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Time Tinkering?


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  #1  
Old 08-06-2011, 06:47 AM
fintuckyfarms fintuckyfarms is offline
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Default Time Tinkering?

So how much time does everybody really spend daily on our hobby?

I tend to make frequent short trips 5 to 10 minutes a day, watering, adjusting, pollinating and picking. On my weekends I may spend more time cleaning things up, building, remodeling or adjusting my systems. Maybe a total of 15 to 20 minutes total on working days and an hour or all day on my weekends depending what needs done. How about you?

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Old 08-06-2011, 07:19 AM
jamromhem jamromhem is offline
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Well. I think I would like it to take a little more of my time lol.. I am a retired single father of 2, so I will spend about an hour looking at the 1 inch tall plants, take a 5 minute break, and stare again lol.

I am also using it as an excuse to play with woodworking and I am building some stands and such to support my systems.
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Old 08-06-2011, 09:20 AM
halfway halfway is offline
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After the starts are planted in the system, about 5-10 minutes a day. That includes those days with a pH and water level check and adding a capful of h2o2. Add a few minutes for updating the journals as I try and keep the entries very detailed.

Early in the hobby I often found myself wanting to do more, but the systems are so easy maintenance I would have to wander off and do something else. ;(

I am sure I will expend many more hours once I begin working an NFT system in the near future.
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Old 08-06-2011, 09:46 AM
jamromhem jamromhem is offline
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That i where I am right now lol. I am wanting to do more lol. It makes me want to set up more systems faster with how I currently have little to do.
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Old 08-06-2011, 05:48 PM
Stan Stan is offline
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I usually spend between 15 - 30 minutes daily with adding water, checking/adj PH, PPM and other plant maintenance. This is my easiest hobby. Playing electric guitar takes up 2 hours daily. Sometime I'll do some saltwater fly fishing/tying but most of my time is spent with my 8 year old daughter. I have lot's of time to do things since I'm retired.
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Old 08-07-2011, 12:16 AM
jamromhem jamromhem is offline
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I had the pleasure of spending more time around my hydroponic system today.

I had an unexpected outbreak of green bottle flies, and they stayed around my system. I know it wasnt from something in the house. I don't keep food in the trash, and my animals haven't made any messes. I am thinking there might have been something in the supplies I just recieved, and the flies hatched out or something.

That is my thought on it atleast... But I had the pleasure of spending an hour with the vacuum sucking up flies.
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Old 08-07-2011, 04:25 AM
GpsFrontier GpsFrontier is offline
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The time I spend tending to gardens varies, depending mostly on how many systems I have going, their stage of growing, and the weather etc.. From going outside to take a quick look about every hour, to spending hours doing nutrient changes and making adjustments on new setups. But I have been known to set up a chair next to the plants, mix a drink, and just sit and watch them grow. Unfortunately I don't have any growing right now. Mostly because of the weather, I don't have the money to create more of the in ground nutrient reservoirs to keep the nutrient solution cool during summer months, shade cloth structures etc... So I'm mostly working on re-organizing the back yard to accommodate a commercial greenhouse setup for selling fresh herbs I plan to build in the near future. Once I have the business plan done, I'll be able to present it to potential investors. Once I have the start up money, I'll begin construction.

P.S.
I cant say for sure about green bottle fly's without looking it up again, but blue bottle fly's are beneficial to your garden. I know blue bottle fly's help pollinate your flowers. Their attracted to the sweet nectar of the flowers.
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Old 08-07-2011, 12:48 PM
jamromhem jamromhem is offline
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I have also read that the flies can be beneficial. But right now I dont have flowers and the cats chasing the flies are making them pull the plants out of the netpots lol.. So right now it is just better for me to get rid of the flies :P

I have had the cats longer than the flies, and they just drive most of the house crazy lol. I have 2 cats and a dog that will go out of their way to destroy flies.
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Old 08-08-2011, 12:50 PM
crad crad is offline
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I enjoy the time with my systems and it varies. I need 1/2 hr a day average and more times on weekends the real time is in setting them up and the design. I am experimenting with stuff constantly making little adjustments here and there. My main concern now is winter is just around the corner here and need to be set up in new environment with heat, water and light. probably end up renting some kind of building not my first choice. so our systems need to be movable. I am currently designing an 8 pipe system.

