Hydroponic Farming

[angiud]

I finished the construction of my first hydroponic system and I'm pretty proud of myself .

Now I'll run the system for a couple of days just to test and in the meantime I'm waiting for the food and the small plastic glass where I'll put the new plants.

For now I project to make only italian basil and rocket (just for my restaurants use) and the next system will be for the lettuce (if everything all right!).

Just for news, for some suggestion and to revitalize this old thread.

PS: I'm looking for a second hand PH tester

[IsaanAussie]

I finished the construction of my first hydroponic system and I'm pretty proud of myself .

Now I'll run the system for a couple of days just to test and in the meantime I'm waiting for the food and the small plastic glass where I'll put the new plants.

For now I project to make only italian basil and rocket (just for my restaurants use) and the next system will be for the lettuce (if everything all right!).

Just for news, for some suggestion and to revitalize this old thread.

PS: I'm looking for a second hand PH tester

And so you should be, it looks good as well. My hat is off to all that apply the Nike principle of Just Do It. Forget the easy way of buying a maybe answer but make what you need yourself from whatever you can get locally. If you want to try worm castings as nutrients send me a PM and we talk about free samples. Like you, the pleasure and the potential of making something yourself and the determination to see it succeed are all to rare commodities here. If you are willing to try it and give me feedback, I'll supply you with start up materials.

For other TV Farmers, I am going to make up some vermicast teabags so vermitea can be brewed "at home" when required. All you will need is a 5 litre bucket and water. If you want to get some real bacterial microbe action then add some mollasses from the local feed store, an aquarium pump and air stone will improve the resultant drench or foliant spray fertiliser cum pesticide. If you want to try some, let me know by PM.

Sorry to tack my plans onto your proud post but you inspire me, there are more doers out there than I knew. By the way, restaurant with rocket salads, where, whats its name and quisine? My mouth is watering.

Isaan Aussie

[Seanextra]

Hi all , Id just like to post about my new set up im trialling up here in issan , i have a background in Aquaculture and Hydroponics in Australia and after realising how poor the soil is here it prompted me to do a small scale set to feed the family and maybe even some left over to trade with local village shop owner. My design incorporates Auquaponics system which for those that dont know is basically using the filtered fish waste to feed plants in a hydroponic system, there is a few reasons why i have chosen to use Aquaponics to feed the System rather than the chehmical version they are No outlay on chemicals less residual salts build up and less calcification and of course the Misses loves to eat fish! I have also decided to use Aeroponics as the system to deliver the nutrient solution to the plants, this system is well know for being the most effective hydroponics system known with growth rates unmatched by any other system but it does come with its down sides. The system was totally designed by my self and just about everything was sourced locally and all could be sourced in Thailand its just i dont have the ability to get to Bangkok and have had difficulty locating the retailers for some items so i just imported a few items to save time.

the other reasons for choosing Aeroponics was because of heavy periods of rainfall i did not want to contend with flooding beds and tanks and like wise in the dry season water is relatively scarse where i am so this system does not lose much thru evaporation and is a full closed circuit only needing minimal top ups and limited water changes to maintain perfect quality and level.

Ill post more as time goes by once i have a chance to teeth the system, I have the first plants sprouting and have a few fish in starting the bacteria up before i buy the grower fish later next week. Its been quite fun project but i have one serious complaint Why the hel_l is all PIPE BLUE !!!! and why is my 3" pipe called 2.5" ! Im guessing it was stamped wrong at the factory because the OD is exactly 3" and the ID is stil much bigger than 2.5" just as well i take a small metal ruler with me when i go shopping !

Angiud Just go to the nearest pet shop and buy a PH test Kit there either the drops in a tube type or the little test strips they are all you need to get going and once you use them a few times and see the plants reactions youll stop using it anyway its only a guide and doesnt matter how much you spend on one they still are not deadly accurate! and really with PH you will never be spot on and if you ARE it will always change, your trying to get in the correct "range" you dont need decimal points for that !

I like your set up , please tell me thats your test resevoir and you are using a bigger one than that little brown pot!

