CrossOps Hydroponics Journey (In Pictures)
 

This will be the thread / catalog of my experience in Hydroponics (hopefully a good experience because of listening to other more experienced growers).

My experience to this point has consisted of:

Picked up my first four 5 x 5 Vinyl Fencepost's from Home Depot, and two tough boxes (if the tough boxes are non conducive as a reservoir I can return them and find other options).

Picked up the end caps for the 5 x 5 Vinyl Fencepost's.

Ordered and received 10 drain and extension kits.

Ordered and received 50 heavy duty netpots.

The first three rails already drilled out with a hole-saw and fitted with netpots for testing.

Looking good CrossOps!!!

BTW - what length are those posts in your pictures?

GoodGilligan

Those are 5 x 5 fence posts at 8 feet long. Thank you for the compliments, trying to learn as I go.

Some updated shots.

CrossOps -

Looking better and better everyday. I'm definitely going to try this design. What kind of system will this be ebb & flow, aeroponic, NFT?

GoodGilligan

Well it was slated to be a Flood/Drain system, but I am changing to a drip system to minimize the recirculated nutrient solution as much as possible, and in turn minimizing PH fluctuations. I have been talking with some absolutely amazing people over the last week, and their information has been pretty awesome.

I am setting up a main reservoir (air tight, minimizing subjection to external conditions as much as possible) that will feed the mini pump reservoir and ultimately the rails to the plants in a drip format.

The ends are to be sealed, and very slightly elevated on one end allowing a little draining. The other end has an air pump line being installed on each rail to pump fresh air constantly to the root structures.

There is a lot more, but the two professors I spoke to were an absolute wealth of information, and I am trying to take multiple points from them and GPS's posts and tie it all together.

The flow / circulation map.

My greenhouse layout.

Guys, we are reviewing the polycarbonate sheets we are using in the greenhouse. Does anyone want to weigh in on what % of sun we should allow in, we are in Florida.

90%? 80% 70? We are able to chose, so I wanted to check with you guys for any feedback.

I just made a video showing my two locations I can choose from, and am open to feedback or suggestions.

The video does a decent job of explaining how the light flows through the day. In the morning and early afternoon it floods the backyard on the cement deck (super bright), and then disappears at about 2:30pm over the house. At about 12:00pm it starts to flood the area by the woods (and where our beehives are).

Open for suggestions, and watch the video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VaAcBKQHec

Hey CrossOps -

I'm not sure that you want to put the green house on the slab? Especially if the sun goes behind the house at 2:30pm. I would think that you are going to slow down plant growth. Are you doing this to try and control heat? Would it not be better to use fans or roof vents to control heat.

Also, being a South Florida myself, have you given any consideration to what you would do to protect your greenhouse if a hurricane or tropical storm hits?

BTW - that is a pretty serious system you are developing!!

GoodGilligan

I hope not, it gets some serious sun on that slab (and my green house required a slab for the type I am getting, built to Miami / Dade specs). To answer your question, no I was not trying to control heat at all, I will have exhaust vents and an exhaust fan in the greenhouse as well.

As far as the hurricane issue, its definitely on my radar, and I picked the best greenhouse for the money that I thought would serve me well. Its being built from Galvanized Steel and SunTuf polycarbonate.

The system I have my eyes set on, its definitely interesting to plan it out. When I start into something, I like to study study study, and to listen and learn from others much more experienced than myself. I wanted to be able to grow enough for my family to eat all the vegetables we can (hopefully 145+ netpots of stuff will be enough, I truly do not know).

But its been quite a learning experience so far, and I am definitely looking forward to getting real vegetables with real nutrients in them, and not store bought junk.

Looks like the greenhouse is going on the slab for multiple reasons. The earliest sign of sunlight in the morning hits that slab for many many hours.

Hey CrossOps,
I haven't found the exact link I was telling you about yet (the different materials used, and light and longevity estimates), but it's in one of these links somewhere. also if you do a search with the for "greenhouse glazing" then narrow the search (using the search options) to .edu websites you should get a lot of good information on the subject.

Reference Sources
Related Links
Polythene greenhouse film facts - Clovis Lande
Resources for Greenhouse and Nursery Operations and Operators - Home - Virginia Cooperative Extension
Greenhouse Presentations
Horticultural Engineering - Rutgers University
GPNMag.com and Greenhouse Product News (GPN) magazine - Horticulture and Commercial Growers (a magazine dedicated to greenhouses)
Greenhouse Energy Resources

Here are some design plans for greenhouses I've ran across
http://www.pvcplans.com/ArchGrnHouse.pdf
free pvc greenhouse plans
FREE plans of PVC pipe structures, greenhouse, cold frame, furniture fittings

P.S.
That's probably what you already decided on, but I would put the greenhouse in the spot that gets the most sunlight through the day. If it ever becomes to much light, you can always use shade-cloth to cut down on the direct sun. But you cant move the greenhouse into the sun once it's built. Going by the list of plants you wish to grow, most if not all (except lettuce) are continuously fruiting plants, and continuously fruiting plants will do better with more light, rather than more shade.

Roger that, thanks GPS. I will start going through all the links you posted also, going to have some good reading for sure.

GoodGilligan, here is the video uploaded (its in High Def if you want to switch to that on Youtube of the backyard citrus so far:

August 2011 Citrus Growth - YouTube

I think what I am going to do after researching this a bit is to take the minimal runoff from the entire greenhouse drip system and route it to or transfer it to all of the citrus trees in the yard. This should be interesting.

Imagine being able to introduce that to the top soil surrounding the citrus trees (18 of them, all over six foot). Might prove to be an interesting test.

Thoughts? I can't see where it would hurt, heck it might help a lot, they already grow fast enough, but what if this really bumps them up?

We all pour our spent nutrient solution on our soil plants, I cant think of a better use for it. After looking at the diagram http://www.hydroponicsonline.com/for...ion-system.jpg, I'm a bit confused as to why there is a need for a secondary reservoir? Is it because the tubes with the plants in it will be below the water level in the main reverser. Also what helps solve pH fluctuations/nutrient deficiency is a larger water volume, not how the water is delivered to the plants. Unless of coarse it's a non recirculating system (drip to waste), then water volume wouldn't mater.

True, I was needing to update the diagram. There will not be a secondary reservoir, no recirculation (which I hope is the most stable way for me to do this).

The trick for me will be to figure out a few things:

• If I sink the reservoir into the ground it sounds like it would be more of a challenge to flush it, clean it out, etc? Is it worth it to sink it into the ground, or maybe find a solid white 55 gallon drum or something smaller?

• How often do drips really run to be as efficient as possible, and at what rate? Does it run at night?

• Should I just make the link drip into the middle or use a hoop style drip line?