hydroponic gardening to save money

[animus_divinus]

hey everyone.. im going to be starting hydroponics soon, and was going to go with about a 32-36 square foot area using a 600w HPS bulb

i did some research and the HPS bulbs produce more lumens per watt, almost double that of CFL bulbs.. so im going with an HPS setup

i was thinking of going with an 8x4 foot table with a 600w ballast and two 300 watt bulbs, but a single 600 watt bulb on a close to 6x6 foot table seems to be the more efficient route.. just makes reaching things on the back of the table incredibly difficult since itll be against a wall

so i was wondering if anyone has built such a large hydroponic setup? my intention is to grow the vegetables and spices i use the most, so that i would not need to buy them from grocery stores anymore, as well as grow some things that are almost impossible to grow in my northern region (like habaneros)

so.. i was just looking at some advice as to how i should layout the 600 watts, in one, or two different bulbs, and was also curious as to the best system for circulating nutrients

i was thinking of having PVC pipes hanging above the plants on the table with some pressure valve on them with a small fountain pump to fill the PVC pipes with enough water pressure to spray a mist of the nutrients over the plants. with a trough to drain the excess back into the bucket

ive also thought about floating the plants on styrofoam in a trough of the solution, but im not sure how thatll work with root and bulb type plants

so just looking for some advice as to how i should go about this... im buying the 600w ballast as a parts kit to assemble myself.. saves me about $50-$100 right there for a small amount of labor of assembling it.. ill be mixing the plant food myself if i can buy the neccessary chemicals in bulk...

so... i was wondering what you guys think of this idea?

 

[Randy]

My only experience with hydroponics was 30 years ago and it was limited to working on the heating/cooling system to maintain the right temperatures for growing. That was a commercial operation and they used insulated containers they called growth chambers.

 

[Crabbergirl]

Hi animus,
Welcome to the forum. We have a couple threads on hydro , you may find someone with a background in hydro there that may be able to help. My only experience with hydro was in the 70's when it was just getting started so any new stuff I am not up on. It is a subject of interest for me but I just don't find I have enough hours in the day Sorry I can't help you.

 

[animus_divinus]

well then, perhaps you guys could still point me to some varieties of common vegetables that will do well in a confined space.. those vegetables that will continue to product all year... peas, beans, cucumbers, peppers, tomatos, and leaf lettuce i believe will keep growing after theyre harvested but i can be wrong about that.. carrots, onions, and garlics would just have to be grown outright... but what would be the best varieties of all these to grow on an 8x4 area leaving a place for herbs and spices too?

 

[Crabbergirl]

We did have a member who was growing his veggies in hydro system.( link Below) Lettuce look to be doing very well. I know that Epcot Center in Orlando has an extensive display of veggies in hydro, including tomatoes. For the compact area issue stay away from squashes, cucumbers,melons and other vining fruits. I would think that eggplant, tomatoes, lettuces, maybe bush beans, oh and I bet onions,&radish would do great. How high can you grow up. I have seen pole beans on strings that hang from the ceiling. You could possibly grow your vining veggies that way or by building a trellis that is above your growing box. If you have any pictures feel free to post them for us to see.


http://www.gardenforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2717&highlight=hydro

 

[Crabbergirl]

Oh you might want to google Epcot Center and see if you can find anything on their hydro. If I have the time I will and then I'll post any relevant link for you

 

[Crabbergirl]

Here are 2 good links for large hydro projects. You can see from the pictures you are only limited by your area size.
http://inhabitat.com/mickey-mouse-sustainable-farming/


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ipy1tF5DU-Y

 

[animus_divinus]

for peas, beans, cucumbers, and anything that may grow on a vine, im going to hang a rope from the top and the vine plants will climb the ropes... but mostly im looking for veggies that i do not have to keep replanting, thatll keep bearing all year.. for example, tomatos, cucumbers, and peppers will keep producing fruits until the plant is killed by frost, in hydroponics that doesnt happen so theyll keep producing, and as nutrients is well maintained, there wont be any degredation in flavor due to using up the nutrients available

 

[animus_divinus]

well.. ran into an issue designing the hydroponic system.. im going with 32 square feet... problems im having.. i was origionally planning an 96x48x4 foot area filled with perlite, or sand holding all the plants... have sprinklers deliver the solution, with drains under the plants to drain the excess back into the bucket...

nice plan, sure, but the weight of that on a wooden table.. its a lot of weight if i go with sand.. and some mediums might be quite expensive, so im looking for new ways to make the most out of the space available..

im considering 6 inch PVC drain pipes with a hole cut every foot, have four of them 8 feet long with a styrofoam plug int hem to hold the roots, with an ebb and flow system running underneath them.. or a constant supply of nutrients

however.. with that system it makes plants like herbs/spices and loose leaf lettuces very hard to grow.. but would be perfect for large plants

 

[Crabbergirl]

Did you check out the first link I posted to one of our members pictures? He seems to have a good system that I believe he designed himself. Might be worth talking to him since he has the hands on experience.

 

[animus_divinus]

well.. im having an issue with weight... sand or gravel would way over 1000lbs for the size i need to cover... so im looking for a system thatll be inexpensive, but light weight... pure perlite would work but for the size of the table, the ebb and flow system would work best, which in itself doesnt work well with perlite

i thought about getting some cheese clothes or grain bags to fill with perlite and lay inside the table and hold it in place so it wont float away...if i can do that, an all perlite ebb and flow system would work best

 

[Crabbergirl]

You might want to consider fiberglass screen rather than the cheese cloth. From my aquarium days I found that the screen offers more flow through than a closer weaved material. Also in septic fields they use a heavy netting like fiberglass screen . Seems that might be cheaper and easier to work with.

 

[Mainegal]

I want to get into this. Went and looked at some at a store a few weeks ago. Would love to have fresh veggies all yr round.

 

[animus_divinus]

well, ive decided that when i build this table im going to make it a little more robust to handle the weight of pea gravel

8x4 foot table 4 inches deep of white pea gravel.... every 4 square feet will be a PVC drain that leads into a 1/2" PVC pipe.. two rows of four pipes will be combined underneath and Y together into the resovoir

with this i can go with the ebb and flow system.. gravel wont float away and this ebb and flow system should work beautifully...

i have one question, will 1/4" pea gravel be large enough for water to comfortable pass through when flooding and draining.. and is it too large for herbs and spices?