Id like to hear about other peoples set ups in Thailand please post them !

Edited October 28, 2010 by Seanextra

[ozzydom]

Hi all , Id just like to post about my new set up im trialling up here in issan , i have a background in Aquaculture and Hydroponics in Australia and after realising how poor the soil is here it prompted me to do a small scale set to feed the family and maybe even some left over to trade with local village shop owner. My design incorporates Auquaponics system which for those that dont know is basically using the filtered fish waste to feed plants in a hydroponic system, there is a few reasons why i have chosen to use Aquaponics to feed the System rather than the chehmical version they are No outlay on chemicals less residual salts build up and less calcification and of course the Misses loves to eat fish! I have also decided to use Aeroponics as the system to deliver the nutrient solution to the plants, this system is well know for being the most effective hydroponics system known with growth rates unmatched by any other system but it does come with its down sides. The system was totally designed by my self and just about everything was sourced locally and all could be sourced in Thailand its just i dont have the ability to get to Bangkok and have had difficulty locating the retailers for some items so i just imported a few items to save time.

the other reasons for choosing Aeroponics was because of heavy periods of rainfall i did not want to contend with flooding beds and tanks and like wise in the dry season water is relatively scarse where i am so this system does not lose much thru evaporation and is a full closed circuit only needing minimal top ups and limited water changes to maintain perfect quality and level.

Ill post more as time goes by once i have a chance to teeth the system, I have the first plants sprouting and have a few fish in starting the bacteria up before i buy the grower fish later next week. Its been quite fun project but i have one serious complaint Why the hel_l is all PIPE BLUE !!!! and why is my 3" pipe called 2.5" ! Im guessing it was stamped wrong at the factory because the OD is exactly 3" and the ID is stil much bigger than 2.5" just as well i take a small metal ruler with me when i go shopping !

Angiud Just go to the nearest pet shop and buy a PH test Kit there either the drops in a tube type or the little test strips they are all you need to get going and once you use them a few times and see the plants reactions youll stop using it anyway its only a guide and doesnt matter how much you spend on one they still are not deadly accurate! and really with PH you will never be spot on and if you ARE it will always change, your trying to get in the correct "range" you dont need decimal points for that !

I like your set up , please tell me thats your test resevoir and you are using a bigger one than that little brown pot!

Id like to hear about other peoples set ups in Thailand please post them !

Sean, from memory ,PVC pipe is outside diameter measurement and the 2.5 is the class (goes up to 8 for real heavy duty pipe. whereas GWI pipe goes by bore size.

[Seanextra]

Dont know about you but the symbol " usually refers to Inches and if its after a number and or fraction one assumes its a measurment and being stamped on a PVC pipe i came the the conclusion it was refering to some sort of dimension of the pipe. Usually world wide they use the OD for PVC and can't see why this 3" OD pipe is clearly labelled 2 1/2" , and the next size up had the OD of 3 1/2"and was similarly labled 3" ??? Same thin wall pipe no dimensions inside or out had anything to do with the stamped measurement on each of the corresponding pipes, thats why my conclusion is the pipe was Stamped in correctly, no doubt someone was guessing the diameter when fitting the stamp scroll to the machine at the factory !

Ive taken a photo so you can see the markings and with my ruler not much help as it was too hard to get the angle showing the measurment correctly but i can assure you its 3 Inch pipe, just lucky i checked before i dragged it home ! Just somthing to keep in mind when buying this pipe, I also have 4" pipe learly labled 4"and it is 4" OD but different maker !

[rice555]

Hello Seanextra, back in post #133 of this thread, I said how my

friend got 'white 2.5"' PVC to use in his system, also a picture

of it.

Just have a local supply shop order it for you.(if you want white?)

I will talk to him this weekend and get the co.'s info to post.

Small sizes of white, 1/2"-3/4" and fittings I can buy here off

the shelf here at Home Pro.

rice555

[rice555]

Hello All, this is the info I got on white PVC pipe.

