HarryHydro

Big Changes

2006-06-04T14:12:00.000-04:00

It has been a while since my last post. Why?

Well I moved from north Georgia to Florida.

At this time I don't have the ability to continue my hydroponics experiments.

If you have ideas to share, I'll post them on this blog.

Thanks to everyone who has shared my fasination with hydroponics.

Screwing Up ....

2005-08-02T15:14:00.000-04:00

We're human. We all make mistakes. I try to learn from my mistakes. It is said that good judgment comes from experience: experience from bad judgment. Another truism: Mother Nature gives the test first, then the lesson. Anyway, I goofed.

For my hybrid tomato system (six plants in a small bucket of dirt) I usually put in Miracle-Gro for Tomatoes and since my water supply has a low pH (acid), I bring it up by using sodium bicarbonate - baking soda - because its cheap. Well I got lazy, in a hurry, not paying attention, or all of the above and dumped 3 gallons of this mix into the hydro unit.

My drip emitters clogged up fast. A layer of calcium was forming everywhere. Yesterday I had to empty my tank and clean it out. I scrapped mineral crust off of and out of everything. The pump was grimey but still functioning. I then filled the tank with tap water and let the system run overnight - a flush, if you will.

Today I made my 10 gallons of nutrient correctly and now have the system working again. I also had to replace several drip emitters because they were hopelessly clogged.

I can learn all about hydroponics through reading, but it takes actual doing it to learn what not to do. So go make your own mistakes.
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What's happening

2005-07-29T23:32:00.000-04:00

I sorry that I haven't been more regular on my blog.

Between work, the heat(& humidity), and the time I spend on my tomatoes, I am usually dead tired at the end of the day.

My "hybrid" unit with the tomatoes growing in the small dirt bucket got knocked over - by a cow! Yep, where I live cows got out of their pasture and proceeded to roam the countryside. One or more came through the yard at night, got spooked and in a hasty exit, knocked the unit over. (They didn't touch the hydo unit.) Luckily, the plants were not damaged much outside of knocking off over a dozen green tomatoes. (But fried green tomatoes is an accquired taste...)

Also you may have noticed that I have redesigned my home page. That has taken a lot of time to find the right design, modify it to my needs, and then start adding the content.

The good news is the tomatoes are starting to ripen fast. I'll be eating tomato sandwiches every day from now on.

Maybe I'll put up a webpage on how to make and eat a tomato sandwich....

I appreciate all you folks visiting and I hope you are learning a little from my experiences. But the fun is in doing it yourself - so HAVE FUN!!!
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Making Changes

2005-06-27T15:10:00.000-04:00

Well the other weakness in the 11-plant bottle unit has surfaced. The roots of the tomato plants are growing down into the pipes and clogging them up. I'm have drainage / overflow problems. So, what to do?

Convert it to a drip unit. I bought some 2gph drip emmiters at homedepot on Saturday and with the tubing I already had in stock, I made the unit. I placed the emitters in the 1/2" tubing and ran 1/4" tubing up to the plants. The 1/2" tubing is connected to my pump and the pump runs continuously.

The other way to do it is to put 1/4" connectors in the 1/2" tubing, run 1/4" tubing up to the plants and have the emitters at the end of the 1/4" tubing dripping into the plant roots.

I'll try this second way also and see which setup I like better.

Once I'm happy with the new setup, I'll get plenty of pictures and post them on my web page. I'll let you know when....

The Price of Learning

2005-06-19T14:36:00.000-04:00

"Some men learn by reading. Some men learn by watching. But most men learn by pissing on the electric fence."

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This year is my first try at hydroponics.

It is a learning year. I could fail completely and lose all the plants.

I am willing to accept this because I learn from my mistakes. I consider myself lucky to have gotten this far without a serious problem.

I am learning the limitations of this 2-liter bottle system. It is a great starter project. But I am already planning a more serious system. A system that could be expanded to a commerical level.

I feel this learning period is an important step that everyone must take. The same problems you will have with a 1000 plant system will also happen in your 11 plant system. With knowledge and experience comes success.

So give it a try - even small rewards will overcome great losses.

New Pictures

2005-06-19T14:24:00.000-04:00

Well, I finally got my support tower built. You can see the pictures of it on my main hydro page ( http://alternatethoughts.com/hydro/index.php ).

The pipe shelf is 20 inches off the ground and the top is 7 feet.

The one picture of my bubbler unit shows 3 romaine lettuce plants in it. I have the air pump on the same timer as my main pump so it only "bubbles" when the tomatoes are drinking. Seems to be working pretty good.

