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great pictures to bad we can't email the people to ask them questions. steve
does anyone live in connecticut that has a unit growing that we stop by and see? sjanosko@aol.com
To the mexican lettuce growers: try adding oxygen peroxide in a very low concentration (careful, it burns!) you oughtta find out the proper concentration. Darkness is good to prevent 'em growin' amigo.
cee
About oxygen peroxide again. To get rid of algae I'd better use a 3.5% and even less concentration of peroxide. It is very harmful. You'd better buy commercial concentrations (35-38%) at laboratory suppliers and dilute it according to this formula: C1xV1=C2xV2, ie., concentration 1 (the concentration you have) by volume 1 (the incognita) equals to concentration 2 (the one you wanna achieve) by volume 2 (the volume you want to have, say five liters). Like in the situation above,
35% x V1 = 3.5% x 5 liters
V1= (3.5%x5)/35% V1= 0.5 liters, to which you add (5-0.5)4.5 liters, so you've got the amount you wanted with the desired concentration. Sorry for so long.
Have you ever used earthworms manure plus styrofoam little balls as a growing media? How come we use just peat and not earthworms manure considering its high cations interchange capacity?
Alex
Hi Ron I was wondering if you know of any company that I can order the empty 1 gal. bleach bottle's from. I don't use enough to get all the bottle's I need. Thank you for all the info that you put on your web site. Dave in N.M.
Dave in N.M.,
Try a local laundry for bleach bottles. Dry cleaners may have them too. I get 1 gallon jugs and 5 gallon buckets from the local Albertson's grocery store (the deli and bakery) for free.
CM
Hello Ron -- Can you please tell me a little about your chop saw?? There is a picture of it in Q & A - page 11 ("bottle to the pipe"). What brand is it?? Do you use a regular saw blade or an abrasive blade?? What should be the blade size be if I want to deal with 1-1/2" PVC pipes?? I personally think that cutting pipes with a motorized chop saw would be less labor-intensive compared to a standard miter box along with a hand saw especially when multiple cuts need to be made. Hope to hear from you soon as I need to write a letter to Santa Claus before he comes to town next week. Thanks, HydroFarmer
Just a regular chop saw with a 10 inch plywood blade.
HydroFarmer,
I use a Craftsman 10" miter saw. With a nice fine toothed (80 I think) carbide blade. Works like a charm. It's overkill for the PVC but is one of my main wood working saws. They go on sale frequently. Around $200 I think.
CM
Greetings from Venezuela.(South America)
I'm very interested in learning a lot about Hydroponics. In Venezuela is difficult to find books about it and the Perlita.
What I need to know to start a successfully home garden project? For the future I'm interested too in comercial Hydroponics.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Christian Castillo castilloch@cantv.net
Hi Ron Just started and alls going well. About shoulder height. When do I turn and add bloom formula? and will I still get plant growth (as in height) when I start this.
Mardy
Hello, I have been searching the web for a supplier of nft tubes? The kind you see in some greenhouse floors that seem to fold up like the letter A. They seem to be made of heavy gauge poly and They are filled with perlite. I would like to try these in my small greenhouse. Thanks Tommy
when using the 16 pot system with the 2 liter bottles. how long do you run the pump and what nutrients do you normally use?
same time, same nutrients
I am trying to locate and identify a soap that is effective in controlling athletes feet and jock itch. I heard it was called tea or tree soap. I am currently living in south florida and would like to know where I can get this item.
I _tried_ the Dogstar site. Initially, the hydroton price looked OK. I tried the "hydroponics" code the owner provided... it did not result in any discount. I then tried another code he provides in his "news" -- I got a 5% discount. OK, better than NOTHING. Then, the fun part. Shipping: $25.24. Let me see... $30 for the hydroton, $25 for the shipping. The shipping ups the price by 85%. I know it's UPS's fault, but "No thanks!" Geeze... you'd think that UPS would figure it out. It just ain't gonna happen, that's for sure. Perlite, here I come.
Buying
growrocks have been a problem for me for
years because of the weight. I had to
drive 120 miles ever time to get it to
save the UPS shipping charges. Now I
found a source 20 miles away.
I got an e-mail from a guy from China
that wanted to know if I wanted to buy a
cargo container of growrocks from them.
I said sure send it over. I have yet to receive
it. Can't speak Chinese and I ain't got enough
yen.
Hi Everyone,
Jeff from Dogstar Labs here. So, I see I have a bad review already. Bummer. Yes, UPS was just going to charge too much. Hydroton weighs too much to ship far. I looked into the coupon problem. I believe the software didn't handle the coupon code correctly since it was in the system. There is a new code (3183) for you to use, an extra 10% off of orders over $25 at
www.dogstarlabs.com. I tested it without problems.
Just to let you know all shipping is based on weight only. There are no extra charges except for drop shipments which my suppliers sometimes add a surcharge (ranges from $10 per address to $5 per box). I'll never add those charges to your order without your approval. Sometimes it's more economical to me to have things drop shipped (like lights and big systems). In that case I'll eat the extra charges.
Jeff
HEY RON, COULD I USE 16 OUNCE STYROFOAM CUPS INSTEAD OF THE 16 OUNCE SOLO PLASTIC CUPS THE ARE MORE EASIER TO COME BY AND ALOT CHEAPER. WOULD THE CHEMICALS IN THE GROW SOLOUTION MESS WITH THE CUPS(DETEREATION)? AND WERE SHOULD I DRILL THE HOLES N THE CUPS. (I AM USING THE 11 PLANT SYSTEM)
Yes my professor friend Dr. Guna uses nothing but styrofoam cups in all his systems. Doesn't matter where the holes go.