The Co. is in BKK, he said they 'Do Not Do Small Orders',

you may call and find out what and how they do things,

don't expect a very helpful response from them, on the

other hand, they should be able to tell you who sales

their pipe in your area.(who will order 4 U) My friends FIL

orders a lot of supplies from the shop he got his through,

so it was sort of a favor, he got only 8 lengths.

The price was about the same as blue pvc of the same size.

rice555

The @ I got today from him.

"This is the name (phonetically) of the white tube maker.

TOR NUM THAI

As you know you will have to go thru your local hardware

store and have them order....

Here are the phone #'s 02-883-3175 02-883-3176 and 77

Are you going to do the tubes on an A Frame type of thing?"

[gamini]

I noticed a thread about carnations. In Chiangmai in winter at 1100 meters using ordinary seeds ffrom the US I grew the most fantastic ones by just planting the seeds in the ground. The same with gladiolas 6 feet high. I grow Rocket lettuce now at sea level using hydroponics. But my opinon about growing carnations is that you need cold weather and at 1100 metersa in Chaingmai in the winter is was pretty cold

[WatersEdge]

Most of what you might want to know about PVC PIpe manufactured in Thailand can be found at this link.

http://www.thaipipe.com/products&services/upvcpipe.htm

Off of this link the Thai Industrial Standard sheets are also linked.

[Seanextra]

Hi all, Just a few pictures of my Hydro set up, these photos were taken after about 2 days work after recieving the materials. I finally have the PH sorted as im using ground water it has taken some time to naturally ballance even after the fish had been in for a few weeks was still very alkaline but now the plants have started to recover well. One of the best things about Aquaponics is the ability of the fish to naturally balance the PH to a perfect range. Fish are growing nicely and the water is clearer ill loads some new photos up soon showing the changes i have made to counter a few minor issues along the way but all in all its worked out really well considering its my first attempt at this style of growing. Anyone want to know more or have any questions about this type of hydroponics PM me id be glad to share what i have learnt with this system.

[Seanextra]

Some more pictures showing root development and some very low quality pictures of water with fish hiding in it. Rolled on some flat white to help with keeping the pipes as cool as possible come summer time this will make a big difference. It Doesnt look pretty but once the plants take hold wont be noticed ( Hopefully). The plant shown was thought to be dead during the teething stage but recovered in a matter of 4 days once the PH came into range and root growth was similar in responce 4 days to full recovery once PH was correct i never thought these plants would survive and have recovered so well i will leave them in. These plants were purely to teeth the system never even thought they would survive but now will most likely grow to harvest. Ill add more photos over comming weeks.

[whakatane]

Hi Guys,

Have finally finished my hydro shelter, 4 mt x 2.8.

1 inch square tubular steel frame, semi clear plastic roof, white nylon very fine mesh wall coverings, 4x3 mt white plastic guttering trays, 180ltr nutrient tank, and plastic feeder pipes. All going good and into 3rd week of growing. total cost, 17,000 bt.

Sourcing nutrient was my hardest task, and after visiting the outlets in BKK., was not happy about the quality, and prices.

After tedious and frustrating false leads, I finally got on to a mob in Surat Thani, that supply govmnt. trials.

The nutrient is the same as what I was using in AUS, dry powder A and B. WHICH i bought of a guy doing govmt. backed trial, allthough he had "moved on" and was doing a small aquaponics venture ,that looked very very suss.

the price I paid him for 1 kilo of each powder was 600 bt, which made up 10 ltrs of each. I will eventually track down the source as you all know, everybody takes a cut!! [ 300 each]

By doing every thing myself, except for the welding of the frame, I consider a job well done , as it is easier to train monkeys, than persevere with the cheap Burmese labour.

I came up with a next to nothing cost for the growing medium, a layer of what we call in Aus., blue metal, and a very coarse grained sand that comes from the old tin mining areas, that is sent to China for the use in making ceramics.

Both mediums are ph nutral , and just use simple aquaiam tester.

In the whole time I was doing hydroponics in Aus., and on a semi commercial scale, did I ever use anything else but a simple ph tester.

