backyard hydroponic growing system
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Hydroponic Vs Self-Watering Containers Trial - We Have a Winner!

This is the final episode of the trial between the two types of growing methods. As mentioned in the video, because I’m growing in the greenhouse, there is no watering from above. Because of that, I’ve not added any fertilizer to SWCs’ soil. Instead, it’s in the gutters. I’ve found this method of fertilizing in SWC’s more consistent anyway. YMMV. The tomatoes in both got off to a rough start because the greenhouse was under construction, but the information collected is still quite valuable to me. I hope you enjoyed the trial! I love chatting with folks and answering questions. If you enjoy my videos, please like, comment and subscribe! You can subscribe by clicking this link and then you’ll get a notification every time I upload a video: http://www.youtube.com/user/c3voyage?sub_confirmation=1

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A little about my setup. I have a hydroponic greenhouse. I grow in a system I call FAWN which is a modified hydroponic drip system. The media I grow in is aged rice hulls with parboiled rice hulls mixed. This has proven to be a great mix for me. I use Masterblend fertilizer as my nutrients to every plant grown. I’ve been pretty successful with my setup growing hydroponic tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, squash, cucumbers, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, turnip greens, corn, potatoes, kale, carrots, beets, spinach, onions, leeks, and even okra! Everything a gardener would desire. I also dabble in other areas like growing in raised beds, growing in a ground garden, grafting, pond activities, growing fruits, and other projects on the homestead.

Thank you so much for stopping in!

hydroponic tomato “back 40” week 2-3 update

| Hydroponic Gardening | 26 Comments
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26 Comments

  • Jennifer B. Casper

    Thank you for your movie.
    I also have the thorough step-by-step training video guidelines teaching how to make your very own home made Aquaponic system. Its so simple that even your granny can do it!
    Visit below web site for more information:
    www.fine4.info/step-by-step-how-to-build-your-own-aquaponics-system

  • MunchaKrunch

    you can use the ground temperature to help you…the outlet of your pump water can be pumped through a coil of piping 300' long and buried 4' underground….act as a heat exchanger…works for when water is getting too cold in winter time too.

  • carlo59502

    ok dwiggs..thanks again for the advice and thanks for entertaining my questions. goodluck also to your set up..hope u can answer again if i have some questions and problems that i will encounter…
    ..

  • dwiggs77

    @carlo59502 about 3/4 of the pipe was filled. you can remove heat with a air pump in your reservoir as long as the air temp is less than your nutrient. as far as "soaking" your plants best plants for that are lettuce and basil. you cant grow lettuce in the heat but our winters are a real good time for it as long as the temps stay around or below 80 F they shade the pipes real well. i also have the system in a aria that gets only mid/late afternoon sun( you can see it in some of my videos)

  • dwiggs77

    @carlo59502 the strawberries were transplants from soil so they had lots of leaves to start out and there was quite a bit of shock from the transfer . maybe use shade cloth with only the net pot holes cut out at first or styrofoam . hot and bell peppers are the best with heat i find in my region (zone 10) but i found they do best in a ebb and flow rather than deep water culture system. strawberries do fine in deep water culture as long as you have a good water circulation or air pump for oxygen

  • carlo59502

    also,,,i would like to ask how deep is your water from the PVC pipe?is it at the middle?1/4 , 3/4??this question is also connected to my previous question because the next step i did is to increase the level of water in the pvc pipe to atleast lessen the heat becaus the higher the volume of water the lesser it will absorb the heat from the sun..(just my opinion)….the problem is,,my plants are soaked in the water..wil it be a problem to my system or nothing to worry?comment pls…tnx.

  • carlo59502

    @dwiggs77 thank u so much for answering my questions..i think it will help me a lot in my system….i also think of what u have said that if i grow the plants,,,the pipe wil be covered by the leaves and that will help reduce the water temperature,,but the question in my mind is how can i do it if i am just starting??can i transfer big plants in the pipes(some kind of a shortcut.lol)or can u suggest what plants are tolerable to different temperature especially in a hot condition…?

