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Looking for ULINE alternatives, BayTec seems to be in the price ballpark ($6 per for a 5 gal): https://www.bayteccontainers.com/5-gallon-white-plastic-bucket.html Their black buckets aren’t FDA-grade but their other colors are, and they’re 90-mil thick.
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Nov 9, 2020 02:14
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Gaukler posted:I’ll probably stick to food grade stuff. It’s frustrating as there’s either no info or contradictory info on plastics and especially PVC, and there’s really no way to just avoid the whole mess and go plastic free. Schedule 40 PVC pipes are rated for portable water, and don’t leach toxins into anything. That’s what makes them okay for drinking water. You won’t need to glue most things together, but if you do get a food safe pvc glue and you’re good to go with those too. I like my tote setup okay, but if I did it again I’d go with pipe because of size and modularity. Tote/buckets are cheaper though if you’re not wanting to just throw  money at things.
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Nov 9, 2020 02:31
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Gaukler posted:Looking for ULINE alternatives, BayTec seems to be in the price ballpark ($6 per for a 5 gal): https://www.bayteccontainers.com/5-gallon-white-plastic-bucket.html I forgot about thickness limiting options. It's the shipping that really can get you as buckets are fairly bulky. Duck and Cover fucked around with this message at 02:36 on Nov 9, 2020 |
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Nov 9, 2020 02:33
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Duck and Cover posted:I forgot about thickness limiting options. It's the shipping that really can get you as buckets are fairly bulky. Yeah never mind, shipping those would cost just as much as the items themselves.  Edit: looking at ULINE it’s about 50% of the price again for shipping, 25$ for 5 buckets, 14$ shipping. Gaukler fucked around with this message at 02:52 on Nov 9, 2020 |
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Nov 9, 2020 02:49
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I have a mix of buckets that held calcium hypochlorite tablets and the 30-lb buckets of kitty litter from Petco. And PVC pipe from Ace.
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Nov 9, 2020 04:13
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Also does anyone order seeds online, and if so where from? I suppose I could head down to the gardening store but COVID cases in this county are going nuts and no one will loving wear their masks.
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Nov 9, 2020 06:50
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Gaukler posted:Also does anyone order seeds online, and if so where from? I suppose I could head down to the gardening store but COVID cases in this county are going nuts and no one will loving wear their masks. Yes, there are many online stores and that's where to get all the cool stuff. You can still get the big-box equivalent seeds if you want, but there are so many cooler options out there with cool plants to grow. I've grown fond of greens from Kitazawa seed co if that's the sort of stuff you like. I also got my last pepper seed order from semillas.de and they had really great germination rates. Like everything else on the internet, there are lots of specialty stores too for organic or whatever you like.
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Nov 9, 2020 09:51
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Jhet posted:Yes, there are many online stores and that's where to get all the cool stuff. You can still get the big-box equivalent seeds if you want, but there are so many cooler options out there with cool plants to grow. I've grown fond of greens from Kitazawa seed co if that's the sort of stuff you like. I also got my last pepper seed order from semillas.de and they had really great germination rates. Like everything else on the internet, there are lots of specialty stores too for organic or whatever you like. Seconding Kitazawa seeds. Just about the only place I found to get some Asian greens which are usually only found in Asian markets in the US.
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Nov 9, 2020 13:49
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Gaukler posted:Also does anyone order seeds online, and if so where from? I suppose I could head down to the gardening store but COVID cases in this county are going nuts and no one will loving wear their masks. I've been very happy with Terrior Seeds. They're a small company that got hammered with orders a few months back but they've got some really neat stuff and excellent info resources.
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Nov 9, 2020 15:27
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baker creek heirloom seeds heritage seed market johnnys of course
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Nov 11, 2020 07:50
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Anybody else doing hydro this year? I have a couple of various size kratky containers outdoors with san marzano tomatoes and some Tabasco peppers started, and everything seems happy so far. Also have a couple of herbs, morning glories and moonflowers in some smaller containers to see what sticks. I have been having good results using Maxigrow and rockwool. My hydro plants are twice the size of the soil based starts, and not having to keep up with watering them as often as soil based plants is really awesome. I think I might do a rack or two of indoor grown plants with another technique since I have some unused air pumps, stones and water pumps left over from some decommissioned aquariums. I would use them for my tomato and pepper plants but unfortunately my new apartment does not have any outdoor power outlets on the south facing side where those plants are. I do have an outlet on the back patio, but it is north facing and also heavily shaded by several trees since our building backs up to a forested area, but I am not sure what would be worth growing there.