I have imported some tomatoe seeds from China that are suitable for Ranong climate and that is my goal.

Am observing closely my trial crop of Chinese type greens and bush long beans.

Will be 3 weeks Friday and the latter allready 4inches tall!!

Have been reading all the postings and just thought that I would contribute.

Will take some pics and post later.

[rice555]

Hello whakatane, looking forwards to seeing pic of you hydro setup.

The big Ag School here in korat always has a hydro display at their Ag show, I asked where they

got their nutes and they said "ACK", I guess they don't teach the fine points.

I get my chem from WESCO.

They are a major supplier of hydro chems/micros in LOS.

rice555

[whakatane]

Hello whakatane, looking forwards to seeing pic of you hydro setup.

The big Ag School here in korat always has a hydro display at their Ag show, I asked where they

got their nutes and they said "ACK", I guess they don't teach the fine points.

I get my chem from WESCO.

They are a major supplier of hydro chems/micros in LOS.

rice555

Hi Rice555,

How much do you pay for your nutrient, is it a and b?

Have you had any experience using coconut fibre?

Have just looked at what they call Dutch bucket system, which could be ideal for growing tomatoes, any ideas on this?

The main reason I am focusing on tomatoes is that I know of no one in Ranong that can grow them successfully due to the rainfall, and this includes local Thai market gardeners. I saw some that had fruit just coming on to ripening, and the next time I looked they were dying.

Bear in mind that everything I have looked at were growing in soil.

The only decent "farang" tomatoe that one can buy here, are hydroponic, coming all the way from Chiang Mai, and sold at a local organic vege shop.[200 baht kilo}

Have been to ACK and was not that impressed, but I must admit that there lettuce production could not be faulted.

However, I thought that everything else they were experimenting with lacked the basic know how, and when I suggested to the lady that worked in the office a very simple improvement,, just got the blank stare, as you are well aware, ' "what does stupid Farang know" and even if he does, the face issue comes into play!!!lol

Take care

Whakatane.

[rice555]

Hello Whakatane, I mix my nutes from bulk(25kg) bags and 1kg micro nutrients mixes.

The costs and mixes for greensand fruit veges are in other hydro ousts by 'the scott', in fact,

a copy of his invoice is shown with shipping costs to his house.

ACK knows they can't grow anything but greens in BKK, most of the other things they grow is just for show. They do have 1-Ha. under plastic in Pactongchi<sp>. The sales girls are just sales girls there, they really don't know the mechanics.

Unless it was the owners daughter who works in the office and is #2?-#3? of ACK Int. and knows, and knows, and what they make their money from, 'greens/lettuce'.

A lot of the Thai field tomato problems could be solved with grafted plants.

I have only grown in coir and pieces of cubed husks, some times with rice hulls.

Dutch pots/Bato buckets aren't cheap, northe Auto-Pot $ystem. Bag/Coir is the lowest cost set up,

and the cheapest way to see if you can make it pay for it's self.

There's some good hydro posts with links to the hydro supplies sold in LOS, and pictures of what some of us have done or trying to do.

rice555

[giriashok]

hi ,

my name is ashok and i am from nepal . i am really really intrested in hydroponics , i have searched if something like that is available in nepal or no but i couldnt find any body doing agriculture using this technique. now i would like to develop a hydroponics farm in nepal. for that i need ur help ,suggestions. how much do it cost to start in a small area and what r the techniques that we should follow.should i get the training from somewhere about this before i start? because i dont have any idea about it (practically and theoretically) only i dea i have is i watched few videos in youtube and read some articles in the internate.

please give me some suggestions.

thnx

ashok

[rice555]

Hello All, has anyone used coir from.

http://www.knaapthailand.com/eng/index.php

I've got to call back to get some info on the pH

and the delivery cost.

Comes 55L./200L./1500L. in 5 grades.

#1 costs Bt. 150/450/3,000

#2-5 costs Bt. 120/350/2,200.

rice555

[krauti]

Hi all,

concerning Hydroponics: there is a hydroponic supplier in Bangkok, I know him personally. Visit his website www.tanalapfarm.net.

