little } rain and 90% humidity, I have raised the EC 3.0 and the Ph. remains the same after one day of normal light conditions that EC climbed to EC 3.8 so I increased the drip rate to lower it to near normal levels. so the reason I grow this double truss system is being hampered by that type of weather, firstly , all the growing tips were removed 2 weeks ago and all the first trusses have had good pollination and good fruit set { in favourable weather } , unfortunately the 2nd trusses were pollinated and set fruit in extremely wet humid conditions so I have suffered some blossom end scars, and misshapen fruit on those second trusses, normally the trusses would enlarge very quickly after the growing tip has been removed compared to the same plant being growing indeterminately, but that has been slowed dramatically because of those weather conditions, the problem is that all the assimilates that are produced during the day by the leaves wont sink into the fruit because the day night temperature differentials { Diffs } are not adequate enough for assimilate transport and to explain how that works, on a hot day the leaves and the fruit heat up to the daytime temperatures and during the night those temperatures hopefully drop { 6- 10 degrees would be great } and the leaf being the smaller mass cools down faster than the fruit which is the larger mass, hence most of the assimilates then will flow into the fruit and they enlarge very quickly { the assimilates are being restricted from being dragged into the fruit , and when this happens the plant will have excessive vegetative growth habits, and because I take out any new growth it builds up and sometimes weird growth occurs.

Cheers

Scoop

This truss should be larger by half at this stage of growth

Blossom end scaring caused by poor pollination and fruit set

Excessive vegetative growth caused by assimilate transport restrictions

Cheers

Scoop

Hello All

Good morning all, for those who are growing corn and maybe interested in its nutritional needs, I am doing some nutritional research on one corn plant grown hydroponically in a 20 litre plastic bucket, drip fed via four adjustable drippers, the supply tank is 30 litres and is being fed a vegetative nutrient with slightly elevated Magnesium level, the approximate starting nutrient analysis is as follows,

N = 209PPM

P = 65

K = 186

Mn = 70

Ca = 223

Micros elements are as standard

EC = 2.1H

Ph. = 5.5 / 6.5

Nh4 = 5.3%

The growth rate will be monitored via the PVC pipe that will be used to support the plant, each marked division is 100mm, towards the fruiting stage I will have a thorough laboratory analysis done and that will give an accurate elemental uptake of the plants needs and I will update the photos and other relevant information, it would be great to have someone that is growing some corn to have a plant of a similar size growing in soil to get a comparison of the different growth rates. the seed was put in on the 29/9/2015 and the cultivar that I am using is called "Golden Bantam" an heirloom variety

This is the first pic

Corn1.jpg

Cheers

Scoop

Hello All, Scoop send me the formula, I'm trying to get some corn planted, can do a bucket or two along side the grow.

The weather around here is not good for working in the dirt, this was Korat by me yesterday.

Also thing about melon nutes too Scoop if you got your calculator handy??

rice555

Hi all, rice555, I will PM the Melon Nutrient to you but with the corn, I am not sure about it because I have only just started it and have not analysed it yet, so I am not sure what the result might be, but if it does not work on the corn you will be able to use it for all your seedlings as a vegetative mix, so no problem, but be prepared to change things along the way, but that's the wonderful world of plant nutrition.

Cheers

Scoop

Good morning all, for those who are growing corn and maybe interested in its nutritional needs, I am doing some nutritional research on one corn plant grown hydroponically in a 20 litre plastic bucket, drip fed via four adjustable drippers, the supply tank is 30 litres and is being fed a vegetative nutrient with slightly elevated Magnesium level, the approximate starting nutrient analysis is as follows,

N = 209PPM

P = 65

K = 186

Mn = 70

Ca = 223

Micros elements are as standard

EC = 2.1

Ph. = 5.5 / 6.5

Nh4 = 5.3%

The growth rate will be monitored via the PVC pipe that will be used to support the plant, each marked division is 100mm, towards the fruiting stage I will have a thorough laboratory analysis done and that will give an accurate elemental uptake of the plants needs and I will update the photos and other relevant information, it would be great to have someone that is growing some corn to have a plant of a similar size growing in soil to get a comparison of the different growth rates. the seed was put in on the 29/9/2015 and the cultivar that I am using is called "Golden Bantam" an heirloom variety

This is the first pic

Corn1.jpg

Cheers

Scoop

Hi all, here is a pic of the growth rate of the corn five days after the first posting, the weather has been poor with low light levels and 60 ml of rain, but I am pretty happy with growth rate which is about 100 mm per day, light levels have averaged 437 micromoles per square metre per one second { very low }and the EC has remained stable at EC 2.0 and the Ph. has also been stable at Ph.5.8, I don't know what growth rate is achieved in soil but so far it seems acceptable grown hydroponically.