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May 5, 2021 06:45
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I just recently repotted my orchids and am gonna have to eventually figure out a way to recirculate water onto them without me having to do it all the time. I feel like there has to be some kind of way to have siphons periodically just suck water up and dump it as long as i keep the reservoir filled also is there a general way to model the nutrient flows through a system?
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May 5, 2021 10:00
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ickna posted:Anybody else doing hydro this year? I have a couple of various size kratky containers outdoors with san marzano tomatoes and some Tabasco peppers started, and everything seems happy so far. Also have a couple of herbs, morning glories and moonflowers in some smaller containers to see what sticks. Last year I grew some produce indoors using DWC. My lease says I need written approval from the owner for fishtanks of 10 gallons or more, but says nothing about multiple ~8 gallon storage totes of nutrient solution, so I fit 4 on a shelf with some air stones and LED grow lights. I was pleasantly surprised with both the success rate and the production to effort ratio.
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May 8, 2021 23:03
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SniperWoreConverse posted:I just recently repotted my orchids and am gonna have to eventually figure out a way to recirculate water onto them without me having to do it all the time. I feel like there has to be some kind of way to have siphons periodically just suck water up and dump it as long as i keep the reservoir filled http://www.homehydrosystems.com/hydroponic-systems/drip_systems.html It being on all the time might be to wet for Orchids but it's simple enough to just run it when you want to water the plants. Pump, tubing, fittings, reservoir. I think you can also use something like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsJVUysA130 for Orchids but I've never tried.
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May 8, 2021 23:27
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Doing a perennial herb planting on my porch. Current list is Basil, Oregano, Stevia, Chives and Strawberries. What else am I missing?
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May 9, 2021 04:41
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Atticus_1354 posted:Doing a perennial herb planting on my porch. Current list is Basil, Oregano, Stevia, Chives and Strawberries. What else am I missing? Mint and rosemary come to mind.
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May 9, 2021 05:52
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That's good. Adding those to the list. Will be handy for making cocktails on the porch.
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May 9, 2021 06:25
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Isn't rosemary a perennial shrub? You might be able to do something like lemon grass or even ginger or turmeric. Both of those are basically the same: you can buy a root from the grocery store and it'll sprout like with potatoes or sweet potatoes. Main difference is they'll sprout powerful vertical fronds and if they have too short a growing season the frond can be popped off and used kind of like a spice version of the green part of onions. I used to dry them and age my brewed booze on them. It's like a different more mellow version of using the root. Tastes fresher and more "green," even dried. Basically if you grow anything at all you might as well spend $2 growing a ginger root imo. If you do good the root will get bigger and lasts between growing seasons.
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May 11, 2021 01:35
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Rosemary dies in a freeze, but it’s an evergreen shrub in zones 7+ and will do fine indoors too. I’m not sure ginger and turmeric would love hydroponics. They might do fine, but it’ll be finicky trying to get your water levels right. The tubers themselves can rot in standing water, so an ebb and flow might do the best. Rosemary and mint are great in hydroponics and will propagate easily. I’m a big fan of Savory as an herb too, and that would probably do fine in a hydro herb garden.
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May 11, 2021 03:24
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Jhet posted:I’m a big fan of Savory as an herb too, and that would probably do fine in a hydro herb garden. Sounds neat. I'll try that too.
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May 11, 2021 03:30
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Jhet posted:Rosemary dies in a freeze, In theory We would get a cold snap and it would get below freezing in Dallas for 3-4 days and, well Rosemary is a loving weed, if freezing kills it, it must be some tropical variety So is mint, gently caress
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May 11, 2021 04:32
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Hadlock posted:In theory True. Dallas freezes are not what I'm talking about though. I consider that a light frost. They will die usually zone 6+ unless you take them indoors. Hydroponic rosemary would definitely die in a freeze. Mint may not only pretend to die, but lull you into a sense of security and then grow so fast you'll worry about it smothering you in your sleep. Mint is a villain (and grows great). Hydroponics is perfect because then it doesn't have a chance of spreading and taking over.
