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#1
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Pine Shavings
Hi Guys,
Starting my first set up soon and was planning on using Coconut husks and Rice Hulls as the growing medium however I've found an outlet for some Pine shavings. Has any one used Pine or other wood shavings as the growing medium? I think sawdust of any timber would be too fine and pack down too tight. The reason I ask is I have a friend in Queensland who has about an acre of Strawberries under hydroponics using pine shavings. He uses a total loss system of flood and drain with the drain being used to water his lawn and flower garden. Nice strawberries, nice lawn and great looking flowers. I know he replaces the pine shavings each year and also the plants new Strawberries. Wondering how using this growing medium would work with Tomatoes. Cheers Leon... |
#2
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Hi Leon,
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The key to success will simply be to use (or copy) the same technique as close as possible. Drip and waste or flood and waste is the way to go. If you recycle, you will most probably run into PH- or other nutrient related problems. The decomposition of sawdust is no problem for the actual plants, but it will screw-up your nutrient solution if recycled. perhaps not in the beginning but progressively, when decomposition takes place. PS: you can also use fine chips or even mix chips and sawdust. |
#3
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Also, by nature wood floats. Using it alone in a flood and drain system would need to be closely adjusted. To high and the wood will rise and dislodge the root system, to low and it may not sufficiently saturate the roots. It will absorb water easily however (if not made from green wood) and with long enough cycle times the water level probably wont need to be very high anyway. Quote:
P.S. I have seen tomato's growing in what looks to be loosely packed hay bails also (picture attached). |
#4
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Thanks GPS, Have to admit I haven't thought of the wood chips or in fact any form of growing media floating in a flood and drain system. Plenty of time to try to get my media water logged first or even if required switch to a drip type system. Just goes to show asking questions some times gets good answers.
Sorry I haven't any pics of hanks system, I will ask and pass them on if I can. Cheers Leon... |
#5
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Been growing Orchids for years and as well as being one of the most beautiful flowers they are easy to grow.
One of the easiest ways to grow orchids is to use burnt wood or Charcoal as the growing medium. Has any one ever tried using Charcoal as the growing medium in Hydroponics? Once it was flushed to get rid of the black residue I think it would be a great medium to use. Very cheap and available here in the Philippines. Cheers Leon... |
#6
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The floating problem is solved with this kind of light weight medium by simply moisten it well, prior to run the system. If wet it doesn't float or go anywhere. It doesn't dislodge any roots neither then. The very same is done with perlite, which is even lighter - in case it is used in E&F.
But most systems based on chips or/and sawdust do not use actual E&F, or any recycling system as I said earlier. The sawdust or mix get filled in porous (woven) poly planting bags (of adequate size) first. Then you actually close the bag, turn it or lay it flat, pinch or cut a hole(s) in the bag and transplant your seedling through the slit in the medium. Then you simply drip (often a pin dripper is sticked in the bag) and let go to waste, evaporation actually. Obviously (for the skeptics) cheap nutrients that are manufactured from raw materials on site are used with this rather "wasteful" technique. Well, that is the technique that I know of and that is commonly used with sawdust and chips. Last edited by Luches; 02-09-2010 at 10:50 PM. |
#7
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As the plants get older and the root systems get more extensive there will be less chance of any problems with any dislodging or shifting, it will become a solid mass of roots by then. I would just be mostly concerned while the plants are still small. You should design the overflow for a flood and drain system to be easily adjustable no matter what growing medium you use. That way you can test things at different levels to see what works the best for the plants you are growing. Quote:
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Last edited by GpsFrontier; 02-10-2010 at 03:08 AM. |
#8
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It took me some time to finally figure out what is going on here for a while, now - but I have got it now!
I am truly sorry to make this personal again, - but as IT IS PERSONAL, I can't avoid treating it as such. As I said: something strange has been going on for a while now - but it has a clear pattern. GPS, replies to almost every post and to every point - no matter if he knows the answer, has experience, or any truly valuable information. Some second guesses, many personal suspicions and false alerts, some common or rather odd misconceptions. Well, the whole enchilada and even some severe cognitive issues included. So far nothing really wrong or strange with that, I mean that's human behavior I wouldn't blame anyone for. But then someone steps in with quite often real or more advanced knowledge, perhaps a few correction, more info, suggestions - or whatever. Nothing wrong with that either I suppose - as it is the case- and happens in any forum on a daily basis. But what happens next is just amazing and actually not funny in the longer run: GPS steps in again and gets real smart all of a sudden. He jealously pics up every bit and bite from the previous posts and embellishes it, illustrates it or simply expresses the exact same thing in a slightly different way. When time permits, he googles a bit around with the newly acquired input and keywords, to complete or garnish with pictures (which are actually copyright protected and are illegally linked here from his end, instead of a reference or a link to the original site). While he is at it, he tries to discredit some of what was written previously, even if he is deadly wrong again, it is not exactly necessary or a rather ambiguous matter. Just to make sure that everyone must think, no-one actually got it, - but him! That way he tries to fool everyone, and jealously and recklessly tries to gather all the credit for every single valuable bit others have actually said and provided. In fact (sometimes) only minutes ago. Without consideration for the others - not for the actual authors, nor for the readers of the thread! Even the origins/authors of all the pictures get no credit and sources aren't mentioned either, as it could draw some attention from his "performance". Man, you can't do that! Well you can always try, but you can't do that systematically without several people getting frustrated and/or realizing what your abominably reckless tactics actually are. Anyway, sooner or later people will see trough it and will be frustrated, eventually getting sick of it or even scared away. From my end it is clear now that I will not give you any more peg to hang your apparent smart-aleck and jealousy issue on We are done here, and I am outa here for a while (until change of PR manager, as they say)! Last edited by Luches; 02-10-2010 at 05:48 AM. |
#9
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I also try to elaborate on what it is, and/or possible issues that you might come across because of them. I let the other person decide if it is important to them or not. I have been told many times that they wish they thought of something before they built there system. Also it is not just about the people in the threads, many people read the threads that never register or reply to them. That is also why I bring up points to think about (key words "think about") when building there systems. Quote:
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They pick up the images from various sources not just commercial websites. Sometimes if the source is from flicker, it might say the images is copy written. But most times it just says it may have a copyright. That's just flickers disclaimer, and the only way to tell if the image is copy written or not would be to contact the original source directly. If it says it's copy written, I don't save it. Otherwise I will if it's something I like. That does not mean that the image is from the original source either. One image may be on the internet in thousands of locations, the only way to tell if it is copy written, is if you are at the original source. True I may have copy protected images that were not from the original source. For any place that wanted to protect there images, there are two ways to do so. The simplest one is to disable the "save image as" function when you right click an image. This is a simple thing to do for the website owner. You just install a line of code in the source code of the pages you want it disabled for. Another one is to install a watermark in the image. They can still copy the image if you didn't disable the function, but you can prove where the image comes from. This is also a deterrent because most people wont want them with the watermark, and there is still a way of getting the image by taking a screen shot. Cutting the image out of the screen shot and converting it back to a jpg. I have never done this. There were a few times I wanted to but didn't want to take the time to figure out how to convert it back to a jpg. Quote:
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Last edited by GpsFrontier; 02-10-2010 at 07:59 PM. |
#10
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Bye Bye!!! You can take your attitude with you!!! Last edited by Amigatec; 02-10-2010 at 08:32 PM. |
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