Seems like I stirred up some interest in "hydro" LOL I can't blame you - after you see some of the results and the small amount of space needed it can get "very" addictive!!!
First I'll try to post some pictures of our Conley Ranger 2000 greenhouse and some of the equipment indoors...
The greenhouse front wall this AM - 15 Degrees F. Outside
Inside view of greenhouse Notice intake louvers in rear Pole beans on left going to ceiling.
Some of the conventional soil plants...
My girlfriend loves frogs so we had to have a pond - a place to relax and meditate...
These beans are about five weeks old and "supercharged" - Loaded with blooms and beans are about ready to start eating...
This shows an Aerojet 8 Tray in front an Aerojet 4 Tray behind it and a TurboGarden Ebb & Flow unit to the left - all are made by American Agritech
Shows the Aerojet 8 in foreground and Aerojet 4 behind it - I will soon be adding another 4 trays to the Aero 4
This is a closer view of the Aero 8 showing nutrient input feeders - they enter the trays and feed a manifold of sprayers that spray the nutrient onto the roots causing a very high oxygen level and tremendous root growth in a short period of time...
Another view of the Aero 8 showing the happy lettuce nestled in the net cups - Net cups are just that - plastic filled with perforations to allow the spray to penetrate and the roots to get out of the pot. There is nothing in the pots. The hole in the lid holds a rubberized peat plug which the seed is started in. The penetration of the pot by roots anchors the plant...
A not so great view of the cycle timer and thermostat for the titanium aquarium heater which I use to warm the nutrient to 68 to 72F. On aeroponic units the cycle timer turns on the pump and sprays the roots once each five minutes for a duration of 1 minute - 24 X 7
This is a TurboGarden Ebb & Flow unit with basil growing in it. In this unit the top tray is flooded with nutrient from the reservoir below for about ten minutes once an hour during daylight hours. At night it is only flooded once each 2 hours. This is a very simple starter unit that will fit in small places. Even a clost!
So that's about it for the tour. My god I hope the links work! Like I say - the reason I haven't been around much lately is because of the care these units require. Not much work - just close observation each day. I take the pH and nutrient concentration readings usually twice a day and adjust the pH and concentration as needed. On the Aerojet 8 these lettuces feed like crazy during the morning. You can put a PPM (parts per million) or EC (electrical conductivity) meter on the tank and almost see it move down in concentration. In the last two days the beans transpired about 8 gallons of water. So your chores are checking all these things in addition to watching for aphis or other pests and taking appropriate measures. We "never" spray anything in the greenhouse. We do it all with beneficials (beneficial insects) that eat the critters.
Lets see let me try to answer some questions and I be outa here for today...
MarkV
I believe I bought my Aerojet 4 for about $450 and the Aerojet 8 for about $850. The Ebb & Flows are about $180 each. Nutrients are about $75 for the type I use which come in three separate gallon jugs (enough for 350 gallons or so) the Micro Nutrients,; the Grow Formula and the Bloom formula. Some use a two part concentrate. My favorite vender and friend is Mark at The Urban Garden Store in Portland, Maine. Mark has been an incredible asset to me. He responds to emails and has taught me tons in the past few months. He also is willing to cut you a deal if you become a "regular". I also buy from CropKing quite often. CropKing is more orientated to the commercial grower. It is at CropKing where we attended classes in commercial lettuce growing. Dan is the owner and Paul is his son. Both are very interested in helping people get started. You speak of less heat in the South, but you also have to think of cooling. Tomatoes like heat, but more importantly is humidity levels. At lower temperatures the air holds less moisture and that's what you want... If the plants transpire (sweat) lots they take in lots of water - if they do that they also take in lots of the nutrients and GROW! That's what it's all about - growing fast so the plants stay tender and tasty! And no unfortunately I didn't put a big enough door on the greenhouse for the tractor. LOL That was a mistake - considering the amount of things that are heavy that are hand carried that would fit in the FEL! Actually we have a nice hand cart.
ejb
My total cost with all equipment, greenhouse, concrete floor and labor to install the greenhouse and plumbing and heating was about maybe $18,000 to $20,000. I got the greenhouse kit from
International Greenhouse
which was a pretty good deal as I saw it. If I wasn't in a wheelchair I could have saved lots by installing the plumbing, electric and building the house. Actually it is not that hard to construct. If you were to build it yourself a wife type helper would suffice and an FEL and auger would simplify matters. Fuel we use is natural gas and costs about $125 to $150 a month for a 200,000 BTU overhead heater. If I had been smart I would have put the coils in the floor and heated by radiant heat that is in my other building which is only 15 to 18 feet away. At the time we out up the greenhouse I just didn't want to spend the extra $1800 for insulation for the slab and the tubing. Stupid - stupid - stupid! Now I can pay for electric to run heat mats to grow seedlings on when if I had put in the radiant the floor would be warm. Oh well - live and learn! Yes - heck yes - Heat it with wood but you can't burn it inside due to the tars and smoke which is toxic to plants, but heck put in radiant and heat it with one of them external wood furnaces that heat water. We help the situation with lots of barrels around the perimeter that are painted black on the sun side and white facing inside. They collect heat during the day and reflect all night. Smart heat is a must!
