Noob to hydro, first attempt at NFT system

[GpsFrontier]

Just change the 90 degree connector to a "T" connector. You can also just drill a small hole in the top of the elbow connector (90 degree connector) if you have to, but water can leak out the hole sometimes. That's why I switched to using "T" connectors. I still get the 90 degree elbow, but I also get a raised opening to allow air in withough't any chance of water leaking out.

I ran to walmart and couldn't find a remote probe temperature sensor,

I don't know if I somehow led you to believe you need a remote probe temperature sensor, but If I did I'm sorry. You don't need anything of the sort. You can if you want to spend the money, and want to get fancy. But all you need is a small basic glass aquarium thermometer from anywhere that sells pet supplies. I get them at Wal-Mart for $2.

Never rely on how the water feels (at least until you have enough experience). In your case buying a aquarium heater may have been a waste of money. Why? Because you didn't use a thermometer. When I asked you what the water temp was, I purposely didn't go into detail about water temperature because I didn't know if it was an issue for you. Or if it was out of range if it was to low or to high. I was waiting for you to tell me what the temperature was before I replayed about it. Again because you don't rely on guessing, you use a thermometer.

The human body is around 98.6 degrees. When you rely on touch to tell temp all your really able to tell is if the water temp is above or below 98.6 degrees. So even if the water seems cool to the touch, it can still be to high, and withough't a lot of experience you wont even be close guessing what the temp is by touch. You need a thermometer.

I just wrote this article on nutrient solution temperature Nutrient Solution Temperature is Important

[brandonbelew]

I needed a new heater anyways, the one I'm using now was oversized for my fish tank. So I bought a smaller one for my tank.

I just wanted a remote probe sensor, so I don't have to open the reservoir, or remove a plant to get the temperature.

Plus I do IT for a living, I can't stand buying analog

In fact this time next year I'll probably have gone full nerd and built a remote monitoring suite either with usb sensors and a cheap computer or with something like raspberry pi.

[GpsFrontier]

Hello brandonbelew,

Plus I do IT for a living, I can't stand buying analog

Analog is always far superior to no-log at all..

In fact this time next year I'll probably have gone full nerd and built a remote monitoring suite either with usb sensors and a cheap computer or with something like raspberry pi.

It's nice to have money burning a hole in your pocket, but do you really want to pay $10 to grow one strawberry when you can buy them at the store for $2-$3 a pound? Perhaps I'm missing the point, but for me it's about being economical as well as successful, not seeing how much money I can spend doing it.

[brandonbelew]

Originally Posted by GpsFrontier

Hello brandonbelew,


Analog is always far superior to no-log at all..


It's nice to have money burning a hole in your pocket, but do you really want to pay $10 to grow one strawberry when you can buy them at the store for $2-$3 a pound? Perhaps I'm missing the point, but for me it's about being economical as well as successful, not seeing how much money I can spend doing it.

I spend money on things I enjoy. Gardening I never really enjoyed, hydroponics I do. I also enjoy programming. If I can merge hobbies, it makes that hobby that much more enjoyable.

[GpsFrontier]

I understand combining an interest to make things more enjoyable. Alao maybe for you it's more about the experiment and learning than the actual product. With your skills and background, I can easily see why you would make that jump right away before you have even successfully grown a plant. Your mind just works that way. I even get wanting to design a automated system, I've contemplated it myself. But I still don't get intentionally paying $10 to grow one strawberry when you can buy them far cheaper. You even asked about "Affordable" strawberry nutrients, so I naturally figured you were interested in growing your plants economically. For me an automated system would have to have a much larger purpose to be economical and practical, like controlling multiple (half dozen or more) LARGE systems etc. Otherwise it just doesn't pay for itself and isn't practical. For me the money would be much more useful being allocated to buying more nutrients and building more systems to grow more plants. That gives me a return on my investment, I cant eat electronics.

