you can also build system that work on a similar way to these but instead of tubes they uses large bucket with spray lines connected. One advantage to using buckets is you can buy extra lids and have different sized holes drilled for different sized net pots for different stages of growth. you can easily fit 10 50mm net pots per lid and compensate by using larger resovoir for increased nutrient requirment and use another lid for single plant setup.
Dude, nice set up but I would get the battery banks OUT of the greenhouse. Over a period of time if you eat from your garden your bound to be getting some serious cancer causing acid fumes that inside a contained area those plants are going to really be soaking the vapors in. You don't even want to grow plants in a garden that has a border made with pressure treated wood because of that and inside the greenhouse with all those batteries is probably ten times the risk.
Why does it always look easier than it really is. Had it all clued together and forgot to put the drain in the bottom. Cut it apart two days later cause I didn't want to destroy the project. Now have it going. The moral is take your time the picture in your head is clearer than the actual project. Will be growing in a few days.
Followed your project from the start Dave. Building my own.Tube ur using is drain pipe 4 inch thin wall my local hardware store stocked it. Got 3 ten footers. Halved them. Three 4" screw in caps for access.Three 5' sections hooked together with 4" tee on center and two 4" 90 elbows.Fill and drain fitting on nr.one end overflow on nr 3 pipe.Using silent giant airator and 295 gph pump in 30 gal water barrel. Flood and drain. I appriciate your experimenting Dave. Hope mine will work.
im loving this project. it's as green as possible. solar panels area a big plus. wish u could show a vid how to wire the battery bank and how to either go 12 or 24v ways. if u have website links on your resource and research for this project. thanks
@MplayboyC could be better to connect the solar panels to the grid rather than batteries to make it more green (all solar energy used rather than only when charging). Batteries are always a last option in my opinion (only when access to grid is not possible) because of ALL the resources that go into producing them (and disposing/recycling them at the end of their relatively short livespan) plus the acid they produce like @stogieltd points out is a pollutant. otherwise nice project
Panels purchased at Harbour Freight. Each array consist of three 15 watt panels. Voltage on each panel 12vdc. List price $249.00 but usually on sale for $200.00
re upside down tomatoes. makes us think of turning the PVC pipes on end and growing vertically. like a strawbeery tower except of course more than strawberries. if u had an elevated reservoir u could pump so often but let it trickle by gravity all day down to a lower reservoir.
what is h2o2. it is common hydrogen peroxide. it is water with an extra molecule of oxygen added on. so the oxygen breaks off and leaves water. now, that oxygen not only can breathe into the roots like it can breathe into us but also it has the same oxidizing power. so it can be burning YOU if u get the strong kind. also it oxidizes bacteria so it is not used in organic systems unless u are wanting a cure. as a root rot cure it is the best.
about injecting air. ur idea sounds fine. anything that puts that action/aeriation in there is ok and great. usually they put air to the reservoir. like an air tube off a little cheap fish tank air pump. the end in the res has an air stone on it to diffuse/make smaller bubbles.
oxygen CAN go in with h2o2...now i can't say i've heard of it used solely in a still water res but u would be getting action off that regular exit and entry of nutrient water; so idk. just saying it's out there.
timed waterings. the 2hr/40min is prolly a stretch. now i hate to SAY cause actually i haven't researched outside florida grows; but; inside worldwide, all numbers i have heard r more frequent/less lengthy. BUT also u got the guys who soak 24/7 except there u are bubbling in a bucket_like constant flow. given the size of ur pump i think u could pull it off although it would be breaking ground technique wise.
so, specifically, inside figures i have heard are: 5 min every 20 up to 25 every 1.5hr.
maybe i misunderstood ur schedule. i am now thinking from ur wording u actually meant 40 minutes OUT OF every two hours. so then that schedule is not so iffy but still a little long between waterings for being outside i think. but a test would tell u real quick if ur surface dries in that time period of course. dry roots die.
I did some timing measurements on my system. It takes 3 mins and 45 secs to pump the tubes full. Turn pump off, takes 6 mins 45 secs to drain tubes. I'll start with 20 mins out of every 1.5hr and adjust per your recommendations. Thanks....
re cooling the tent. i remember u said u will be peeling back the plasic to let in more light and air. also i thought i'd mention that if u do cool the tent sometime, best is the intake fan at the bottom of a wall; then the exit hole at the top by the ceiling.
about ur email. sorry but i suck sometimes. 1st my pute ate it then i even deleted it from my inbox ON ACCIDENT.
so ok. about burying ur reservoir, we decided it will prolly not be adequate due to the water circulates to the top and will warm from contact with the PVC. so prolly over time it will even warm the dirt down in ur hole.
so u prolly need a fan. it works really well. u do not even have to have the fan by the res, you can pipe in the flow of air.
If you noticed the fans in the back wall, I am considering a small radiator mounted outside in the fan frame.. Something like a transmission cooler or possibly a car heater core.
you can also build system that work on a similar way to these but instead of tubes they uses large bucket with spray lines connected. One advantage to using buckets is you can buy extra lids and have different sized holes drilled for different sized net pots for different stages of growth. you can easily fit 10 50mm net pots per lid and compensate by using larger resovoir for increased nutrient requirment and use another lid for single plant setup.
