[TTRgreen2010]

Gps, thanks for the response. You've posed a lot of questions which is great - it helps me to flesh out my own thoughts and work through the problems in my design before I go to the home center, much better than spending a chunk of money on materials that won't work!

Originally Posted by GpsFrontier

I would prefer to use plastic rain gutters, they are not expensive and will last much longer.

That would be great also (much less work for me, too ). Do you have a link to where I can buy these. How wide are they?

Originally Posted by GpsFrontier

An NFT system supply's a constant supply of nutrient solution to dangling roots. ... They will become waterlogged that way.

Good point! I guess it'd be a hybrid ebb & flow plus nft? I'd want to wet the coir completely but not continuously. The pump would run for about 30 minutes duration 1 to 3 times a day, depending on temperature and maybe how windy it is. In practice I'd be playing it by ear, looking at the plants and sticking fingers into the coir to determine duration and number of cycles per day.

Originally Posted by GpsFrontier

Is this going to be a recovery system or non recovery system?

It would be a recovery system.

Originally Posted by GpsFrontier

these must be special bags because I am not sure why they would need to be ordered. I live in a small town but I can get bags of this size.

That would be nice! The hydroponics store in town isn't open during convenient times. I think the owner has a day job? I dunno, I just know that every time I go there the door is locked. Sometimes they put up the closed sign, sometimes it says it's open (but the door is locked and nobody answers to repeated knocking). After 3 or 4 tries I've given up on my local store and just find it more convenient to buy online. They're not the expensive bags that cost $5 apiece, just regular Sunleaves white grow bags with black on the inside.

Originally Posted by GpsFrontier

they should be far enough apart so you are be able to get to each plant, but close enough to save space.

I'll probably just end up guessing 4' or 5' apart. There is a lot of info in the web about companion planting and this year will be the first time I've tried to put it into practice. As I understand it, basil should not be planted close to mint as they will stunt each others growth. Beans and Peas should not be planted close to onions (or any of the alliums) because their growth will be stunted. But Tomatoes love to be planted near alliums. Carrots growth will be inhibited if planted with dill but onions will repel the carrot fly. Tomato hornworm is deterred by marigolds, borage and basil. And although it does not pertain to my garden, strawberries can spread a root rot fungus to tomatoes, potatoes and peppers so you never plant near or re-use soil from strawberries for them.

I just don't know if the proximity issues have to do with the soil or the air around the plant (pollen/excreted hormones/"bad Mojo").

Originally Posted by GpsFrontier

I have never herd of dolomite myself, is this what you are referring to?

I'm not familiar with it in its natural form. It gives tomato plants more calcium but can be used on all vegetable plants. You may be using a nutrient solution that takes care of the extra Ca requirement for your tomatoes? I've never used dolomite before and am open to suggestions on calcium levels. Here are a couple of links.
True Value stores carry dolomite for use on garden veggies and lawns.
Earthbox recommends it for tomatoes.

Originally Posted by GpsFrontier

The coco coir holds moisture very well. Constantly sitting in nutrient solution is a bad idea. You can possibility set it on a timer more like a flood and drain system to give the coco coir a chance to drain

Sorry. It would be on a timer so as to wet the coir periodically throughout the day.

Originally Posted by GpsFrontier

3 gallon root space for peppers should not be any problem. Tomatoes and zucchini not so sure, I guess it would depend on the variety and how long you plan to grow them. As well as how big you would want them to get.

I've read that you need a 5-gallon bag for tomatoes but commercial greenhouses grow three of them on a 4" x 36" rockwall slab so I am really uncertain about the actual size of the root ball. I hope someone who has used both a 3-gallon and a 5-gallon container will chime in here.

Last year I grew tomato in 1, 2 and 5 gallon containers but I had 2 or 3 in each pot. The plants themselves did not get huge but produced adequate numbers of fruits except when it got to 100 degrees and except the ones in the 1-gallon pot.

The ones in the 1-gallon pot did not do well at all so 1 is definitely too small. The 2-gallon had 2 plants in it and grew about 4' high and produced fewer than 20 medium size tomatoes all season. The 3 plants in the 5 gallon each grew about 5' tall and produced the most tomatoes but I'd like to do better this year of course.

Originally Posted by GpsFrontier

The shade cloth does not cool the weather, but can/will help with rising temperatures resulting from direct sunlight on the plants and hydroponic system parts. Keep the root zone between 68 and 72 degrees at all times.

Agreed. Both the tomatoes and peppers got sun scald last year so I hope to avoid that this year with a little shading. I am not sure if I need 20%, 30% or 40% shade cloth to protect them.

I had hoped that keeping the nutrient temp lower may help a bit as well.

Originally Posted by GpsFrontier

[re plastic rain covers] I am not sure how big of an area you are needing to protect, but you can certainly cover it with plastic before the rains hit and uncover it after. Though the winds may be a problem because they will hit the plastic like a sail, and can do more damage than good if not done right.

I may steal an idea from someone on this site and erect a frame out of 2x4s and staple clear plastic covering the entire channel. I would definitely remove it when not needed, though.

I wondered if anyone had used the 6mil as a protective mulch as I described above and if that can be helpful in keeping the roots from getting waterlogged. I thought of having two pieces, each strapped down the length of the channel, one on the left side and one on the right, draped over the channel and overlapping. The precision of matching the slits on both sides for the plants to grow out through may be too much for me to attempt though.

As far as rain goes I don't think the leaves and fruits themselves would be too badly harmed even by a Dallas downpour but due to excess water in the root zone. Our rain almost killed my tomatoes last year - all the fruit was destroyed (popped or cracked) and the leaves turned yellowish and were drooping. It got even worse for them as my staking system failed (store-bought tomato cage) and the plants eventually all drooped over completely after 3 days of rain. Poor little things, this was in August or Sept and I almost gave up on them but I increased feeding a bit and pruned off some damage and they all came back.

On the December 2nd we got our first real freeze and there were probably 15 or so green tomatoes on the vines that I forgot to bring in.