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  #1  
Old 06-05-2011, 11:51 PM
crad crad is offline
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Default new system

New flood and drain system...this a work in progress...i am not for sure how to load some pics but here goes..if the pics work i can discuss it in further detail afterwards.

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  #2  
Old 06-06-2011, 01:23 AM
Kerbouchard Kerbouchard is offline
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Looks great, crad! The rubber end caps with hose clamps is a great idea for non-permanent connections and should make cleaning pretty simple.

What's the purpose of the valves in each nutrient inlet? Are they for tuning flow, or primarily for turning off/on an entire tube? Also, what size reservoir and pump are you using for this?

I'll be anxious to see how well it all works for you!
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Old 06-06-2011, 05:04 PM
crad crad is offline
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The rubber ends are for cleaning purposes. the caps remove as well and I have a dust mop with an extending handle for cleaning the pipes.
The pump is a 600gph mag drive in a 18 gallon container which is almost to small. the pipes hold 36 pepper plants 4 cherry bomb tomatoes and 2 ever-bearing strawberries.
Yes the valves are for regulating and isolation. I am installing valves on each tube drain for regulation of solution height. I am finding it hard to even the flow out on the pipes. I started buy using rubber grommets on the drain end and using a pipe to regulated height of solution in pipe. Then the solution sat dormant in pipe and I could see long term problems with that. So with the valves on the exhaust I can regulate height and still dump the pipes completely between cycles. exhaust = Drain
The lights are t-8 fixtures with 8000 kelvin bulbs in them I adjust the height to adjust the intensity of the light. I am going more for spectrum color then I am intensity. I want some intensity but am unsure as to how much yet.
I will take some pics in the afternoon and some after dark so the effects of the light can be seen.
they are now in color and day and night shots
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Last edited by crad; 06-06-2011 at 10:49 PM. Reason: to add pics
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  #4  
Old 06-24-2011, 02:00 PM
crad crad is offline
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okay here are some new pics of my system.
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Old 06-24-2011, 02:03 PM
fintuckyfarms fintuckyfarms is offline
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Awesome! Great job!
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Old 06-24-2011, 07:32 PM
GpsFrontier GpsFrontier is offline
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Hello crad,
I like your setup. But now that I can see what some of those plants are, I would say that the tomato's will get way to tall for that lighting. Also I'm not sure but some of the other ones look like peppers, and that will get to tall for the lighting (as it is) also. You may also have problems with fruiting of any plants with the low amount (intensity) of florescent lighting.
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Old 06-24-2011, 09:57 PM
crad crad is offline
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the tomatoes are cherry tomatoes and they are gonna get moved to another planter system with regular tomatoes. this system will be all peppers. I am putting over a thousand foot candles to the pipes and have already increased the light output on the end toward the nutes. the lights are adjustable and will be raised with the height of the plants and the plants will be pruned and trained. I am experimenting with this setup.
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Old 06-24-2011, 10:38 PM
GpsFrontier GpsFrontier is offline
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It's a great setup, and will be interesting to see how the peppers do with that lighting. I have never seen peppers grown with florescent lights, at least not without significantly more light (when their bigger). As well as the fixtures placed vertically along the sides of the plants so more than just the top foliage gets enough "useful" light. But again it will be interesting to see how things progress. What kind of peppers are you growing?
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Old 06-26-2011, 12:37 AM
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I am growing a variety of bell peppers and some serrano peppers. I am going to the green house to find 4 pepper in a week to replace the tomatoes so I only have peppers in the pipe system. The bell peppers are green, yellow, red organic seed peppers. I have some purple peppers and some chocolate colored ones as well.

I am constantly changing the light setup to fit the growth process. I am working on a design that will look like an upside down U shape on a block and tackle system so it can be raised and lowered to accommodate pepper height. I decided at this time to concentrate on the lighting for the peppers and strawberries. the tomatoes are just for fun and to see if they can be trained. total experiment.

Thing will change as I start new Job on Monday to support my business plans. They are 10 hr days and 80 miles one way from the house. I live in rural northern MN so work is were you can find it. So my plants are gonna go through withdrawals from seeing me to only seeing me once a day and more on days off.

I hope to be moving 2 of the systems to our greenhouse in couple of week. I will post them pics after it is set up correctly.

I am having issues with my strawberry grow. I am now changing the system around and have 36 3in pots and 13 3/12 in pots in the new system and am going to drip feed them. I am buying day neutral strawberries. I will see if I can get that correct as flood and drain did not work correctly would loose cash that way so it is drip to waste or to storage and will check the waste for nutrient strength and stuff to see if it is reusable or plant food for soil garden and house plants.