But then again, I do enjoy gardening and watching my plants grow, so I take the time to observe my plants. That tells me as much as any automated system would. Observation is free, thus won't break the bank. Really the only time an automated system is practical is if you simply don't have the time to observe the plants yourself because you have too much to do, and don't have time to actually observe and tend to the plants regularity. Then an automated system can be set to monitor parameters, and notify you when something's wrong. That's why large hydroponic farms use automated systems, to monitor the routine functions and reduce labor costs (practical and economical). But I understand that you don't enjoy watching plants grow, so interrogating your interest of computers with the plants makes it more enjoyable for you, even when it's not necessary or economical.

I took up hydroponics because it's economical and practicable. Growing hydroponically makes much better use of space, allows you to grow where you normally wouldn't, uses far less water and resources. As for the belief "growing hydroponically is expensive," well that's a myth perpetuated by hydroponics manufactures and largely enabled by the pot growers through the fundamental laws of supply and demand. But when done right and economical sources for supply's are sourced out, growing hydroponically is cheaper than growing in soil. Those are the things I get from hydroponics. Do what makes you happy, as long as you enjoy what your doing it's worth it.

[brandonbelew]

Originally Posted by GpsFrontier

I understand combining an interest to make things more enjoyable. Alao maybe for you it's more about the experiment and learning than the actual product. With your skills and background, I can easily see why you would make that jump right away before you have even successfully grown a plant. Your mind just works that way. I even get wanting to design a automated system, I've contemplated it myself. But I still don't get intentionally paying $10 to grow one strawberry when you can buy them far cheaper. You even asked about "Affordable" strawberry nutrients, so I naturally figured you were interested in growing your plants economically. For me an automated system would have to have a much larger purpose to be economical and practical, like controlling multiple (half dozen or more) LARGE systems etc. Otherwise it just doesn't pay for itself and isn't practical. For me the money would be much more useful being allocated to buying more nutrients and building more systems to grow more plants. That gives me a return on my investment, I cant eat electronics.

But then again, I do enjoy gardening and watching my plants grow, so I take the time to observe my plants. That tells me as much as any automated system would. Observation is free, thus won't break the bank. Really the only time an automated system is practical is if you simply don't have the time to observe the plants yourself because you have too much to do, and don't have time to actually observe and tend to the plants regularity. Then an automated system can be set to monitor parameters, and notify you when something's wrong. That's why large hydroponic farms use automated systems, to monitor the routine functions and reduce labor costs (practical and economical). But I understand that you don't enjoy watching plants grow, so interrogating your interest of computers with the plants makes it more enjoyable for you, even when it's not necessary or economical.

I took up hydroponics because it's economical and practicable. Growing hydroponically makes much better use of space, allows you to grow where you normally wouldn't, uses far less water and resources. As for the belief "growing hydroponically is expensive," well that's a myth perpetuated by hydroponics manufactures and largely enabled by the pot growers through the fundamental laws of supply and demand. But when done right and economical sources for supply's are sourced out, growing hydroponically is cheaper than growing in soil. Those are the things I get from hydroponics. Do what makes you happy, as long as you enjoy what your doing it's worth it.

Just to clarify I wouldn't be making an automated system, i'd be making a monitoring suite. So I could for example pull and display on a website the current and historical readings of pH, TDS, temperature, humidity, total dissolved oxygen, etc. Yes it could be done the manual way, but to me what's the fun in that? I enjoy building things, and am normally terribly inpatient. So sometimes I need something to occupy my time while waiting for others to develop so I don't lose interest.

As far as my request for economical nutrients. The reason I can afford to nerd out in some areas is because I save in others.

Lets face it, with the purchase of lights, wood, pipe, pump, reservoir, nutrients, etc. This crop of strawberries will be expensive. But going forward they shouldn't be. Unless I decide to change out lights or something along those lines, which ultimately wouldn't be wasteful either since my wife would just use my fluorescent lights for her seedlings each year.

And as far as spending my time/resources growing more plants instead of going full nerd, i'm limited on space. I built my setup with the full intention of being kicked out of that space once we have another kid. So I needed to build something small enough I could move elsewhere in the house. In my most recent re-design I did maximize my space though and can double my current number of plants fairly easily in the same footprint.

[brandonbelew]

I took some temperature readings yesterday. It's been pretty warm in Kansas the last couple days, actually had to turn on my AC yesterday. Water temp in the reservoir and in the tubes hovers between 74 and 75.