That should answer your question DocHeb about the radiant heat. Me is a dip sometimes!
dmmccarty
Yes - Farmers Markets are the way to go! When you have this nice a product to sell why bolster the Supermarkets sales and only get paid wholesale prices. I refuse! Do you realize that it is "Produce" that draws customers to supermarkets? The counter where the tomatoes are located is the "most valuable" location in the whole store! People are getting more and more aware of the quality of their food supply. Lets look at lettuce. Do you really want to eat something that has been sprayed with pesticides and fertilized with human sewage. Such is that crap that comes from S of the border. No restrictions downd there and so they stop a truck occasionally coming over the border. Heck they just drive it back down and come across the next day. People are learning that and want not only pesticide free food, but a nutritious, fresh, good tasting product that hasn't been trucked for ten days. Enter the possibilities of local growers using hydroponics to conserve land and water. It's the future!
Wasabi
As I mentioned above, you use evaporative cooling in greenhouses. Look at the pix with the intake vents above. Nest summer we will have 6" thick pads over the vents that are constantly wetted with recirculating water. Not much water is used and it drops the temperature about 5 degrees. Most importantly it drops the amount of moisture in the air and allows growth at high outdoor temperatures.
Hope this has helped those of you who are interested in hydroponics. It is the wave of the future and when you are involved you are right on the cutting edge of technology. We all help each other out. What I learn today may be a breakthrough - it is that new. Yes there are guidelines, but sooooo much still needs to be learned by people like you and me. It's been said that "Hydroponics has caused Reinvention of the Family Farm". Yes we can produce a superior product and make a profit on 1/4 acre!
Enough.... God I hope this thing posts ok!
DrDan
First I'll try to post some pictures of our Conley Ranger 2000 greenhouse and some of the equipment indoors...
The greenhouse front wall this AM - 15 Degrees F. Outside
Inside view of greenhouse Notice intake louvers in rear Pole beans on left going to ceiling.
Some of the conventional soil plants...
My girlfriend loves frogs so we had to have a pond - a place to relax and meditate...
These beans are about five weeks old and "supercharged" - Loaded with blooms and beans are about ready to start eating...
This shows an Aerojet 8 Tray in front an Aerojet 4 Tray behind it and a TurboGarden Ebb & Flow unit to the left - all are made by American Agritech
Shows the Aerojet 8 in foreground and Aerojet 4 behind it - I will soon be adding another 4 trays to the Aero 4
This is a closer view of the Aero 8 showing nutrient input feeders - they enter the trays and feed a manifold of sprayers that spray the nutrient onto the roots causing a very high oxygen level and tremendous root growth in a short period of time...
Another view of the Aero 8 showing the happy lettuce nestled in the net cups - Net cups are just that - plastic filled with perforations to allow the spray to penetrate and the roots to get out of the pot. There is nothing in the pots. The hole in the lid holds a rubberized peat plug which the seed is started in. The penetration of the pot by roots anchors the plant...
A not so great view of the cycle timer and thermostat for the titanium aquarium heater which I use to warm the nutrient to 68 to 72F. On aeroponic units the cycle timer turns on the pump and sprays the roots once each five minutes for a duration of 1 minute - 24 X 7
This is a TurboGarden Ebb & Flow unit with basil growing in it. In this unit the top tray is flooded with nutrient from the reservoir below for about ten minutes once an hour during daylight hours. At night it is only flooded once each 2 hours. This is a very simple starter unit that will fit in small places. Even a clost!
So that's about it for the tour. My god I hope the links work! Like I say - the reason I haven't been around much lately is because of the care these units require. Not much work - just close observation each day. I take the pH and nutrient concentration readings usually twice a day and adjust the pH and concentration as needed. On the Aerojet 8 these lettuces feed like crazy during the morning. You can put a PPM (parts per million) or EC (electrical conductivity) meter on the tank and almost see it move down in concentration. In the last two days the beans transpired about 8 gallons of water. So your chores are checking all these things in addition to watching for aphis or other pests and taking appropriate measures. We "never" spray anything in the greenhouse. We do it all with beneficials (beneficial insects) that eat the critters.