I am designing total artificial light grow on strawberries. After I get them growing correctly we working on a pick your own in a high tunnel operation at the same time hopefully next year it will up and the following year in the pick your own full run operation. really depends on how many crops we can get with our day neutral berries. not worth the effort on 1 to 2 crops a year.

Last edited by crad; 06-26-2011 at 12:49 AM.
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Old 07-07-2011, 02:31 PM
fintuckyfarms fintuckyfarms is offline
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How about some udate picts
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  #11  
Old 07-07-2011, 11:45 PM
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Man busy at work been putting in 60 hours and travel time of 3 hours a day, nuts I tell you. here are some pics and I have blooms on my tomatoes I need some advice though. I think I need some micro-nutrients and would like some ideas on my peppers.

here are some pics and I have had to adjust the lights every day on the tomatoes. I changed to bottled water last change and I can tell you the difference. So water quality under lights is a very big deal. So next nutrient change I am going to do well water next change with out softener.

So tell me what you think.
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  #12  
Old 07-08-2011, 02:54 AM
GpsFrontier GpsFrontier is offline
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Hello crad,
I forget what nutrients your using, but I wonder why you think you need micro-nutrients. If your using commercially made hydroponic nutrients they should have the micro-nutrients in them. That's the difference between hydroponic nutrients vs soil nutrients. Also I don't know of a complete micro-nutrient supplement you can get. You will probably need to buy each element separately, and make your own to do so. I do see the picture with the yellowing leaf, and although a nutrient deficiency (or toxicity) is possible/probable, there could be environmental issues causing it too.

But one thing stands out to me from your post, that was about your water quality. That's probably the most overlooked factor for hydroponic growers (and a definite source for plant toxicities). Even if you just noticed visible sings of a problem now, the problem could easily have been caused/started weeks earlier. On the same token any change may not be able to be noticed for weeks into the future as well. I would start by making sure I was using good water quality (straight well, or rain water may have problems as too). Make sure I was mixing the nutrient solution appropriately, and check pH daily to make sure it's within range. Then pluck off the yellowing leaves, and wait a few weeks to see if there's improvement. Even if a few more leaves begin to yellow, it could be still be from damaged plant tissue from before (unless it's completely new foliage).
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Old 07-09-2011, 12:15 AM
crad crad is offline
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the blotches are probably from salt and yes this is an experimental system totally.

My real question is what are these and where can I find out what they are?

the growth of my tomatoes from yesterday to today.
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Old 07-09-2011, 04:36 AM
GpsFrontier GpsFrontier is offline
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Hello crad,
I assume you are talking about the little insects on the pepper plant. They look like aphids in the picture to me, although I think I see a little green spider on one of the leaf stems too (probably looking to feed on the aphids). Here are a few links on them to compare with.

Aphids Management Guidelines--UC IPM
Aphids | University of Kentucky Entomology
Aphids
Major foliage plant hosts of aphids are Aphleandra
aphids

Pest identification database
UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program
Pests of Agriculture, Floriculture, and Turf—UC IPM Pest Management Guidelines and More
Control Options Database Search
Featured Creatures: The Good, The Bad and The Pretty
Plant Pest Identification Aid
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Old 07-09-2011, 09:25 AM
crad crad is offline
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I thought they were aphids and yes them are green spiders just never seen them that thick before.but see the tomatoe size difference from the pics just 24 hours apart. I do believe I am going to have a light issue on the tomatoes I believe I will have to try some sort of spot light system.
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Old 07-11-2011, 06:45 AM
GpsFrontier GpsFrontier is offline
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Personally I'm not surprised if their not getting enough light. The light intensity drops dramatically the farther away from the foliage florescent lights are in comparison to HID lighting. Now that the tomato plants are taller than a foot or so, the lower leaves aren't getting nearly as much light as they used to when the plants were shorter (and the lights were closer to them). So the lower leaves just aren't getting enough light for photosynthesis anymore. And photosynthesis is even more important to the plant when it's fruiting.
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Old 07-11-2011, 09:28 AM
Andre Andre is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by crad View Post
New flood and drain system...this a work in progress...i am not for sure how to load some pics but here goes..if the pics work i can discuss it in further detail afterwards.
Just a couple of questions from someone who knows little about hydro but likes your system. What size pipes? 4" I think. What size net pots? 3". What size holesaw for holes in pipes? Thank you
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Old 07-11-2011, 10:56 AM
crad crad is offline
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GPS that is what this experiment is about what is going on right now. I have been negligent in last 2 weeks to my experiment since I have been putting in 80 hours a week at work hopefully they will get 2 new technicians soon we are little short handed.

