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#21
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Nice looking system GpsFrontier.
You know...I see alot of designs using a setup similar to this (be it ebb and flood, nft or what have you), and I'm always curious about root management. Having experience with these types of systems, how to you manage that, if at all? I mean, I'd think the roots could very quickly get out of hand in a small-ish tube like that, especially if the plant was something intended to be kept for a longer term. Do you perform any sort of root maintenance or simply just let them go? If it's the later, do you eventually end up encountering any issues at all with the tube clogging up or anything? |
#22
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To be honest this is the first tube system that I have built, in retrospect I wish that I had made a few access openings (I still can, and plan to). I fully expected that the roots would intertwine with the other plants and keep me from pulling out the baskets. Though as I see the roots growing I have thought about the possibility of the system clogging with roots growing into the inlet and overflow ports, as well as the root mass interfering with the flow of nutrients from one side of the tube to the other. I plan to make access points on both ends to clear the inlet and overflow ports and possibly a few along the tube to clear any clogs there. Plants are generally pretty forgiving and don't mind root trimmings (like a haircut). I will just half to see how the rest goes. Quote:
Last edited by GpsFrontier; 12-04-2009 at 08:29 PM. |
#23
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#24
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What I would do is mark my full level, and replenish to that level each night and use gallon bottles to replenish so I could monitor the amount being used.
For smaller indoor setups, I would keep track, if I had a 20 gallon res. setup, I would fully replace the nutrients every 2 weeks OR if I added a total of 20 gallons to the res. to keep it level. Which ever came first. Plus...get a TDS meter, it'll let you know how much of your nutrients are used. Mark your starting number, and check it each time you top off your res. |
#25
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Last edited by GpsFrontier; 12-05-2009 at 02:25 AM. |
#26
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It has been warming up the last few weeks and these plants have been making some progress, so I thought I would post updated pictures. Can you tell I like to take pictures?
As you can see the 4 green been plants in the center are not doing well. these are the second batch of green beans I started with the same results. I can only assume it's because of the cold weather. I simply ran out of money to complete everything I wanted to do with this system. I was going to build a P.V.C. trellis similar to the one I have for the tomato's, then drape the plastic drop cloth over it. And on both sides I was going to have a P.V.C. tube run across the bottom attached to the plastic drop cloth so I can roll it up during the day. You can see the round vertical 6 inch wide P.V.C. tubes underneath the system, these to are just prototypes and not the finished design. These are the heat source for warming at night. They will be made of metal heating and AC ducting so they wont catch fire. Inside these tubes will be a small adjustable flame (not sure where I will get the burners yet). It will basicly be heavy enough that wind wont blow them over, and with enough metal around it so it will be wind proof while allowing the heat to rise. Although now that it's starting to warm up I will probably not complete these heating units until next winter. The wood trellis structure that was meant to be temporary is now permanent because the plants are attached to the line that is strung across, I will still need to make it taller and/or build the P.V.C. trellis around it. I also had a water proof heating pad inside the nutrient solution to keep them from getting to cold at night, but there must have been a pin hole in the plastic cover and water got in it. It was still working, but I decided to take it apart and use the heating elements inside to create my own fish tank warmer. Good idea, but I made a mistake in replacing some of the wire. It was not regular wire, and shorted the elements out. Oh well it was only $1, but now I need another one and have not been able to make it back the thrift stores to find another one. At this point I decided to replace the green beans with more peas and snow peas. The taller plants are the snow peas and the shorter ones are the regular peas. I will just put 2 more of each in the system to make it a total of 6 each. As far as root maintenance, I found that I don't need to cut any access holes near the inlet and overflow ports. I simply can disconnect them from the outside when no water is flowing through it, and do any trimming from there. It only goes through about 2 inches, and I can just poke them back in with a stick or something (once a week, if that so far). I may need to create the access ports along the top near the center of the tube in the future, but so far root maintenance there is not a problem. Last edited by GpsFrontier; 01-11-2010 at 03:38 AM. |
#27
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Well it has been about a month sense my last update on my pea plants, and they have grown quite a bit (looking at my last pictures). I now have lots of pea pods on both the regular and snow pea plants, with lots more of flowers. The pods can be hard to see because they are the same color as the leaves and stems, but the more I look the more I find.
