ZDMZ
03-17-2010, 06:20 PM
Anyone have any tips for hydroponic gardening?
I tried it a couple summers ago using 4" pvc pipe - ran a continuous flow of water from a bucket and pumped the water to one end of the pvc pipe and it drained back into the bucket at the other end. I did not use any media other than water (and fertilizer). Holes drilled in the top side of the pipe served as access to the water for the seeds.
It didn't work. I think my main problem was that I expected to be able to start the plants from seeds in the system. The seeds just got soggy. I think now that I should have started the seed in soil and transfered the plants to the hydroponic system after they got big enough to hold their own.
I am going to try again this year using an ebb and flow system and using perlite as a media to hold the plants in place.
The soil in my area is pretty poor and I have had little success growing a garden so I am also going to try square foot gardening but that is another topic.
I tried it a couple summers ago using 4" pvc pipe - ran a continuous flow of water from a bucket and pumped the water to one end of the pvc pipe and it drained back into the bucket at the other end. I did not use any media other than water (and fertilizer). Holes drilled in the top side of the pipe served as access to the water for the seeds.
It didn't work. I think my main problem was that I expected to be able to start the plants from seeds in the system. The seeds just got soggy. I think now that I should have started the seed in soil and transfered the plants to the hydroponic system after they got big enough to hold their own.
I am going to try again this year using an ebb and flow system and using perlite as a media to hold the plants in place.
The soil in my area is pretty poor and I have had little success growing a garden so I am also going to try square foot gardening but that is another topic.