Hydroponic - First Try

Hi All,

I mentioned in an earlier post that I had an aeroponic growing system on order. Well it turned up last weekend and I've set it up this afternoon.

The system consists of a sump into which you put an aquarium pump.


And then a root tray that also contains 4 water misters that connect to the pump.



I filled the sump with water, adjusted the PH to about 6 and added a hydroponic liquid feed. Then I put my mustard and lettuce plants that I propagated in inorganic Root Riot cubes (note roots coming out of the cubes)



And placed them into mesh pots that then fit into the cover of the growing system.





The idea is with this system that the aerated nutrient is sprayed over the roots of the plant giving rapid growth which in theory should give me a crop of mustard and lollo rossa lettuces within 4 weeks.

Watch this space for progress reports

 

Hi Agaveman it all looks interesting and exciting.Please keep us to date with progress reports because it looks like a very interesting project

 

Yeah lets see how it performs Agaveman.

 

It seems more like chemistry than gardening. The tricky bit is getting the ph right and the nutrient balance and maintaining this as the plants grow.

Going to be a lot of trial and error me thinks

 

personally i think you spent a lot of money buying stuff to make lettuce that tastes like the supermarket stuff, it growes perfectly well outside most off the year in soil taking up nutrients from the ground .So yes good chemistry project but i would rather eat my ground grown salad.

 

Dont buy chemicals to alter the PH , just use lemon juice.

 

Hi Nobby,

The lettuce and mustard are trial crops and not what the system was purchased for. The taste issue will be interesting as I've got lollo rosa's currently growing outdoors under in cloches so I'll be able to do some comparissons.

I think the comparisson with supermarket lettuce is interesting. Some 70% plus is grown hydroponically but the varieties they use are for the convenience of the grower i.e. speed to market rather than taste. One reason I grow my own lettuce is it's difficult to get hold of any any supermarket around here and in my opinion has far better flavour then most other varieties.

The system was purchased to allow me to grow my favorite variety of chilli's in a smaller footprint in my greenhouse, more quickly and to get higher yields.

See link http://www.nutriculture.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=25&Itemid=48

 

Well, I think its a great idea Yes, please do keep us informed of their progress.

 

After 7 days growing in a cool greenhouse



The size of the plant has roughly doubled but what has surprised me most is the rapid root development



The root of the lettuce is now approx 8'' long and still growing daily :eek:

I've been checking the ph and nutrient levels every two days and have only made small corrections for both. So far everything has been trouble free.

 

Progress after 16 days.



And root growth now 14'' plus :eek:



At this rate of growth they have already overtaken my soil grown lettuce that is some 4 weeks older and under cloches. Hopefully I'll be harvesting the first of these in another two weeks and I'm going to do a taste comparison with the soil grown lollo's.

 

Very interesting, Agaveman. Do you run the misters continuously or on a timer system?

 

Hi Prastio,

You can run the misters on a timing system but I keep them on all the time. The pump is a very basic aquarium type so the cost of keeping it on is minimal and saves buying a timer.

 

I've always wondered how big I could grow one of my show onions that way,especially as they're 99% water.

How much did it cost to buy ? I'm dead interested to know.

 

Hi Vegmandan,

I paid �£120 off of eBay new. A bit pricey but so far proving very effective.

 

Cheers for that.
Not that pricey I just paid �£30 for 50 onion seedlings !!! ouch