I did hydroponics for about 1/2 a year. And then switched to Aquaponics. (please see our FB site http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aquaponics-Thailand/170218083004597. Aquaponics are the future of growing vegetables. Instead using artificial fertilizer (NPK and Micro Nutrients are mostly produced out of crude oil) Aquaponics using fish waste.

If you have some questions, please check the website of Aquaponics Thailand.

Nice weekend

Krauti

[krauti]

hi ,

my name is ashok and i am from nepal . i am really really intrested in hydroponics , i have searched if something like that is available in nepal or no but i couldnt find any body doing agriculture using this technique. now i would like to develop a hydroponics farm in nepal. for that i need ur help ,suggestions. how much do it cost to start in a small area and what r the techniques that we should follow.should i get the training from somewhere about this before i start? because i dont have any idea about it (practically and theoretically) only i dea i have is i watched few videos in youtube and read some articles in the internate.

please give me some suggestions.

thnx

ashok

Hi Ashok,

see our FB website http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aquaponics-Thailand/170218083004597 concerning Aquaponics. This is the future of growing vegetables and salad with fish waste.

Best regards

Werner

[rice555]

Hello All, this thread is about hydroponics, feel free to add to it.

Post #165 has links to most of the TV hydro growing.

rice555

[Scoop1]

For those who may be interested

Calculating a Target PPM from Fertiliser Salts for a Hydroponic Nutrient

I always like to work with 5 litres of Part A and Part B of Concentrated Nutrient Stock Solution to make 1000 litres or { 50ml of Part A and 50ml of Part B to make 10 litres } of Working Strength Solution [ expressed as a dilution rate of 1 - 200 } lets start with Calcium Nitrate, Remembering that Calcium Nitrate has around 1% of the Nitrogen in the Ammonium form { NH4 } as an impurity, and 14.5% in Nitrate form [ NO3 ] this sometimes is not labeled on the bag but simply states 15.5%N but it is important in the calculations

Calcium Nitrate = 18.8% Ca

14.5% N - NO3 Nitrate Form

1.0% N - NH4 Ammonium Form

Lets say we want 102ppm of calcium in the Working Strength Nutrient Solution

102ppm x 100 = 10,200

10,200 divided by 5 { 5 litres of Concentrated Stock Solution } = 2,040

2,040 divided 18.8 { Percentage of Calcium in Calcium Nitrate } = 108.5 grams/litre

So you would use, 108.5 grams of Calcium Nitrate per litre of Water to make the Concentrated Nutrient Stock SolutIon which will give 102 ppm of Calcium in the 1000 litres of Working Strength Solution if you use a 1-200 dilution rate.

108.5 x 5 litres = 542.5 grams to make 5 litres of concentrate

108.5 x 10 litres = 1,085 grams to make 10 litres of concentrate and so on

Hope this is not too confusing and i will let someone else work out the what the two Nitrates are adding to the mix { no prizes for getting it right sorry }, i hate typing, lol

Cheers

Scoop

Ok its raining and i'm bored so i will do it, so we have got our target ppm of Calcium now we have to work out how much Nitrogen in both forms are being added to the nutrient from the Calcium Nitrate

NO3 = 14.5%

move the decimal point one place to the right, ie 145.0

145.0 x 108.5 { grams/litre Calcium Nitrate } = 15,732.5

15,732.5 x 5 { 5 litres of Concentrated Nutrient Stock Solution } = 78,662.5

78,662.5 divided by 1000 { litres of Working Strength Nutrient Solution } = 78.6625

So 108.5 grams/litre of Calcium Nitrate adds 78.6625ppm of Nitrogen in Nitrate { NO4 } form