<and I too am having a hard time finding Calcium Chloride. Ron>
Concrete companies use calcium choride to make concrete dry faster and dry under water. You used to be able to tell the driver to bring a 5 gal. bucket of calcium with them to add to the mix on the jobsite. You could go to any redimix concrete plant and buy some from them. I would call first to make sure... I found this site by luck and a link. I must say I have learned more from this site than any other site I have found. I also built a 23 place unit based on the 11 unit plans here on your site. I used 8" lengths in between all the T's for a larger spacing. So far I have 23 bucks invested and I am looking forward to cranking it up in my new 9'x15' homemade greenhouse. Its good to know that k-grow and calcium and magnesium will work for the food. The price of the nutrients would make veggies cost near supermarket prices. I am grateful for the site Keep up the great work. Tom
I will check about shipping restrictions and if their isn't any I will start selling the three part mix needed for hydro growing. I will buy it in bulk and put it in smaller containers to ship to members as cheap as possible.
Does anyone know the difference between an Ebb and Flow system, and Hydroponics, ? and which one would be better for indoor growing of African Violets and Poppies, with a 1500 watt metal halide light source
Ebb and Flow (aka) Flood and Drain is a kind of hydroponics. Just as NFT (nutrient film technique), Aeroponics, Drip emitter systems are all forms of hydroponics. Any system where plants are grown without soil could be considered hydroponics.
Ron, you have a very informative sight on practical applications for building a inexpensive hydroponic system, keep up the good work. My question is what other house plants can be grown in a manner similar to the spider plant and ivy. Any info that you can share I would truly appreciate.
Thanks, JC
absolutely. houseplants grow so well that plants like the aloe-vera plant fall out off the cups because they grow so much.
I was wondering if any one here knows how big a plant the 11 plant system (the build at home offered on the main page)will hold?
it is designed for small plants because of the closeness of the bottles. I will sell a more practical size kit like the 16 plant for larger size plants.
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I'm in the process of switching my baby to milk, does the milk that you sell contain RBGH or any other hormone treatments or other growth or preservative treatments?
no
We are a nonprofit horticultural education organization working with
disadvantaged youth in a hydroponics project. An older system was
donated to us (Aquaponics - 1970's) but is missing parts. In particular
I'm looking for parts for an Intermatic timer unit.
Any way you could steer us in the right direction?
Thanks for your help.
Anita Beckwith
Director, Herb & Botanical Alliance herbbotall@earthlink.net
Grainger has parts for the Intermatic
my son is preparing a science project to determine which water is best for growing plants. He has used 6 different waters (city, softened, well, distilled, sea/salt and a sugar solution). He wanted to use the sugar solution because some people put sugar in water for cut flowers. I have been able to find information on how the plant will react to each except for the sugar solution. Do you have any information on how a Spathiphyllum (peace lily) will grow in sugar water? NOTE: the plant is dying, thus it must be toxic, but why?
Hello! I live on a sailing boat and am interested in starting to grow a few vegetable plants using hydroponics... can anybody please suggest the best method (and easiest) for me to use, without getting into systems that require pumps, ph testing etc... I need to do this in the most simple, most inexpensive way possible! Thank you so much! Emily emily29199@yahoo.com
don't we all wish?
i want to setup a hydroponic system. i looked at the 11 plant design. what do i do after i build this? how do i start it up? seeds? nutrients? any help for this aspiring farmer would be appreciated.
you need to read previous Q & A pages to find out.
Hi Ron. I just assembled my first PVC garden, and I did a pretty poor job of making it level- one corner rises about a half inch higher than the other corner (that damn PVC glue dries soooooo quickly). i dont think this will be a problem unless some of the cups aren't getting as much nutrient as they should....I'll find out soon I suppose. Anyway, I was wondering what you do when assembling the PVC, to make sure the joints are straight before the glue dries. Is it sheer experience? Thanks buddy.
I use a leather mallet to whack the pieces in place before they dry. A rubber mallet will work too, but buy a white rubber one, or your garden will look like something out of 101 Dalmatians. Gluing both pieces also keeps the pipe from backing out of the fitting like it has a mind of it's own. Weird phenomenon.
does etha work
no but ether will kick your ass.
I've run into a problem with my ph adjustments. The acid I use is chewing up my pump housing. Any recommendations.
for the user with ph acid problems.i buy powdered citric acid from the drug store & mix with water a quart at a time for ph down.very effective & a pound last about 6 months[$8 a pound]i was spending $10 a month on store bought ph down[posphoric acid].george in crescent city fl
where can we buy seeds for veg and flowers that grow in hydroponics?thanks.
www.hydro-gardens.com has some veg seeds.
I'm in high school and I'm doing a project over hydroponics. What supplies are needed to make this happen?
What remedies do I have for an outdoor flower garden if my water is extremely hard AND over-chlorinated by the city treatment folks?
Re: Outdoor flower garden
When you fill your nutrient tank, just do it a day or so in advance of adding the nutrients. The chlorine should evaporate from the water all by itself.
Not much you can do about hard water except live with it. I have very hard city water here (lots of scaling on plumbing fixtures) but it doesn't seem to have any effect on the nutrients or how the plants take them up. Don't worry about it.
Tailwheel
Anyone who needs them and can't get them, pay attention. I'm only going to say this once. All others will have to read and study this website to get this information.
Home Depot sells a product called "Orchid Rocks", SKU# 884-927. A 1/2 cu. ft. bag sells for about 5 bucks. This is enough for Rons 11 plant garden.
This is an expanded clay product that is Ph neutral, but quite dirty. I have to wash it a couple of times before using it, it's almost like the company sweeps the floor and throws the trash into the bags, but it works just as good as the high priced made in Germany stuff sold at most hydro shops.
If your local store doesn't stock it, just go to customer service and order it, that's what they're there for.
Tailwheel
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