Hola to Everyone,
Admitted newbie here!
I want to start an outdoor hydroponics system for a variety of veggies and fruits. I have an old, unused fountain on a large open patio that can hold around 220 gallons in the base. It is circular with a center podium and a very thick outer retaining wall (good thermal insulation?).
From what I have read so far, this would lend itself nicely to a DWC or raft type system for lettuce, spinach, lighter plants and perhaps strawberries. But I would also like to do some heavier plants like tomato's, cucumbers, beans, peas, bell peppers, etc and and would like to consider a drip bucket system for those.
One kicker is that I live in the Sonoran desert in northern Mexico and the summer heat can be brutal. I had planned on building some custom Peltier coolers to take care of keeping the water temps low enough to not damage the roots during the hot months.
I was thinking that a fairly tight fitting raft lid made of perhaps 2"-3" styrofoam would help insulate the water better than the usual 1" foam, but I can experiment with that when summer arrives.
So, if I put a properly sized
pump in the reservoir for the drip buckets, what are the negatives to running both a raft type system and a
drip system out of the same large reservoir?
Another question is about bubblers. I have read that some kinds of
nutrients recommend to
not use a bubbler with their product. Any thoughts on that with this kind of setup? I would prefer a liquid part AB type
nutrient system as it seems easier than having to stir a lot to dissolve flakes, but like I said, I am new at this and still in the research stage so am certainly open to comments from you more experienced folks!
Thanks for any and all ideas!
MJ