Hydroponic Farming

[CLW]

Here's the stakes, the top pic shows the input side on top and

the labyrinth before it exits the stake, and the second pic is both

sides of the full stakes.

Is there any special reason to use pot/buckets over poly bags which

a majority of hydro growers use? I have found that the bags last a

season in full sun sitting on my driveway.

If you are going to use any pump over a large auarium pump, you'll

need a better timer than the HomePro digital or wheel/push pin timer.

Some of the home/yard irrigation timers have GDI so you can set up

your irrigation cycles and change as needed, something I've been

wanting as I'm not a day person, so my hand irrigation is not good.

rice555

Which pictures?

[rice555]

it must have been the F 106 clouding my mind.

rice555

[CLW]

Thank you. Now it also makes sense to me what they show in the super products brochure.

I thought these stakes are only for stabilise the dripper line and wondered already why there is no emitter at the end.

So you prefer them or the drippers?

How do you measure the soil moisture / irrigation cycle?

[rice555]

I'm not the best person to ask, as I haven't been growing the way things should be

grown, have not stopped and really done what I should have done.

I think that you are suppose to irrigate 4-6 times a day(or more) and I don't get up till

noon,so I've already missed 2 cycles. I give all the plants nutes till there is a good runoff

from each bag and about 2/3 of the amount between 4-5PM.

If I was automated I would have better size and uniformity of the fruits(vegs).

Most of my funds are going towards some power poles and a cement pad for the out

side kithen at the farm at this time, my buying more toys are almost nil, so it's still hand

watering for 1 more year.

I go by 10% leachate from the amount of nutes per plant.

I asked Scoop1 about using a different blend of coir that is more airy than what I use now,

but he said I would have to get my irrigation cycles in control, i.e.. automated so the get

nutes on time.

If you are using the same Scoop1 formula, my serranos are starting to respond to the EC 3.0

and will kick that up to 3.5in another week.

Will be T/P cherries and pumpkin peppers next week, the peppers something for the L-minners

which I missed seeing till today, minor problem.

Watch you plants and check your leachate EC to see what you plants are using.

Pumpkin peppers, 100 anchos and tomitillo, and serranos seeded yesterday.

Temp today.

rice555

[green thumb]

The White lines on the leafs are from the leaf minners? I see them on some of my stuff too.

[oldmajor]

Hello All.

I am interested in getting started in Hydroponics. This is a very interesting read. I am in the market for an EC meter. Is there anything in particular that I should look out for when making a purchase, or will any type be OK?

[Asernume]

Hello All.

I am interested in getting started in Hydroponics. This is a very interesting read. I am in the market for an EC meter. Is there anything in particular that I should look out for when making a purchase, or will any type be OK?

Check http://hannathai.com/

Hanna Instrument makes good stuff and you can buy from their Thai website (actually when I ordered their website was not working well so I actually made the transaction by email).

I use the HI9813-5.

rice555 : I run to waste too, but I am using a kind of moisture retention mat that keeps the water so well that I am a bit worried about Pythium.

[CLW]

Agree with asernume about the EC Meter. Buy a good (expensive) one.

You will buy (I bought) twice because the cheap stuff has no encapsulated board and with just a little moisture you get rust and then it's broken.

[rice555]

Hello All, I never ran into fungus when I was using plastic buckets, I was worried about the

drying out, so the drain holes were drilled 1" up, from the bottom, to retain moisture.

Even with my poor irrigation practices, I've dot dried a plant to death, have messed up fruit

formation yes.

How much was your Hana? I've been going to get a new one, mine's falling apart. I was

looking at the Blue Lab. I was told by the guy that got me into hydro her in LOS that it was

cheeper to buy Hana meters and tips/probes in the US and have them mailed here than

buy them here, especially if you shop O-L, that was 8 years ago, things may have changed?

rice555

[oldmajor]

Thanks a lot for your input Gents. I think that I will go with the HI9813-5 from Thailand. I looked at EBay and Amazon to check on pricing. EBay was very similar in pricing and Amazon would not ship the unit to Thailand. You may pay more in Thailand but at least you have somewhere to take it back to if it fails.