Here is temp fix for tomatoes.
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Last edited by crad; 08-08-2011 at 01:35 PM.
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Old 08-08-2011, 06:35 PM
T'Mater T'Mater is offline
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I prolly go out for 15-20min's every few hr's when i'm home. I seem to be having the worst case scenario for growing mater's. And being home basically 24/7 cause i'm disabled i don't have a whole lot to do. Main reason i even got into this adventure was for something to do.
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Old 08-08-2011, 07:50 PM
jamromhem jamromhem is offline
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I feel your pain on that one mater. That is a good bit of the reason I am in the hobby :P I was retired last year from the army on a medical retirement and have been searching for something to take my time since. This seems to be a nice expandable hobby that can take as much time as you make it big :P
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Old 08-08-2011, 09:19 PM
T'Mater T'Mater is offline
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The wife and i are hoping to make this hobby into a ma and pa business. My son is having a blast with learning about it all. And let's face it, market mater's stink.
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Old 08-08-2011, 11:59 PM
GpsFrontier GpsFrontier is offline
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I have always loved growing my own food (when I could), even in soil. I've just always considered it a way of life to grow plants, rather than a hobby. For me I have a hard time calling it a hobby. But living in the desert now, and with the deserts soil and weather conditions. I consider growing hydroponically, really the only way to grow anymore. But I'll have to say I spend a lot of time researching things like plant diseases, pest and insect control, nutrient deficiency and toxicity symptoms, beneficial microbes, cost effective ways to control the nutrient solution temps, as well as greenhouse environment etc. etc. etc.. If it has to do with plant biology or hydroponics, it's of interest. Even researching specific crops, growing them commercially, if their grown hydroponically in commercial farms. If so, finding out details about how commercial farms do it. As well as low cost economical methods they use, including the type of growing medium they use etc..

I probably spend about 4 hours a day on the computer researching hydroponic related topics, not to mention the time I spend in the forum. I've wound up comping much more information than I even have time to read. That dosen't even include the books I want to get. Or the fact that I've been working on, and almost finished with a business plan for starting a year round hydroponically grown "live fresh herbs" farm for selling to our local community. Even though I don't have anything growing at the moment, I still somehow seem to manage to spend a few minutes each day on the ""hobby.""
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  #14  
Old 04-13-2012, 08:05 PM
hammerpamf hammerpamf is offline
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A few years ago, I was working on a doctorate and got an internship at a national laboratory (Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM) doing mathematical modeling and risk analysis of agricultural commodities. On a whim, I attended a working lunch in a warehouse full of hydroponic experiments for growing cattle feed. Instantly I became hooked by the engineering and scientific challenges of growing plants hydroponically. From then on, I began building hobby-level systems and growing a variety of crops. Now, I have worked up to the point where I run my own hydroponic horticulture company (small) that dually focuses on both growing plants and manufacturing systems for sale; current projects include writing up articles (eventually accumulating into a textbook) and expanding the business. Altogether, I spend about 40+ hours per week working on/thinking about/researching/planning hydroponics. Recently I decided to join this forum to exchange ideas and use it as an outlet for discussing our shared interest (not many people in my area actually grow hydroponically).
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Old 04-13-2012, 08:40 PM
fintuckyfarms fintuckyfarms is offline
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That is awesome, my dream would be to start a hydro business, not a store but growing for grocery stores, farmers markets and restaurants. I am starting a hydroponics club that will meet once a month I hopes to find some like minded people to share with and learn from. This forum is great but it will be better in person.
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  #16  
Old 04-19-2012, 10:06 AM
crad crad is offline
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I have found 2 people who grow hydroponically but both are hour plus away from me..
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  #17  
Old 04-20-2012, 08:35 AM
Andre Andre is offline
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Default Sounds familiar

Like wise my time is 20 - 30 min a day on existing systems, I am also retired do to disability and then turned back to hydroponics (had system homemade flood and drain 20 or more years ago) for something to keep myself busy. The time spent in research and development of new systems is where it really adds up. I totally enjoy this hobby and am thankful for the knowledge and comradery that this site offers. Thank you all for that.

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