Cheers

Scoop

Hi all KenDidd, for the saving of your chilli seeds, get a small plastic container and drill a small hole in the lid, fill the container with water, to about 3/4 full and put your chilli seeds in it and place it in the sun and then quite often put your finger over the hole and shake it and after a few days empty the contents into a tea strainer and replace the water and put the seeds back in, do this until most of the fruit matter is gone and place them on some baking paper until they are dry , and that's it, they are ready to be planted and I do it this way for all my seeds, but with chilli's they don't have much fruit matter to remove, so you can just dry them in the sun and plant them, but with tomatoes that's the best way to have clean seeds.

Cheers

scoop

Thanks scoop, good tip.

What do you have against fruit matter? My wife just plonks 'em in and they grow. The fruit matter isn't there for your pleasure, it plays a part in the germination of the seed, providing it with nourishment and protection.

Some seeds do need to go through a drying process before they germinate but any accompanying fruit isn't going to do any harm if it is dried. I was a seed collector and we only did stuff like this when we needed to send seeds abroad.

Hi all, cooked, I don't have a problem with fruit matter! and when I am not too concerned about how many plants I want in a one pot, I don't worry about it! I just prefer clean seeds because I can put one single seed in a one pot, particularly with the tomatoes I grow, I use a double truss method where I need lots of seedlings , and there is no plant stress that way, but to separate multiple seedlings I would suffer a setback of at least one week because of the stress of that process. Why suffer that set back if I don't have to.

Cheers

Scoop .

Here are the latest pictures.

Looks a bit messy as the Marigold and some Basil actually need some support but I didn't have time to do it.

Mint is growing so fast.

IMG_20151106_35261.jpgIMG_20151106_22194.jpg

One of the good Marigold, still erected

IMG_20151106_48365.jpg

Latest growing table. Interesting to see the difference between the Horapha Basil on the right and Kraphao on the left.

They were both sown on the same date.

IMG_20151106_56966.jpg

Hi all, CLW , that all looks good, let me know when you have the fertiliser salts and what the elemental percentages are and I will get on to it

Cheers

Scoop

Good morning all, for those who are growing corn and maybe interested in its nutritional needs, I am doing some nutritional research on one corn plant grown hydroponically in a 20 litre plastic bucket, drip fed via four adjustable drippers, the supply tank is 30 litres and is being fed a vegetative nutrient with slightly elevated Magnesium level, the approximate starting nutrient analysis is as follows,

N = 209PPM

P = 65

K = 186

Mn = 70

Ca = 223

Micros elements are as standard

EC = 2.1

Ph. = 5.5 / 6.5

Nh4 = 5.3%

The growth rate will be monitored via the PVC pipe that will be used to support the plant, each marked division is 100mm, towards the fruiting stage I will have a thorough laboratory analysis done and that will give an accurate elemental uptake of the plants needs and I will update the photos and other relevant information, it would be great to have someone that is growing some corn to have a plant of a similar size growing in soil to get a comparison of the different growth rates. the seed was put in on the 29/9/2015 and the cultivar that I am using is called "Golden Bantam" an heirloom variety

This is the first pic

Cheers

Scoop

Hi all, CLW, that's funny, you will have to teach them a little about "crop turning" its an art in itself and takes a fair bit of data collection to get the timing right, can you tell me what is nutrient that you are using, and are you only using the same for everything? and what the analysis is on the packaging, I would like to put the ruler through it and see how it aims up with the plants you are growing.

I have not grown that type of Basil, but if it is like Sweet Genevieve, you should use a nutrient that will excel with that plant and when you find out about the fertilisers I will send you some nutrient data to help them, hopefully achieve a better result.

Cheers

Scoop

Hello Scoop1, the new system look like it's working very well! What are your O/S temp's? and hours of sunlight?