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May 11, 2021 04:44
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I like mustard greens. These https://www.rareseeds.com/store/vegetables/bulk-vegetables/lettuce-and-greens/japanese-giant-red-mustard-greens. Gives you that horseradish/mustard hotness in leaf form.
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May 11, 2021 05:13
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Hadlock posted:In theory I rooted 6 rosemary sprigs in some pots last fall, then left them outside all winter in MD. They spent multiple days encased in ice and snow. One died. The other 5 are fine. Rosemary is tough. Edit: oh wait, this is the hydroponics thread, not the place to discuss my neglected potted plants. Longbike fucked around with this message at 22:45 on May 15, 2021 |
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May 15, 2021 22:42
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Jhet posted:True. Dallas freezes are not what I'm talking about though. I consider that a light frost. This is a misconception people have about Texas. I'll let you Google "Dallas ice storm". We do the whole "exploding frozen tree" thing here, too
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May 22, 2021 07:58
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Jhet posted:True. Dallas freezes are not what I'm talking about though. I consider that a light frost. They will die usually zone 6+ unless you take them indoors. Hydroponic rosemary would definitely die in a freeze. Mint can take over an NFT system, or at least an entire tube/channel. You can watch the runner roots make their way to the inlet. My current mint plant sits in a fabric soil container to keep it contained.
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Jun 1, 2021 23:37
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Zachack posted:Mint can take over an NFT system, or at least an entire tube/channel. You can watch the runner roots make their way to the inlet. My current mint plant sits in a fabric soil container to keep it contained. Word. My grandparents have a spring and there’s spearmint growing there. It needs to be pulled out of the drain once or twice a year so it doesn’t plug it. So even 40 degree water in August doesn’t seem to bother it. Mint is perfect for a Kratky container. You would never run out of mint if you kept it indoors.
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Jun 2, 2021 01:08
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Here’s a recirculating system I made. Water is pumped into 1/4” pipe at the back of each bin and comes out the holes of t splitters, then flows to the front and out into the drainage tubes that go back down to the reservoir under the table. An air pump hangs and pushes oxygen into air stones in the reservoir. The baskets sit in the tray held in holes I cut into reflective mylar sheets, and everything is sort of designed to be interchangeable; like if I grew a big weed plant I could get more mylar and cut a bigger hole, get a larger tray…there’s also room in the tent to transfer something big into a bucket and pipe the drainage water through that and then back into the reservoir. 
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Jun 14, 2021 20:52
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I did something similar with pvc pipe a couple years ago. It worked pretty well, but I used deeper buckets to start. Definitely wish I’d gone shallow, because it just want necessary. My totes had bottoms that weren’t mostly flat, so I also wish they’d been flat so I could have drained out the bottom instead of the side. I’m thinking about putting together a small bucket system for a hot pepper plant this fall/winter. And I have pipe dreams of having cascading hydro systems starting on my garage roof and then down the side into the yard. But that’s probably not going to happen. Why do the plants look so wilted on the right?
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Jun 14, 2021 21:07
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Yeah that’s why I did it, because the water cultures were using so much water and I just felt that a single reservoir would be better, since the value of a culture is still there, and I also felt that many of my plants that I care about down here (not pictured) would benefit from a flow of water over their roots. Some were getting brown and rotty and I couldn’t position water stones under every single basket. With this setup they all experience water movement, and any that need a serious flow through their roots can be positioned right next to where the water comes out of the t splitters.Jhet posted:Why do the plants look so wilted on the right? There are two lettuce plants that lost almost all their leaves when their soil was removed and they were dunked in the water culture bins I had in here before this setup. Very stressed, and I guess part of a chaotic test to see what different growing experiences do to them (I bought 6 small ones together, one is doing much better in the other side of the tent, that was in a different water culture, and the rest are outside sitting in rock wool in a tub of water). The other one is just the end of a branch of a neighbors tree I cut to see if it would grow roots. I haven’t been careful with the plant life but now that this system is done I can start trying to really grow some stuff. E: Here’s one from the other side:  I have tons of small plants outside, but I don’t want to bring them in because they might be covered in loving aphids! i am harry fucked around with this message at 23:09 on Jun 14, 2021 |
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Jun 14, 2021 21:20
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Bringing aphids inside sucks a big one. Fortunately the lettuce I have been growing inside is able to outpace them by a large margin. I have been using several of the cheap rear end plastic shoe boxes from home depot (~$1.50) with two net cups each on a standard 3’ wide wire rack and MaxiGrow nutes with a kratky setup to keep a rolling harvest of romaine lettuce going over the last few months. They have been growing happily with the $15 3’ 4K white shop lights that I have been getting from home depot. Two lights per shelf directly over the net cups in the boxes works perfectly, and I end up harvesting the largest bottom-most leaves two or three times a week for a large salad until they start growing too tall for the shelf spacing I have set, at which point I cut the whole plant and drop in a newly germinated seedling to start the cycle over again. So far the sweet spot for one person eating a big salad 2-3 times a week seems to be starting 4 new plants at the beginning of the month when culling the 4 oldest, maintaining a total of 16 plants throughout the various stages of growth and harvesting.