[Asernume]

Hello All, I never ran into fungus when I was using plastic buckets, I was worried about the

drying out, so the drain holes were drilled 1" up, from the bottom, to retain moisture.

Even with my poor irrigation practices, I've dot dried a plant to death, have messed up fruit

formation yes.

How much was your Hana? I've been going to get a new one, mine's falling apart. I was

looking at the Blue Lab. I was told by the guy that got me into hydro her in LOS that it was

cheeper to buy Hana meters and tips/probes in the US and have them mailed here than

buy them here, especially if you shop O-L, that was 8 years ago, things may have changed?

rice555

The HI9813-5 cost me 8645THB (shipping included). It's less than the price advertised on their website.

[oldmajor]

The HI9813-5 cost me 8645THB (shipping included). It's less than the price advertised on their website.

That's a great price. How did you manage that?

[Asernume]

The HI9813-5 cost me 8645THB (shipping included). It's less than the price advertised on their website.

That's a great price. How did you manage that?

Actually nothing at all, I just sent them an email saying that I wanted to buy the HI9813-5 and this is the price that they quoted me.

[Scoop1]

I'm not the best person to ask, as I haven't been growing the way things should be

grown, have not stopped and really done what I should have done.

I think that you are suppose to irrigate 4-6 times a day(or more) and I don't get up till

noon,so I've already missed 2 cycles. I give all the plants nutes till there is a good runoff

from each bag and about 2/3 of the amount between 4-5PM.

If I was automated I would have better size and uniformity of the fruits(vegs).

Most of my funds are going towards some power poles and a cement pad for the out

side kithen at the farm at this time, my buying more toys are almost nil, so it's still hand

watering for 1 more year.

I go by 10% leachate from the amount of nutes per plant.

I asked Scoop1 about using a different blend of coir that is more airy than what I use now,

but he said I would have to get my irrigation cycles in control, i.e.. automated so the get

nutes on time.

If you are using the same Scoop1 formula, my serranos are starting to respond to the EC 3.0

and will kick that up to 3.5in another week.

Will be T/P cherries and pumpkin peppers next week, the peppers something for the L-minners

which I missed seeing till today, minor problem.

Watch you plants and check your leachate EC to see what you plants are using.

Pumpkin peppers, 100 anchos and tomitillo, and serranos seeded yesterday.

Temp today.

rice555

Hi rice and any one interested, I gravity drip feed my Tomatoes with a 30ltr drum , 4 double truss stems per 20 litre bucket and there are five plastic buckets , each bucket has 4 adjustable drippers, what you need is to have leachate before the sun reaches 80% of its intensity and you need to have 30% leachate at the end of the daylight period, so you adjust your ON time and off time and your adjustable drippers to achieve those parameters, if you don't have leachate before that, you have the OFF time at the end of the daylight period going off too early or you have your ON time coming on too late, or your drippers are no dripping fast enough, so its a balancing act between those three parameters and the environment conditions and plant growth stage, and that is the best way of doing it, turning pumps on and off several times per day is not good nutrient management , consistency is everything in hydroponics and being "consistently clinical" and "clinically consistent" is so very important if you want excellent results , with good quality coir which has excellent drainage properties you cant really over feed them, but its best practice to get yourself comfortable with the system you are using, there are some photos on here of my system if any one wants to have a look .

Cheers

Scoop

Ps - I set my drippers to be dripping at a fairly good rate and try to have each bucket dripping at the same rate and then I adjust the supply tank valve to give myself[ a little more control as the plants and environmental conditions change

Scoop

Edited March 21, 2016 by Scoop1

[Scoop1]

Thanks a lot for your input Gents. I think that I will go with the HI9813-5 from Thailand. I looked at EBay and Amazon to check on pricing. EBay was very similar in pricing and Amazon would not ship the unit to Thailand. You may pay more in Thailand but at least you have somewhere to take it back to if it fails.