As you can see the tomatoes are doing ok. It is so easy to have a tend and forget attitude with them. I need to check them each day. Mostly I cut suckers off. It will be interesting to compare these hydro tomatoes with my container tomatoes.

My container tomatoes were free and I have 6 whopper variety in a 15 gallon tub. There are already small tomatoes on them. I am starting to treat them like hydro plants - giving almost a gallon of water a day and a gallon of Miracle-Gro for tomatoes about every third day.

"Lettuce" us think about this....

2005-06-14T19:50:00.000-04:00

I have an idea for a lettuce unit based on Ron's 11-unit design. Lettuce doesn't have a big root system so the unit is small. Here's pictures:

I use the top half of a 24-oz. drink bottle, a 9-oz. dixie cup, and a 3" cocotek cup (optional). Each unit is in a pvc pipe tee and each tee is set on about 10 inch centers and as long as you can make the unit. Multiple rows can be tied together for a system.

Any thoughts on the workablility of this?

Support for the 'maters

2005-06-14T19:39:00.000-04:00

During the tail-end of tropical storm Arlene, I finished my support structure for the tomatoes. My design kinda developed as I went along. Sure I had a basic idea all drawn up, but as it went together, design changes were necessary. A ten foot tall structure was just unworkable at the moment, so I cut it down to about seven feet. I also added in pipe rails to set the hydro system on top of with the tank underneath. The tank is now more accessible and I have more room for additional hydro units. Soon as I bring home the camera from the shop, I'll take some and post them.

Got to get to work, things are growing...

2005-05-26T21:22:00.000-04:00

My 11-plant hydroponics system is doing good. The tomato plants are growing fast. I need to build a support structure for the plants. I'm thinking about a pvc pipe frame about 5 foot by 3 foot and 10 feet high, it will use 9 pieces of 1 inch pvc pipe, 14 tees, and 4 elbows. I'll post pictures as I get it built, which will be soon by the way the tomatoes are growing.

New pics

2005-05-18T20:27:00.000-04:00

Finally got a couple of pics of my second system - the 11-plant ebb/flow. Check them out at

http://www.alternatethoughts.com/hydro/hydro2/hydro-2.html

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My big system

2005-05-18T07:45:00.000-04:00

I'm planning a big system. It will be a bucket/drip system.
I just got a Bato bucket yesterday. It is a European design that holds about two gallons and has a built-in drainage system. I thought it was a little pricey for the quality. I have been getting 2-gallon cake icing buckets from my local grocery store bakery. They are heavy, foodgrade containers with lids. It would cost you over four dollars to purchase this bucket new. I get them for free.
I'll run a 2 inch drainage pipe with the buckets alternating on each side of it. I'll use two Raindrip 1/2 inch elbows (connected together with 1/2 inch tubing) to drain the bucket into the pipe.
This setup will perform as well as the Bato buckets but less expensive.
Look for a link on the main hdro page soon.

Hobby Hydroponics WebRing

2005-05-17T09:25:00.000-04:00

I am now a member of the Hobby Hydroponics webring. This will bring me more exposure plus provide an added information base that others have compiled on their websites. Check it out on the bottom of my hydro page.

My Tomato Plants

2005-05-12T08:12:00.000-04:00

Now that pH is no longer a problem, my tomato seedlings are starting to grow in my 11-plant ebb/flow system. By the way, the tomatoes are "Mortgage Lifter" - an heirloom variety (from wallie -world 97 cents).
I have other tomato plants also. A bank "customer appreciation day" was giving out free plants. I have 6 "whopper" plants I have to do something with. They are in my corroplast box in perlite. And another bank "customer appreciation day" tomorrow will net me more tomato plants. Better to have too many than not enough.....

The Importance of pH

2005-05-07T19:25:00.000-04:00

Wow! I had a plant in my bubbler for several days before my pH tester came. Now since this was a store-bought tomato plant, I figured it would take a day or two to acclimate to its new environment. It just sat there and the end leaves developed black on the tips that slowly moved toward the stem. What was going on?

Then my pH testing kit came. My tap water (from a well) had a pH of 4. Verrry acid. Wow! I never would have thought it was that bad. So I immediately started adding solutions of baking soda to everything in an effort to correct things.

Get your pH testing kit early in your parts buying. Don't think that everything will be close to normal when you start. I did and paid for it.

Now to retest everything in the morning.

Do-It-Yourself Hydroponics now has a Blog!

2005-05-07T16:22:00.000-04:00

Do-It-Yourself Hydroponics now has a Blog!

Comments, Questions, and Answers on hydroponics.

Stick to topic - I'm a badass moderator !!!!

Now enjoy....