Now lets do the Ammonium Nitrate form { NH4 }

NH4 = 1.0%

move the decimal point one place to the right, ie 10.0

10.0 x 108.5 { grams/litre Calcium Nitrate } = 1,085

1,085 x 5 { 5 litres of Concentrated Nutrient Stock Solution } = 5,425

5,425 divided by 1000 { litres of Working Strength Nutrient Solution } = 5.425

So 108.5 grams/litre of Calcium Nitrate adds 5.425ppm of Nitrogen in the Ammonium form { NH4 }

As you can see from the calculations, 108.5 grams of Calcium Nitrate supplies

102ppm of Calcium

78.6625ppm of Nitrogen { NO3 ]

5.425ppm of Nitrogen { NH4 ]

Totals

102ppm Calcium

84.0875ppm Nitrogen of which

6.45% of the Total Nitrogen is in the Ammonium Form { NH4 }

Cheers

Scoop

Edited July 6, 2012 by Scoop1

[Scoop1]

I hope someone reads and understands post 171 , reminded me of being back at school, lol,

Scoop

[Scoop1]

Wesco Fertiliser Salts Pricing { this is the quote i got a few months ago, because of the price of the Sodium Molybdate it may be better to use their Micro Mix or ask for a much smaller amount as you only need .2 of a gram to make 20 litres of Concentrated Nutrient Solution }

For PART A

Calcium Nitrate 25kg @ 30tbt/kg = 750tbt

Iron Chelate { Fe EDTA } 1kg @ 370tbt/ kg = 370tbt

For PART B

Monopotassium Phosphate 25kg @ 68tbt/kg = 1700tbt

Potassium Nitrate 25kg @ 48tbt/kg = 1200tbt

Magnesium Sulphate 25kg @ 20tbt/kg = 500tbt

Solubor 1kg @ 300tbt/kg = 300tbt

Zinc Sulphate 1kg @ 50tbt/kg = 50tbt

Manganous Sulphate 1kg @ 50tbt/kg = 50tbt

Copper Sulphate 1kg @ 125tbt/kg = 125tbt

Sodium Molybdate 1kg @ 3000tbt/kg = 3000tbt { very expensive }

Cheers

Scoop

[rice555]

Hello Scoop1, is the WESCO Bt.2,000 kit or does the kit

make 2,000L? I'm way out of touch with kits and their prices.

ACK's kits were for 500L.

I'm still doing 25Kg. bags as needed, sometimes local stores

here in Korat, and sometimes from WESCO.

rice555

[Scoop1]

Hi Rice, hope you are well, i will pm you with the email he sent me

Cheers

Scoop

[rice555]

Hello Scoop1, my US source of 39.6% Mo is 2-Oz.@ U$6.96 or 1-Lb.@ U$57.95

plus shipping. Hydro Gardens CO US.

I'm lazy, the STEM's work OK.

On the micros, why the salts and not the chelates?

rice555

[Scoop1]

"On the micros, why the salts and not the chelates?" sorry rice i dont understand what you mean???? I think you mean why are they Sulphates and not Chelates?? EXPENSE !!!!!

Hello Scoop1, my US source of 39.6% Mo is 2-Oz.@ U$6.96 or 1-Lb.@ U$57.95

plus shipping. Hydro Gardens CO US.

I'm lazy, the STEM's work OK.

On the micros, why the salts and not the chelates?

rice555

The Mo is a little cheaper at Wesco { 1lb = 454grams } 3000tbt for 1000 grams against US$57.95 { 1,832tbt } for 454grams

Edited July 10, 2012 by Scoop1

[Scoop1]

Hi tomster, if you are in a hurry PM rice555 he will know where to get some,

Cheers

Scoop

PS what are you growing?

[rice555]

Hello All, I didn't post as I have no Idea as where to find it now.

The last I read on hydrotron was somebody wanting to do

fish/vegs, maybe they will answer?

I'm lower down the food chain, off to fill bags with coir.

rice555

[edgarfriendly]

there are bags of clay pebbles at HomePro.

the brand is Popper. available in S, M, L & XL sizes. 6kg bags

of if you prefer pumice stone. that isd available from an independent place in chantaburi, SS, S, M, L, XL, XXL.

i doint recall prices but it not extortionate.....yet.