Hi all, oldmajor, just to give you a heads up, I have had two Hanna Hi98129 Ph. EC combination meters, the first one had problems with the Ph. probe after 8 months and it was replaced under warranty, but the ph. measurements were so unreliable and inconsistent that I did not bother using the Ph. side of it and after 18 months I changed the batteries and when I turned it upside down to get them out it leaked water in to the LCD screen so I sent it back again and was told it was stuffed, so stupidly I purchased another Hi98129, after 2 months the ph. side of it was the same as the first one, useless, so I sent it back one month ago and I still have not got it back yet, its Ph. probe will be replaced again under warranty , but I am sure it will be just as unreliable , but in saying that the EC side of the meter is excellent, with this meter you have to have several solutions to look after it, cleaning solution, Two Ph. solutions, an EC calibration solution, and a storage solution, and all are expensive.

Go the Blue lab, is my advice to anyone thinking of purchasing a Meter.

Cheers

Scoop

[oldmajor]

Thanks a lot for your input Gents. I think that I will go with the HI9813-5 from Thailand. I looked at EBay and Amazon to check on pricing. EBay was very similar in pricing and Amazon would not ship the unit to Thailand. You may pay more in Thailand but at least you have somewhere to take it back to if it fails.

Hi all, oldmajor, just to give you a heads up, I have had two Hanna Hi98129 Ph. EC combination meters, the first one had problems with the Ph. probe after 8 months and it was replaced under warranty, but the ph. measurements were so unreliable and inconsistent that I did not bother using the Ph. side of it and after 18 months I changed the batteries and when I turned it upside down to get them out it leaked water in to the LCD screen so I sent it back again and was told it was stuffed, so stupidly I purchased another Hi98129, after 2 months the ph. side of it was the same as the first one, useless, so I sent it back one month ago and I still have not got it back yet, its Ph. probe will be replaced again under warranty , but I am sure it will be just as unreliable , but in saying that the EC side of the meter is excellent, with this meter you have to have several solutions to look after it, cleaning solution, Two Ph. solutions, an EC calibration solution, and a storage solution, and all are expensive.

Go the Blue lab, is my advice to anyone thinking of purchasing a Meter.

Cheers

Scoop

Hi Scoop.

Ouch! I hope I have better luck......

I ordered the HI9813-6 from the internet yesterday for THB 8000 + Vat

Hopefully, I can find some generic solutions that will keep the cost down

[Scoop1]

Hi all, rice555, here is pic of the increased dry matter content of a hydroponically grown tomato, using nutrient EC manipulation

Cheers

Scoop

[rice555]

Hi all, rice555, here is pic of the increased dry matter content of a hydroponically grown tomato, using nutrient EC manipulation

Cheers

Scoop

Tomato dry matter content.jpg

Hello All, Scoop, what verity of tom? That's with the EC 3.-3.5?

Do you go through the "ABC" nutes at the EC 2.? till fruit set, do

you still use 'D' then after heavy set stare the EC 3.0 up to EC 3.5?

What's the EC bump up timing and no more "D"?

They look more meatier, what's the difference in taste between the

two growing methods. Thanks

rice555

[Scoop1]

Hi all, rice555, the plant that the fruit came off , I have been breeding for the last few years, its a cross between two of my favourite heirloom tomatoes I bread it for the sole purpose of growing it with the double truss system I use, the EC starts at EC 2.5 until fruit set and then I raise it to EC 3.O and then EC 3.5 and then EC 4.0, but the Part C stays at 1-100 and I don't use Part D because there is more then enough Potassium at the elevated EC, as you can see in the pic there is an increase in "dry matter content" which means that it is meatier , the taste is also improved

Cheers

Scoop

[rice555]