  • dwiggs77

    @carlo59502 yea i have had that problem, sometimes this system in our mild winters the temp would get almost 100F without any harmful affects. these tomato plants died because of a system failure while i was away for a weekend. later i put strawberries in it (never made a video) and the plant shaded the pipes enough to keep the sun and temperatures low.. also, painted dark green doesn't help white would be the best color… it also helped that i had the reservoir in a large shady wood box

  • carlo59502

    hi..i have my aquaponics in our country(philippines)our climate here sometimes is hot that causes the water in the pvc pipe got hot also though it is a running water…can you help me please on how can i regulate the water temperature and have u encountered the problem i am dealing with?i think it is the reasons why my plants are slowly dying..help me please.tnx

  • Apples Flibbr

    How far off the bottom of the pipe are the net pots sitting ?
    How are the netpots getting wet… are they sitting in water ?
    How deep is thewater.. and what kind of fall have you got on the pipes ?

    Please advise.. closeup shots..

  • primstuff

    Your setup and music Rock. Heavy duty and the green paint to make it all blend into enviroment. Everything should be painted green. How the he11 did I end up in a pink house?

  • Jason Johnson

    I had a similar problem with the root systems that set me back 1 week . When I took the seedlings out of their loop and put them in the grow loop I was under the impression that lower water levels would encourge root growth. Instead the roots died back and the plants started to die due to no water. I adjusted the water level to just touching the net pot and a week and a half later my plants are twice as big, and the roots are twice as long as the plants are tall.

  • dwiggs77

    @monteros no i wasn't getting enough o2 i found this out about one week ago and installed an aerator and has helped with the problem already. thanks for the suggestion, any help is useful to me because this is my first large scale project

  • monteros

    Nice! are you getting enough O2 in the water? I have seen several references to correcting root rot. Look for a series from Advanced Nutrients, the guy talks a lot about hydroponics, specifically nutrients and the root browning comes up. Is your water moving enough? Hydrogen Peroxide is used some times. Really good stuff though, subscribed and looking forward to seeing how things progress for you too.

  • Dirk Hodorowski

    these videos are very intriguing, I love the musical background, maybe the next video we'll have some DEF Leppard, no?
    Just imagine, showing the progress of strawberry growth with "Pour Some Sugar On Me" playing in the background!!! LOL, Keep the videos coming.

  • FenderGibsonWashburn

    Impressive system and good videos so far. I will be watching your progress with great interest. I'm jealous of your weather, our temperature won't break over 30 today.

  • BirchtreeGuardianGardener

    Very nice to see the end results. I'll have to go back into your play list and watch from the beginning. I have 6 months of snowy winter here in Northern Ontario, Canada and would love to succeed with Hydroponics … on a small indoor scale that is… Take care, Laura

  • Bring Me Agag

    Top water the self watering containers with a little fert water.. just because they are set up to water from bottom wicking, they will benefit from a top application of water for a top down pass over all roots.

  • Brock Hughes

    Excellent review bro! Was there any of the two that was the easiest to maintain? That was quite and incredible difference in the numbers eh?  Green thumbs up!

  • EastTexasGardener

    regarding your hydro lines clogging up..I had the same problem with 2 out of my 6 plants in my first DWC trial. I watched a couple of videos (hint-mhpgardener) 🙂 and he and I both put a 5-8" piece of pvc pipe into the perlite from the side of the bucket to the middle to hit the roots….you should NOT have any problems them with anything clogging your lines and you know the water/nutrients is going straight to the roots

  • Austin Family Gardening Channel

    Thanks for sharing the info on the comparisons between the 2. Wow what a production difference ! I would have thought SWC would have been a little closer than that. I bet you're tired of counting tomatoes-lol. I did that last year- only way to get a better idea on how they compare thats for sure. Plants in both systems did look great.

  • Whitshobbyhomestead

    You sir are the winner with all those tomatoes. I just started adding nutrients to my RGGS and the tomatoes are loving it. I will certainly have a few hydroponic tomatoes next spring.
    Great video series,
    Whit

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