Last edited by GpsFrontier; 02-16-2010 at 02:15 AM. |
#28
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great looking plants!
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#29
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#30
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Last edited by GpsFrontier; 02-25-2010 at 09:18 PM. |
#31
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I have a qusetion, What size netpot did you use? Is it 3 3/4? What size hole did you drill?
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#32
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I used 3" net pots (pictures attached). I bought a 100 pack a couple of years ago when I was in Las Vegas. If I remember correctly they were about $25 for the 100 pack. That would make them about $0.25 a piece.
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Then I measured the length of the tube, subtracted 4 inches for each side (2" for the end caps, and 2" for the end spacing), then divided that by 12 (amount of pots I wanted). This would give me the spacing between pots. Because the template was a thin plastic it easily bends around the tube, making it easy to trace on the tube. I put a mark on one end at 4 inches (2" for the end caps, and 2" for the end spacing), then centered the template on the long line with the edge of it at the 4" mark. Then traced the template on the tube, and put an "x" in the center of the outline, on the long line. That was my starting point, from there I made 11 more "x's" along the line at the pre-determined spacing that I figured out earlier. I eye-balled the centering of the template on the "x," but it would probably be better to place a hole in the center of the template, so it would be easier to line up with the "x" on the tube. Once I had all my holes drawn on the tube I used the rotary tool to cut them out. It cuts through the ADS tubing very easily. Sounds like a long process but it was actually easy. Using another person to hold the tube and tape measure so I could get a straight line the whole process took about 30 min. P.S. Measure twice, cut once. |
#33
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#34
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Very nice work. Whay type of nutrients are you using?
Thanks |
#35
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I was was using General Hydroponics Flora series nutrients on those plants. |
#36
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Great job
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I also want to start similar work but not now, still too much to learn in hydroponics ... |
#37
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Hi GpsFrontier, that's a very efficient system you've built.
I do have a question for you. How will you keep rain from getting into the top of the net baskets and diluting your nutrient solution? I live in Florida, where it rains quite a bit. This would be a real concern for me. I have no idea how much rain you get where you live. |
#38
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Hello NorEastFla,
We don't get nearly the amount of rain that you do, I live in the AZ. desert. That system was up and running last winter/spring when we get most of our rain for the year. The rest we get in late summer during the monsoons. But I never had any issues of that system flooding or overflowing. I changed reservoirs (to a larger one) in spring when the plants started to grow rapidly because of the warmer weather. The first reservoir held up to 10 gallons, the later one held up to 18 gallons. I never measured how much water got in the system, some did. But between the little amount that did, and how much the plants drink daily, I didn't have a problem with that even if it rained for 3 days. But in your case you will get much more rain than me. In witch case if it becomes a problem I have a simple answer for that. I would just use plastic lids, like from empty margarine, butter, sour cream etc. containers ,as long as it is larger than the baskets. Cut holes in the center of them large enough for the stem of the plant to grow and and not grow into the lid. Then cut a slit down one side so it's easy to slip on and off when needed. And in cases of high winds, a zip-lock bag with some sand in it tucked around the stem on top of the plastic lids should keep it snugly in place. Not that it would fly off, but the edge of the plastic lid can cut into the stem if it moves around a lot. As for the reservoir, I would just place it underneath a table or something to keep water off the lid and draining through the cut-outs. |
#39
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Hey GpsFrontier, your idea is good, but I think I'll try something like in my attached sketch. The plant stem would be trained over and under 1/2" PVC into a drip loop with a "roof" over the pipe and basket.
This will be easy to build. After I have one up and running, using your idea with the ebb and flow pipe, I'll post it into a thread I'll start. I really like your pipe idea. |
#40
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Well, I guess I'll jump right in here (in the middle of an old thread) and say thanks, this was a VERY informative thread and has given me a ton of ideas!
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