Hi all, rice555, the plant that the fruit came off , I have been breeding for the last few years, its a cross between two of my favourite heirloom tomatoes I bread it for the sole purpose of growing it with the double truss system I use, the EC starts at EC 2.5 until fruit set and then I raise it to EC 3.O and then EC 3.5 and then EC 4.0, but the Part C stays at 1-100 and I don't use Part D because there is more then enough Potassium at the elevated EC, as you can see in the pic there is an increase in "dry matter content" which means that it is meatier , the taste is also improved

Cheers

Scoop

Hello All, thanks Scoop, I'm about to bag up some cherries and some peppers,

will try out the nute regiment on them. F104 now all other toms have been 86ed.

rice555

[rice555]

Hello All, Scoop I've got cherries and bagged and am using EC 2.5,

do the peppers run on the same EC or should it be higher?

The P-peppers are fast growing, the 1/2 flat is 1 month & 2 days old

in the tray.

Transplanted the cherries last week before we had the 100-106 week,

and the P peppers were T-P day before yesterday. Will move the cherries

into full sun today when I get up(noon), I need to hook up my timer/pump

and feed these plants better. Had the PP seed pack translated again and

the peppers have some HEAT,

rice555

[Scoop1]

Hello All, Scoop I've got cherries and bagged and am using EC 2.5,

do the peppers run on the same EC or should it be higher?

The P-peppers are fast growing, the 1/2 flat is 1 month & 2 days old

in the tray.

Transplanted the cherries last week before we had the 100-106 week,

and the P peppers were T-P day before yesterday. Will move the cherries

into full sun today when I get up(noon), I need to hook up my timer/pump

and feed these plants better. Had the PP seed pack translated again and

the peppers have some HEAT,

rice555

Hi rice555, personally I wouldn't bother raising the EC on the Cherrie toms, I don't think you would get a better result, but it wont hurt to try if you want to try and increase the taste, with the Peppers { Chilli's } you can raise it a little, EC 2.5 - EC 3.0 it can make them a little hotter, with Capsicums , EC 2.0 - EC 2.5 is good.

With the pump and timer, I personally don't like intermittent feeding regimes, a consistent drip within the parameters I mentioned previously is going to give you a much better result and much more stable EC, and also the faster the drip the lower the EC { to a degree } in the leachate { EC 2.5 in and EC 2.5 out is where you want to be, if it rises to much then you have to increase the drip and { OR } lower the EC in the supply tank to get it balancing out, but when you are manipulating the EC for better dry matter content in your tomatoes you just stick to the EC you want and don't worry to much about the leachate as it will rise as the plant try's to take up more water, but that is what you are trying to achieve.

Cheers

Scoop

[rice555]

Hello All, Scoop I've got cherries and bagged and am using EC 2.5,

do the peppers run on the same EC or should it be higher?

The P-peppers are fast growing, the 1/2 flat is 1 month & 2 days old

in the tray.

Transplanted the cherries last week before we had the 100-106 week,

and the P peppers were T-P day before yesterday. Will move the cherries

into full sun today when I get up(noon), I need to hook up my timer/pump

and feed these plants better. Had the PP seed pack translated again and

the peppers have some HEAT,

rice555

Hi rice555, personally I wouldn't bother raising the EC on the Cherrie toms, I don't think you would get a better result, but it wont hurt to try if you want to try and increase the taste, with the Peppers { Chilli's } you can raise it a little, EC 2.5 - EC 3.0 it can make them a little hotter, with Capsicums , EC 2.0 - EC 2.5 is good.

With the pump and timer, I personally don't like intermittent feeding regimes, a consistent drip within the parameters I mentioned previously is going to give you a much better result and much more stable EC, and also the faster the drip the lower the EC { to a degree } in the leachate { EC 2.5 in and EC 2.5 out is where you want to be, if it rises to much then you have to increase the drip and { OR } lower the EC in the supply tank to get it balancing out, but when you are manipulating the EC for better dry matter content in your tomatoes you just stick to the EC you want and don't worry to much about the leachate as it will rise as the plant try's to take up more water, but that is what you are trying to achieve.

