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Old 04-22-2016, 12:39 AM
GpsFrontier GpsFrontier is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Lake Havasu AZ.
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Hello twd000,

Every hydroponic system can be designed to be modular. though the reservoir water volume always needs to be able to support the amount of plants it's feeding, otherwise you will have nothing but problems. So when you increase the amount of plants, you need to increase the water volume accordingly. There are hundreds of ways to design a hydroponic system regardless of what type of system it is. As an example: I would probably use either a drip system or aeroponic system to grow micro greens. Drip system for long term micro greens, and aeroponic for short term ones. But if I only need a few plants, a water culture system would probably fit my needs and space better.

Designing Any system can be done hundreds of different ways. It's not a mater of which type of system would they grow best in, they'll grow in any system. It's a mater of how you design the system/s for them to grow and be most productive in with less space and maintenance. In other words, it's not the system, it's how you design it. What works great for one plant doesn't necessarily work as good for another. The key is to design it to fit the needs of the plants, to make best use of the space available, as well as for ease of maintenance.

Quote:
When you say "propagation system" are you talking about a 1020 seed flat with a humidity dome? Do you plant seeds directly in a 2" net cup?
A prorogation system can be as easy as a simple seed tray filled with growing media instead of potting soil placed in a place that gets enough light that you hand water daily. To a mini aeroponic system with a bank of florescent lights for lighting, often called a cloner. In any case depending on the room humidity already, it would probably include a clear dome lid to hold in humidity, at least for the first couple weeks. As for planting them directly in 2 inch baskets, you can. It just depends on the plants and what's more important space or time.

One of the benefits of starting seeds in a prorogation system is being able to pack them in closely together to save space, as well as reduce the amount of area that needs artificial lighting. Some seedling need less space than others. As an example: lettuce sprouts need far less space in-between than tomato seed sprouts would. So the spacing would depend on the sprouts. If you planted butter lettuce seeds directly in 2 inch baskets, it would save you labor transplanting them later, but you can get far more sprouts in the same space using seed trays. So the trade off is, is the extra space needed more important than the time saved in labor transplanting them? Another consideration is electricity. If your prorogation area is twice as big because of your spacing, you also need twice as much lighting. If your only starting a few seedlings, space and light may not mater much, but if you have 30-40+ seedlings of different sizes going at any given time, space and adequate lighting could be more valuable.

Soon I plan to build a automated prorogation system out of seed trays to show how to build one. Kind of like a mini flood and drain system. I also plan to build a cloner type prorogation system just for the fun of it as well. I will post the design plans for both on my website after I do and write up the directions. But currently I have a couple of articles to finish before I can even think about it. I often start seedlings even simpler just using a couple of short Tupperware tubs, some coco fiber, and hand watering them as needed. I attached some pictures of how I do it. It's not hot outside right now, so I don't need artificial lighting.

Quote:
On the compost tea biofilter, what is the best planting medium to encourage that growth? Rockwool in a net cup? Perlite?
As for a bio-filter, if you already have enough growing media the plants are planted in, you don't need a secondary bio-filter. NFT systems, some water culture systems, and aeroponic systems generally don't use a lot of growing media and could benefit from a secondary bio-filter. But drip systems and flood and drain systems generally use enough growing media already that you wouldn't have any need for a secondary bio-filter. Again it's all in how you design it, and planing to meet your goals.

A good medium for a bio-filter is porous and has a lot of surface area for microorganisms to attach to. Coco fiber/chips, Perlite, crushed lava rock, Pine shavings, Rice Hulls, etc.. A secondary Bio-filter can be floating in the main reservoir, or inline with the return line back to the reservoir. It should be able to get air/oxygen to promote microbial growth. I wouldn't use rockwool as a secondary bio-filter because it becomes water logged so easily, but it would be better than nothing. Again, I can post more about compost teas, and bio-filters if you are interested in them.

P.S.
I don't want to confuse you, but just to let you know, while hydroponic nutrient manufactures design their nutrients to provide all of the essential mineral elements for plant growth, there are other beneficial elements as well. While not necessary for healthy plant growth, the beneficial elements can enhance growth, development and other functions. Compost teas can contain some of these beneficial elements. though there is no way of knowing which ones or in what quantities without lab testing. PPM/EC/TDS meters can't tell you what is in the water, just the total combined volume of everything together. But some compost tea recipes can be higher in them than others.
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Last edited by GpsFrontier; 04-22-2016 at 04:01 AM. Reason: To add a P.S.
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