I mixed up a new batch of nutes and been giving 1/4 strength to my few seedlings, got to check what verity they

are, last of last years seed.

Keep putting up pic's!

rice555

Hi all, just thought I would post some updated pics on the progress of my Double Truss Tomato Nutrient Research, I have raised the EC to 3.0 and the Ph. remains the same as the previous posting, all of the 1st trusses have good fruit set, light levels are very high as usual, 1800 micro moles per square metre per one second, and you will notice the plants defence against such high light levels in a separate pic.

Cheers

Scoop

Tomatoe a.jpg

Tomato f.jpg

Tomatoe b.jpg

Tomatoe c.jpg

Tomato e.jpg

Hi all, rice 555, its not a new system, I built it several years ago just to see how much this particular heirloom could produce without any imperfections and misshapen fruit that heirloom tomatoes suffer from, but the double truss system that I use produce large tomatoes and I don't get any imperfections, temperatures at the moment average about 26 degrees { day } and about 12 degrees { night } the plants receive 7.5 hours of full sun per day and peak light levels are 1800 micro moles per square metre per 1 second at 1.30 pm, almost three times more than what the plant needs, I will post updated photos and nutritional information every two weeks, I will also be very interested to trial and get some data on hydroponic corn, and I will post that info as well.

Cheers

Scoop

Hi all dddave, this is a pic of plants I grow in hydroponics using polystyrene boxes and plastic pots which would be ideal on a balcony

Cheers

Scoop

Hydroponic Garden 1.jpg

Hi Scoop1 . How does the water ect get back to the tank? Cheers cobbler

Hi cobbler, the nutrient does not get recycled, I just hand feed it, very simple, there is a spout in the boxes and pots about 75mm from the bottom and that serves as a small reservoir , sometimes the most simple growing methods work the best, have a look at the very simple system that I use to research the nutrient requirements of tomatoes and some other plants I grow at times, it is in the hydroponic section, I have just started to do some nutrient research on hydroponic corn, there is very little or no research on this crop in hydroponics probably because it is not a commercially viable option and I will update photos and information of the growth rate and analysis results when I do them .

Cheers

Scoop

Hi all dddave, this is a pic of plants I grow in hydroponics using polystyrene boxes and plastic pots which would be ideal on a balcony

Cheers

Scoop

Hydroponic Garden 1.jpg

That looks great but is that in BKK or in a cooler place?

Iceberg can grow here in hydroponics but only does well in the cool months like now to come.

And strawberries are sold here as well but i guess they made them have fruit in chiang mai or some other cooler place. Not sure about those.

Hi all, fruitman, those plants were grown on the Mid North Coast of Australia , with the Icebergs I grow them all year round and in the summer here temperatures can and do get up to 30 to 40 degrees and sometimes with humidity of 35 to 45 %, pretty harsh conditions, and once again the nutritional needs are very important in those conditions, I sometimes have to lower the EC to .8 where as in a more normal conditions { 26 degrees} and humidity { 70 % } I would run them at EC 1.6 .

As for the strawberries they need to go through a "chilling period" and "short day lengths" .During the winter here we can get down to 0 degrees and that's is ideal in the natural environment, it is also very easy to manipulate young strawberry runners or "daughter plants" if you like .

One of the best methods of chilling are as follows, seven 9 hour day lengths without chilling at { 21 degrees Celsius day / 21 degrees night } followed by seven 9 hour day lengths with chilling during the night { 21 degrees day / 12 degree nights , I have done this quite often just using the household fridge and a dark box or similar, obviously you cant fill the fridge with runners, but if you want to grow your own in non suitable climatic conditions that's the way it is done.

Cheers

Scoop

Hi all dddave, this is a pic of plants I grow in hydroponics using polystyrene boxes and plastic pots which would be ideal on a balcony

Cheers

Scoop

Hi all, just thought I would post some updated pics on the progress of my Double Truss Tomato Nutrient Research, I have raised the EC to 3.0 and the Ph. remains the same as the previous posting, all of the 1st trusses have good fruit set, light levels are very high as usual, 1800 micro moles per square metre per one second, and you will notice the plants defence against such high light levels in a separate pic.