Cheers

Scoop

Hello All, thanks Scoop, so Cherries don't get the advantage of the higher EC regiment.

I got the OK to order seed from my X, she will send my care package.

Again, thanks for the help Scoop1.

rice555

[CLW]

Hello,

I need help calculating a liquid fertilizer from elemtar salts with NPK ratio 0-10-10 or similar. Planning to make a concentrate and then dilute and use in soil (pots) culture. Thanks

[rice555]

Hello,

I need help calculating a liquid fertilizer from elemtar salts with NPK ratio 0-10-10 or similar. Planning to make a concentrate and then dilute and use in soil (pots) culture. Thanks

Hello All, CLW, you might be able to use Hydro Buddy which you can DL off the net or

there are OL calculators.

The one that does all, is Nutron 2000, but runs over $100. and is not Mac compatible,

but has all the bells and whistles you'll ever need.

rice555

[CLW]

Hello,

I need help calculating a liquid fertilizer from elemtar salts with NPK ratio 0-10-10 or similar. Planning to make a concentrate and then dilute and use in soil (pots) culture. Thanks

Hello All, CLW, you might be able to use Hydro Buddy which you can DL off the net or

there are OL calculators.

The one that does all, is Nutron 2000, but runs over $100. and is not Mac compatible,

but has all the bells and whistles you'll ever need.

rice555

Thanks for this advice.

I should have thought by myself of this as I have used the Hydrobuddy SW already... [emoji16]

By now I used just a simple ratio conversion to calculate it.

As raw material I used super phosphate 0-24-0 and a 0-0-60 straight fertilizer.

I know it's not real liquid fertilizer as they are not 100% soluble in water.

I measure the amount, put it in a mortar and mix with the water for one application.

Let's see how that works!

[CLW]

Big transplanting work today

Mostly different chili varieties

And more to come, Tomatoes are waiting

Thanks to TV member rice555 for the seeds of some of the plants here

[rice555]

Hello,

I need help calculating a liquid fertilizer from elemtar salts with NPK ratio 0-10-10 or similar. Planning to make a concentrate and then dilute and use in soil (pots) culture. Thanks

Hello All, CLW, you might be able to use Hydro Buddy which you can DL off the net or

there are OL calculators.

The one that does all, is Nutron 2000, but runs over $100. and is not Mac compatible,

but has all the bells and whistles you'll ever need.

rice555

Thanks for this advice.

I should have thought by myself of this as I have used the Hydrobuddy SW already... [emoji16]

By now I used just a simple ratio conversion to calculate it.

As raw material I used super phosphate 0-24-0 and a 0-0-60 straight fertilizer.

I know it's not real liquid fertilizer as they are not 100% soluble in water.

I measure the amount, put it in a mortar and mix with the water for one application.

Let's see how that works!

I tried to download and install mac version of HB, but no luck, I just wanted to see

how it worked, but gave the idea up after several attempts.

I've used WESCO W-S fertilizers when growing corn and beans, I just bought a 1 Kg

bag when I needed some.

I also have been transplanting eggs, the pumpkin peppers are doing well, should have

planted more. I got to get more coir and start bagging for some serranos.

rice555

[Scoop1]

Hi all, CLW I have written a post on that exact subject on Page 7, post 171 on this forum, if you have any trouble understanding it, let me know, anyone who is involved in hydroponics should learn how to calculate a particular nutrient formula.

Cheers

Scoop

[Scoop1]

Hello,

I need help calculating a liquid fertilizer from elemtar salts with NPK ratio 0-10-10 or similar. Planning to make a concentrate and then dilute and use in soil (pots) culture. Thanks

Hi CLW, 1% = 10,000 ppm so 10% = 100,000 ppm and divide that by whatever the dilution rate is,

Example !!!!!!!

10% Potassium = 100,000ppm divided by a dilution rate of 1-200 = 500ppm of potassium.

Cheers

Scoop