So I can see the light issue with the tomatoes and am deciding the best way to deal with it. I will post you some pics on it this week when I fix it. the tomatoes are growing about 6 inches a day since I changed the water source. If I have to use HID then growing the veggies in the winter are not going to happen the electrical costs are to absorbent for the amount of cost realized off the fruit.

my peppers are the ones with the pests on them and I have both the pest and the predators and am going to introduce lady bugs to the system next. I had bumble bees in there last week when I had the door open so I let them do there thing and I hope it works.

this whole experiment is about going them indoor at 40 below zero at a cost effective rate. so far cost effective is not realized but will see when we are done. it is taking more space then I had originally expected as well. So the experiment goes on and any ideas are considered even the HID lighting is being considered.

Last edited by crad; 07-11-2011 at 11:21 AM.
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Old 07-11-2011, 11:13 AM
crad crad is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Andre View Post
Just a couple of questions from someone who knows little about hydro but likes your system. What size pipes? 4" I think. What size net pots? 3". What size holesaw for holes in pipes? Thank you
Andre
It is 4 in thin wall drain pipe and I thought the weight was going to be an issue but it is not and if you are worried add another brace.
they are 3 3/4 in net pots and I used a 3 1/2 in hole saw and even in a drill press it was hard trying to keep them centered.
if you want any more questions answered feel free everyone here including myself will be glad to help you out.
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Old 07-13-2011, 01:27 AM
GpsFrontier GpsFrontier is offline
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crad
Hopefully you will get some relief from the 80 hour work weeks soon. I'm sure the extra money is nice, but it dosen't give you much time to have a life.

Half of the fun of growing hydroponically is experimenting, though having success makes it even more fun for me. Then (as in your situation) figuring out how to do it more economically is the next goal. For me using natural light is generally the most economical (unless I want to grow lettuce during summer). But I know in your area you get snow that makes growing outside imposable during winter without a equipped greenhouse. Thus the need for experimenting with artificial lighting. Although you do need to weigh the cost of the system, vs the produce you get from the plants, it cost much more to build a hydroponic system than it does to stick a plant in the ground or pot. So start-up cost will naturally be more in the beginning, and thus cost to grow it wont usually be able to compare with prices for the produce in the stores in the beginning.

But after a few crops it begins to pay for itself. Some biggest considerations for comparing cost to grow vs cost to buy is the time of year, as well as crop grown. Especially in cold snowy areas where all the produce needs to be shipped in. That significantly raises prices, or may even make it almost imposable to get during that time of year. Being able to grow year round is one of the biggest benefits to growing hydroponically to me. Then there's the consideration of how much to grow. (what you'll realistically eat). You don't want to spend the money to grow it, just to give it away later (if cost to grow is a concern).

If you know how much wattage the florescent lighting is using, you can compare the cost to run the florescent lights (as well as needing more of the current florescent lights), with using stronger HID lighting. Even cost to run pumps, fans etc.. As an example: for me I pay 9.29 cents per kilowatt hour (found on the electric bill), and to run one 400 watt HID light for 18 hours a day, for 30 days would cost me about $0.67 a day (about $20.10 a month). A 600 watt HID light would cost me about $1.00 a day (about $30 a month).

Electricity Cost Calculator

so the question becomes can I get $20 worth of produce (that I like to eat) out of a 400 watt light, or $30 worth out of a 600 watt light. I don't use artificial lighting at this point, but it's my understanding that a 400 watt light is sufficient to cover a 4x4 foot space, and a 600 watt light should cover about a 6x6 foot space. Using the HID lighting would be more productive, and cost effective for taller fruiting plants like tomato's, peppers etc. (as well as higher value crops). But not necessarily so for for smaller (low light requirement plants) like lettuce. For shorter fruit bearing plants like strawberry's, or short bush variety peppers. Spacing smaller wattage HID light (like 200 watt lights) closer to the plants (they can because their cooler), and spaced apart could increase overall square foot coverage, as well as may fit the square footage (floor plan) of grow space better without increasing wattage used. As you mentioned it's about experimenting. But at least with the energy calculator you can compare the cost to run theatrical setups and designs, and before you spend the money on them.

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Last edited by GpsFrontier; 07-13-2011 at 02:15 AM.
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