Cheers

Scoop

Hi all KenDidd, for the saving of your chilli seeds, get a small plastic container and drill a small hole in the lid, fill the container with water, to about 3/4 full and put your chilli seeds in it and place it in the sun and then quite often put your finger over the hole and shake it and after a few days empty the contents into a tea strainer and replace the water and put the seeds back in, do this until most of the fruit matter is gone and place them on some baking paper until they are dry , and that's it, they are ready to be planted and I do it this way for all my seeds, but with chilli's they don't have much fruit matter to remove, so you can just dry them in the sun and plant them, but with tomatoes that's the best way to have clean seeds.

Cheers

scoop

Hi all, dddave, you may want to have a look at some of the post in the Hydroponic farming , post #287 and also this post , there are also other good post in the Hydroponic and Aquaponics farming section that may help you. in your situation hydroponics may be a better option for you.

Cheers

Scoop

Tomato Cropping - Farming in Thailand Forum - Thailand Forum

Light and the Humble Tomato Plant - Farming in Thailand

Hi all, CLW that's a wonderful project for the students, I wish I was there to help them, I would love to be involved in passing on a little knowledge particularly when you have the Universities blessing, are you a teacher there?

Can you please find out what fertilisers salts they have and what are the elemental percentages of the fertiliser salts and then I can work it out for you

Cheers

Scoop

Hi all, CLW, is that a University Project, or your personal system, and what nutrient are you using for those plants? is the nutrient made at the University or is a pre mixed store bought solution? just need to know what fertiliser salts you have to make a nutrient for the Cilantro. Also do you suffer any "Tip Burn" on the fancy lettuce?

Cheers

scoop

Hi all, CLW, what type of NFT system are you looking to use? Cilantro is not like "leafy greens" how much hydroponic experience do you have ?, NFT is not really for the inexperienced or first timer, in my opinion a coir based system will do much better if you are just starting out, as for the nutrient I use , it wont really be suitable in NFT it is a totally different nutrient management system, if you don't have a lot of experience don't try and get to technical with the setup , it can very quickly end in tears.

Cheers

Scoop

Hi all, CLW, are you going to grow the next lot in hydroponics? if you are, make sure you get good quality coir and don't sow the seeds to deep and if you have a fungicide powder dust the seeds in it and that will protect them from Pythiun as they germinate and as I stated in the previous post the nutrient formula for Cilantro is very specific and extremely important to have any sort of success.

Cheers

Scoop

Hi all , Bendejo, that's exactly what they are and will be near impossible to get rid of them with that level of infestation, and don't you go visit anyone's garden for a while because they will end up with mites as well, they are extremely difficult to get rid of , best to get some fly spray or a flea bomb and spray the area, and dump the plant .

Cheers

Scoop

Hi all, Rice, that's correct, there are 4 plants per bucket and I bred these plants about 2 years ago, and that particular system in the photo is the easiest method of growing a plant in hydroponics, very simple and inexpensive , too often growers inexperienced in hydroponics try and get to technical and complicated with their setup and don't have the technical knowledge to manage and achieve a decent result, you know what the say, "keep it simple".

Cheers

Scoop

Hi all, CLW, I have grown lots of Cilantro in all sorts of containers in Hydroponics for the fresh and live herb market and sometimes I just hand feed it and also have drip fed and it does really well if you understand how to get the best flavour and vigorous leaf growth before it bolts to seed, Cilantro can't be grown as a long term crop but you can get 2- 3 cuts before the stress of that process causes it to bolt, its best to use a slow bolting variety, but in saying that if the seed packet is labelled "Cilantro" then it will be a slow bolting variety and if the packet is labelled "Coriander" it will be for seed. Its also important to know that Cilantro loses most of its flavour and aroma when dried and should be used fresh, once seed heads have started to form the foliage has a much stronger bitter flavour, it also does better with good light levels and does poorly in shaded or over or crowded conditions and will stretch and take on a pale green leaf colour, Cilantro must have deep green leaves to have the flavour compounds and volatile components that makes it such an aromatic herb.

The hydroponic nutrient required to get the maximum flavour from Cilantro needs to be very carefully formulated to get the maximum vigorous healthy leaf growth and delay the forming of seed heads much the same as Basil . The seeds usually germinate within a week at 20-26 degrees and the first cut can usually be performed in 50 - 60 days but in high temperature conditions it may need to be done earlier if there is a risk of bolting.

Cheers

Scoop