1982FMJ 1 year ago
its hydro ponics not fonics no disrespect just letting you know
Shaneweckhurst1995 1 year ago
Dude, nice set up but I would get the battery banks OUT of the greenhouse. Over a period of time if you eat from your garden your bound to be getting some serious cancer causing acid fumes that inside a contained area those plants are going to really be soaking the vapors in. You don't even want to grow plants in a garden that has a border made with pressure treated wood because of that and inside the greenhouse with all those batteries is probably ten times the risk.
stogieltd 1 year ago
Why does it always look easier than it really is. Had it all clued together and forgot to put the drain in the bottom. Cut it apart two days later cause I didn't want to destroy the project. Now have it going. The moral is take your time the picture in your head is clearer than the actual project. Will be growing in a few days.
wabbywab 2 years ago
Followed your project from the start Dave. Building my own.Tube ur using is drain pipe 4 inch thin wall my local hardware store stocked it. Got 3 ten footers. Halved them. Three 4" screw in caps for access.Three 5' sections hooked together with 4" tee on center and two 4" 90 elbows.Fill and drain fitting on nr.one end overflow on nr 3 pipe.Using silent giant airator and 295 gph pump in 30 gal water barrel. Flood and drain. I appriciate your experimenting Dave. Hope mine will work.
wabbywab 2 years ago
im loving this project. it's as green as possible. solar panels area a big plus. wish u could show a vid how to wire the battery bank and how to either go 12 or 24v ways. if u have website links on your resource and research for this project. thanks
MplayboyC 2 years ago
@MplayboyC could be better to connect the solar panels to the grid rather than batteries to make it more green (all solar energy used rather than only when charging). Batteries are always a last option in my opinion (only when access to grid is not possible) because of ALL the resources that go into producing them (and disposing/recycling them at the end of their relatively short livespan) plus the acid they produce like @stogieltd points out is a pollutant. otherwise nice project
GreenTaiwanful 1 year ago
ditto where did you get the solar panels and how much were they
MarcusTheReverent 2 years ago
Panels purchased at Harbour Freight. Each array consist of three 15 watt panels. Voltage on each panel 12vdc. List price $249.00 but usually on sale for $200.00
davetidwell 2 years ago
wow your solar system kicks ass were did you get them? how much does each solar unit cost with the 4 batteries and everything??
HHOSUPERHERO 2 years ago
re upside down tomatoes. makes us think of turning the PVC pipes on end and growing vertically. like a strawbeery tower except of course more than strawberries. if u had an elevated reservoir u could pump so often but let it trickle by gravity all day down to a lower reservoir.
CakesPix 2 years ago
now go last post first. sorry if i left something out, you'll read why.
CakesPix 2 years ago
what is h2o2. it is common hydrogen peroxide. it is water with an extra molecule of oxygen added on. so the oxygen breaks off and leaves water. now, that oxygen not only can breathe into the roots like it can breathe into us but also it has the same oxidizing power. so it can be burning YOU if u get the strong kind. also it oxidizes bacteria so it is not used in organic systems unless u are wanting a cure. as a root rot cure it is the best.
for cure, pure 3% solution.
as fert, 3tsp per gal
CakesPix 2 years ago
about injecting air. ur idea sounds fine. anything that puts that action/aeriation in there is ok and great. usually they put air to the reservoir. like an air tube off a little cheap fish tank air pump. the end in the res has an air stone on it to diffuse/make smaller bubbles.
oxygen CAN go in with h2o2...now i can't say i've heard of it used solely in a still water res but u would be getting action off that regular exit and entry of nutrient water; so idk. just saying it's out there.
CakesPix 2 years ago
timed waterings. the 2hr/40min is prolly a stretch. now i hate to SAY cause actually i haven't researched outside florida grows; but; inside worldwide, all numbers i have heard r more frequent/less lengthy. BUT also u got the guys who soak 24/7 except there u are bubbling in a bucket_like constant flow. given the size of ur pump i think u could pull it off although it would be breaking ground technique wise.
so, specifically, inside figures i have heard are: 5 min every 20 up to 25 every 1.5hr.
CakesPix 2 years ago
maybe i misunderstood ur schedule. i am now thinking from ur wording u actually meant 40 minutes OUT OF every two hours. so then that schedule is not so iffy but still a little long between waterings for being outside i think. but a test would tell u real quick if ur surface dries in that time period of course. dry roots die.
CakesPix 2 years ago
uh, i did not mean to let them die as a test. i meant it is easy to see if a surface is dry and that if roots stay dry they will die.
CakesPix 2 years ago
I did some timing measurements on my system. It takes 3 mins and 45 secs to pump the tubes full. Turn pump off, takes 6 mins 45 secs to drain tubes. I'll start with 20 mins out of every 1.5hr and adjust per your recommendations. Thanks....
davetidwell 2 years ago
re cooling the tent. i remember u said u will be peeling back the plasic to let in more light and air. also i thought i'd mention that if u do cool the tent sometime, best is the intake fan at the bottom of a wall; then the exit hole at the top by the ceiling.
CakesPix 2 years ago
about ur email. sorry but i suck sometimes. 1st my pute ate it then i even deleted it from my inbox ON ACCIDENT.
so ok. about burying ur reservoir, we decided it will prolly not be adequate due to the water circulates to the top and will warm from contact with the PVC. so prolly over time it will even warm the dirt down in ur hole.
so u prolly need a fan. it works really well. u do not even have to have the fan by the res, you can pipe in the flow of air.
CakesPix 2 years ago
If you noticed the fans in the back wall, I am considering a small radiator mounted outside in the fan frame.. Something like a transmission cooler or possibly a car heater core.
davetidwell 2 years ago