Hello Davephan,
This is part 2 of the post
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10.) Is a cheap $20 tester good enough, or is it important to spend closer to $200 for a better quality PH tester?
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Good electronic testers are expensive, but even expensive ones can give false readings. I wouldn't recommend a electronic meter unless you have money burning a hole in your pocket, then it's nice to have all the cool toys. pH drops designed for hydroponics is all you need, and only run about $6 to $9 depending on where you get them. But even if you do have the money to spend and buy an electronic meter, you should still have a pH drops kit to verify the readings from your electronic meter if there is any question of it's accuracy. Again I wrote this section "
pH Test Kits versus Electronic pH test Meters" to help explain this.
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11.) Which of the 4 methods, Ebb & Flow, Drip Method, nutrient Film Technique, or Passive System produces the best results and which produces the worst results? Is there a large productivity difference between the four methods?
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First there are
six types of hydroponic systems.
drip system
Ebb- Flow (Flood & Drain)
N.F.T. (Nutrient Film Technique)
Water Culture
aeroponics
Wick System
I'm guessing by the term "passive" your referring to a wick and/or water culture system. In hydroponics the term "passive" is often used to refer to systems that don't have any moving parts. But while water culture systems and wick systems are often to referred to as hydroponic systems without any moving parts, they are both two very different types of systems. As for which type of system produces the best and witch produce the worst results, there are pros and cons for all of the 6 types of hydroponic systems and it depends largely on the application, and what your growing. There is no single best type of system for all applications. The difference between the types of hydroponic systems is in how the water,
nutrients, and oxygen are delivered to the roots of the plants.
While it's possible to grow any plant in any of the six types of hydroponic systems, what makes one better than another for growing a particular plant is understanding how each of the six type of systems work and what the needs of the plant are. Then it's a mater of matching the plants with the system that fits the needs of the plants best, as well s with the space you have to work with, the materials you have (and/or have funds for), and designing the system to take care of the needs of the plant. The best type of
hydroponic system for any plant is the system you design to take care of the needs of the plant.
Even though you can design it to work well, it wouldn't be my choice to use a NFT system to grow large plants like tomatoes and peppers. However it may be my first choice for smaller short term plants like lettuce. But again depending on other environmental factors, I may not want to use a NFT system for lettuce either. It's all in how you design it that maters.