This is my experimental hydro garden, just 5 days after planting.
Another view at the 5-day point.
This photo shows new root growth on a young plant.
My HydroGarden 2001:
(last update: 5/7/01)I became interested in hydroponic gardening several months ago, quite by chance. As I was surfing the Net one night I happened across a hydroponic-related web site (I think it was Hydroponics Online) and it piqued my curiosity. After doing some more research, I decided to give it a try. I’ve never been much of a gardener (dirt, weeds, bugs, etc.). Hydroponic gardening is much more appealing to me than traditional methods. Having never grown anything like vegetables before, this is a real learning experience! And so far, I'm very impressed with the results (so are my neighbors and in-laws).
I built and planted my garden on February 11, 2001, using (2) 10-foot pieces of 4" PVC pipe for the growing chambers. I drilled 3" holes along the top, 12" apart. Into each of these holes, I inserted a styrofoam cup with holes melted into it with a soldering iron. I bought small seedling plants from WalMart to plant in the cups. The roots were washed absolutely clean before being planted in the cups, using plain old Lava rock as a growing medium. In the photo on the left, you'll notice a green Rubbermaid container. That is my nutrient reservoir. It contains a Little Giant submersible pump, rated at 170 gph, to circulate the nutrient solution. The nutrient is pumped out of the tank, through that small black line between the PVC pipes, into the far ends of the PVC. It then flows back through the PVC by gravity flow, bathing the roots in well-oxygenated nutrient solution as it goes, and back into the reservoir to be recycled back through the system. In order to maximize my chances for success in this experiment, I decided to use a top quality commercial nutrient solution. I opted for General Hydroponics "Flora" concentrate, and couldn't be happier. Every 10 to 14 days or so, I'll flush the system with fresh water and mix up fresh solution. In between changes, I don't add nutrients; I just top it off with water as needed. It’s a pretty low-tech / low budget system, but it works like a dream.
5 days old …….
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This is my experimental hydro garden, just 5 days after planting. |
Another view at the 5-day point. |
This photo shows new root growth on a young plant. |
Root Growth…….
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9 day's root growth. (tomato plant) |
The tubes are starting to get pretty full of roots! |
Tomato roots at time of "pruning". (7 weeks) |
After about 7 week's growing time, the tomatoes' roots were so big that they started to block off the flow of nutrient solution. It finally got to the point that drastic measures had to be taken. So…. after summoning up all my courage, I proceeded to pull up all of my lovely tomato plants by their roots! Talk about stressful! Once they were out, I quickly pruned the roots back by about 2/3 and put them back into the tube. The first week or so, they looked pretty droopy (I thought I might lose them all), but they eventually came back around, and they are now flourishing. The plants are growing at an insane rate and I've actually been picking ripe tomatoes for about a week now.
Other Misc. Pics …….
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12 weeks's growth. A couple of the tomato plants are over 5 feet tall! |
Another pic at 12 weeks. I've already picked several pounds of ripe tomatoes at this point (and boy are they ever good) ! |
(sorry about the poor quality of the pictures)
Some hydroponic links:
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The Hydroponic Forum |
Thanks for stopping by. Hope you enjoyed your visit.
