Hi guys, I'm trying to put together a plan for my first hydro setup and would like some help please.
It's an outdoor setup on my balcony. It's north facing (the best way to face here in the southern hemisphere) so there is plenty of sun. I've grown herbs in pots here before with no problems so light/warmth isn't an issue.
From some basic reading I want to go with the
drip system method. My basic understanding is this:
- a few times a day, a
pump pumps water up to the plants, which dribbles out a pipe near the plants. The dribbling happens for about 15 min, 3-4 times a day.
- excess water is fed back into the reservoir (thanks to gravity, mostly) for reuse
- I'm not sure how oxygen is fed to the plants. Some people have an air pump that just pumps air into the pots directly, others seem to have an air pump that pumps air into the reservoir (like a fish tank).
Some dimensions first:
- area for pots = 5 foot long, 1 foot wide, 1 foot high (havent bought pots yet)
- reservoir is kept underneath pots - distance from bottom of reservoir to top of pots = 3 feet
Desired plants:
- basic herbs (parsely, chives)
- some vegetables (cherry tomatoes, lettuce)
My concerns:
- how strong a pump do I need? Never used water pumps before so not sure what unit of measurement describes their pumping ability
- we hit record temperatures last week (115deg fahrenheit) so I'm concerned about heat stress on the pump. I assume underwater pumps are used, but in an opaque container (to keep out algae) this means the water temp will probably be way higher than the air temp
- how do i fix oxygenation? do i have an airpump pumping directly into the pots? (if so, for how long, and how often?) or do i have an airpump pumping air into the reservoir (if so, for how long and how often?) or is there a way i can get around it? Ideally i'd like to keep electronic devices to a minimum (less things that can break = good in my books)
My ideas:
- I want the reservoir underneath the middle of the pots. This way the water is pumped vertically up to the middle of the pots, and the strength of the water is evenly delivered left and right to the pots. Also with this I want to splits the pots into left/right for seasonal plants and year-round so I can have a tap on the drip pipes and turn off one side for a week while I re-plant new plants. For this to work there will need to be multiple separate pots
- Not sure what grow materials (the stuff you put your plants in) are available at my local stores so I'll have to wing it a bit and see what I can get. Same goes for fertiliser.
- I'll be buying seedlings (store-bought, planted in soil) and getting rid of the dirt before planting them. I don't think my local gardeners sell them in the rockwool stuff (or whatever it's called) that I can plant directly
Things to do:
- work out best ph level for my plants
- research fertiliser/ph additives/testers available for me
Hope all that makes sense... can anyone offer any insight here? Happy to draw a diagram if necessary. The system won't get any bigger - I only have finite space so no need to worry about growth.
FYI Im still doing some reading, I dont feel like i'm ready to buy a ton of stuff down the shops later
