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Out side Hydroponics
So I'm new to this a bit, this winter I have had successes with both dwc and ebb and flow lettuce. I'm busy getting stuff started for the outside garden but I have been thinking about doing some hydro outdoors.
It sounds like nft is the preferred outdoor technique using some sort of pipe or gutter. My concerns are the res and the very difficult task of burying anything without a backhoe. And power failure leading to the quick death of plants. How do you size the res? How many gallons per plant. I also have a problem with very high Ph (8) water. So the res can not easily be topped off without PH correction. So if away for a few days there has to be enough water. Or is there some sort of cheap way to auto correct this if I use a float valve? We loose power a lot, while I do have a generator if I'm not home its not going to get started. Anyone have any luck with 12 volt dc pumps? I was think a large battery and a charger connected, so when to power goes out the pump keeps running. I might even consider a solar panel if I can find one cheep. Also can you use one res for multiple plant types? Is there a happy medium for the food. Something every plant will like. |
#2
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Last edited by fintuckyfarms; 03-10-2012 at 04:02 PM. |
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GardenState
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I started my tomatoes, peppers, and cukes in rockwool cubes.
Those are the ones I was thinking about doing hydro. I have other stuff started in dirt, but could be transfered. Broccoli, beens, herbs, and other stuff. I'm still going to have dirt for onions, taters, carrots, and beets. Summers here in NJ can get very hot so the death thing is always on my mind. I have to set this up to run a few days without human interaction. Considering an above ground tank of just PH balanced water to top the nute tank via a float valve. Thinking about a 55 gal drum for the nut tank. I have one laying around so thats a bonus. I was considering burying it horizontally to save some digging. I'm really trying to get an idea on how much the plants will use in a day. Also thinking about 2 pumps feeding the system one ac one dc. So if either one stops working the plants don't die. I'm having trouble finding a 12 volt pump that is quality made, I was looking at bilge pumps but they only have a published 1000 hour life. So with the plants I was thinking about doing hydro what system would you all recommend? And this is a budget system so commercial made stuff is out of the question. I'm using tap water, which is from a town well. Last edited by GardenState; 03-11-2012 at 01:05 PM. |
#5
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Do a search on barrelponics and see if something like that will work for you, you don't have to use the fish.
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