Lets see let me try to answer some questions and I be outa here for today...
MarkV
I believe I bought my Aerojet 4 for about $450 and the Aerojet 8 for about $850. The Ebb & Flows are about $180 each. Nutrients are about $75 for the type I use which come in three separate gallon jugs (enough for 350 gallons or so) the Micro Nutrients,; the Grow Formula and the Bloom formula. Some use a two part concentrate. My favorite vender and friend is Mark at The Urban Garden Store in Portland, Maine. Mark has been an incredible asset to me. He responds to emails and has taught me tons in the past few months. He also is willing to cut you a deal if you become a "regular". I also buy from CropKing quite often. CropKing is more orientated to the commercial grower. It is at CropKing where we attended classes in commercial lettuce growing. Dan is the owner and Paul is his son. Both are very interested in helping people get started. You speak of less heat in the South, but you also have to think of cooling. Tomatoes like heat, but more importantly is humidity levels. At lower temperatures the air holds less moisture and that's what you want... If the plants transpire (sweat) lots they take in lots of water - if they do that they also take in lots of the nutrients and GROW! That's what it's all about - growing fast so the plants stay tender and tasty! And no unfortunately I didn't put a big enough door on the greenhouse for the tractor. LOL That was a mistake - considering the amount of things that are heavy that are hand carried that would fit in the FEL! Actually we have a nice hand cart.
ejb
My total cost with all equipment, greenhouse, concrete floor and labor to install the greenhouse and plumbing and heating was about maybe $18,000 to $20,000. I got the greenhouse kit from
International Greenhouse
which was a pretty good deal as I saw it. If I wasn't in a wheelchair I could have saved lots by installing the plumbing, electric and building the house. Actually it is not that hard to construct. If you were to build it yourself a wife type helper would suffice and an FEL and auger would simplify matters. Fuel we use is natural gas and costs about $125 to $150 a month for a 200,000 BTU overhead heater. If I had been smart I would have put the coils in the floor and heated by radiant heat that is in my other building which is only 15 to 18 feet away. At the time we out up the greenhouse I just didn't want to spend the extra $1800 for insulation for the slab and the tubing. Stupid - stupid - stupid! Now I can pay for electric to run heat mats to grow seedlings on when if I had put in the radiant the floor would be warm. Oh well - live and learn! Yes - heck yes - Heat it with wood but you can't burn it inside due to the tars and smoke which is toxic to plants, but heck put in radiant and heat it with one of them external wood furnaces that heat water. We help the situation with lots of barrels around the perimeter that are painted black on the sun side and white facing inside. They collect heat during the day and reflect all night. Smart heat is a must!
That should answer your question DocHeb about the radiant heat. Me is a dip sometimes!
dmmccarty
Yes - Farmers Markets are the way to go! When you have this nice a product to sell why bolster the Supermarkets sales and only get paid wholesale prices. I refuse! Do you realize that it is "Produce" that draws customers to supermarkets? The counter where the tomatoes are located is the "most valuable" location in the whole store! People are getting more and more aware of the quality of their food supply. Lets look at lettuce. Do you really want to eat something that has been sprayed with pesticides and fertilized with human sewage. Such is that crap that comes from S of the border. No restrictions downd there and so they stop a truck occasionally coming over the border. Heck they just drive it back down and come across the next day. People are learning that and want not only pesticide free food, but a nutritious, fresh, good tasting product that hasn't been trucked for ten days. Enter the possibilities of local growers using hydroponics to conserve land and water. It's the future!
Wasabi
As I mentioned above, you use evaporative cooling in greenhouses. Look at the pix with the intake vents above. Nest summer we will have 6" thick pads over the vents that are constantly wetted with recirculating water. Not much water is used and it drops the temperature about 5 degrees. Most importantly it drops the amount of moisture in the air and allows growth at high outdoor temperatures.
Hope this has helped those of you who are interested in hydroponics. It is the wave of the future and when you are involved you are right on the cutting edge of technology. We all help each other out. What I learn today may be a breakthrough - it is that new. Yes there are guidelines, but sooooo much still needs to be learned by people like you and me. It's been said that "Hydroponics has caused Reinvention of the Family Farm". Yes we can produce a superior product and make a profit on 1/4 acre!
Enough.... God I hope this thing posts ok!
DrDan