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Jun 19, 2021 05:35
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Moved my guys out of the nutrient film trays and into water cultures because were moving and going on a trip and I won’t be around to check on anything for a bit. They’re holding each other  :
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Jul 18, 2021 23:14
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Does anyone know a good way to silence air stones? Most of the noise in my system seems to be from the stone rattling at the bottom. I have some suction cups but they keep coming loose. Anything inert I can put under them? Mine are small cylindrical ones. Would putting some tubing under them be fine?
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Jul 31, 2021 12:12
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You can make the air tube shorter than it would allow to rest on the bottom, if you’re using deep containers. Alternatively go to Walmart or something and grab the long air stones that are like 6-12” and they should be heavy enough to stay put at the bottom. My air pumps make all the rattling sound so I sat them on some rockwool
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Jul 31, 2021 15:06
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i am harry posted:You can make the air tube shorter than it would allow to rest on the bottom, if you’re using deep containers. Ah. Rockwool makes sense. Mine go in from the Side so shorter might not work. Not in the us, but I will see if I can order some longer ones. Any specific kind you mean?
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Jul 31, 2021 15:42
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i am harry posted:You can make the air tube shorter than it would allow to rest on the bottom, if you’re using deep containers. If you're running tubing through a hole in a container, you splice in two 2-way junctions with a small bit of tubing between them to make a connection that has limited room to slide around (it's limited by the amount of tubing you have between junctions) and can be disconnected from either side without having it disconnect the other side. I personally found it really handy to be able to set up stones the way I wanted them, then move and fill containers, and then attach the connection to my junction valve. [stone -- tubing A -- 2-way junction -- tubing B -- 2 way junction -- tubing C] Adjusting length on tubing B changes how much wiggle room you have. The junctions act as end stops to prevent tubing from being pulled through your hole. Tubing A sets how low your stone is and tubing C is however long it needs to be to get to your pump or splitter.
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Jul 31, 2021 19:58
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poeticoddity posted:If you're running tubing through a hole in a container, you splice in two 2-way junctions with a small bit of tubing between them to make a connection that has limited room to slide around (it's limited by the amount of tubing you have between junctions) and can be disconnected from either side without having it disconnect the other side. Good idea. I have a lot of 2ways and 3ways.
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Jul 31, 2021 21:25
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Sistergodiva posted:Ah. Rockwool makes sense. Mine go in from the Side so shorter might not work. Not in the us, but I will see if I can order some longer ones. Any specific kind you mean? You said you’re using round ones. This link opens showing round ones and then if you look through the pics there are some long ones. https://www.thepondguy.com/product/crystalclear-airstones/water-gardens-fish-ponds-aeration-parts-accessories Those long ones have enough weight in the sand they’re made out of to hold them down
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Jul 31, 2021 21:48
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Sistergodiva posted:Good idea. I have a lot of 2ways and 3ways. If you have a multitude of airstones and want less of the high pitched hissing noise, a 3-way and dual airstones instead of a single airstone approximately cuts the pressure in each airstone in half and reduces the noise. 
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Jul 31, 2021 21:57
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I think the most noise is them rattling against the bottom, the bubble sound is fine. I guess I should put something underneath the container
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Aug 1, 2021 01:39
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