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Hinckley MN

is anyone planning to grow AGs hydroponically this year?

how large of a system will you use?

what kind of system? NFT, Kratky, DWC, ebb and flood, or a hybrid?

I've always been curious about hydroponics and I'm wondering what others think. I plan to try giant sub irrigated planters made from IBC totes and 5 gallon buckets as the wicking basket.

2/8/2015 10:46:07 AM

Wixom MI.

Check out robograeff diary last entry 10-29-2014 he grew a 641 lbs.pumpkin last year and he documented it in his diary from start to finnish. Very helpfull.

2/8/2015 1:25:24 PM

Gays Mills, Wisconsin

you tube AGHP
Going to grow again, fairly easy once set up.
If time I might enclose in greenhouse type structure.
Good Luck.

2/8/2015 1:39:51 PM

Hinckley MN

Cornhusk: how much additional rooting did you get from the vines? was the whole area filled with roots?

robograef grew a huge fruit from a very small rootzone.

wasn't there a grower in england that grew hydroponically?

2/8/2015 2:06:57 PM

Wixom MI.

Build you own resivor 3'wide 10'long 2-3'Deep and use a pond liner to water proof it and let the main vine grow on a cover along the top where you can get those roots at each leaf node to grow into that resivor?

2/8/2015 5:03:19 PM

Gays Mills, Wisconsin

I used a recycling top-down method in a pearock medium. Watch the you tube. The winter trial illustrates the rooting capabilities. In the "patch" roots were found everywhere.

2/8/2015 6:57:45 PM

Maryland

Hello all, My kind of thread! As you probably saw I used a mix of low pressure aeroponics followed by DWC. This year I am going 100% aero and am upgrading my entire reservoir system. Im adding reverse osmosis filtering, stainless steel reseviours, high pressure pumps, better nutrient monitoring, and most of all... better genetics. Hopeful of a fun year!

2/9/2015 12:12:40 AM

Maryland

Cornhusk, how much water did you use daily and what was your cost of nutrients for the season? I feel with the pearock that you would have a lot of evaporation especially on hot days.

2/9/2015 3:05:43 PM

norway , maine

Can't wait to see how you do robograeff....i think your gonna pop a huge one

2/9/2015 6:45:47 PM

Gays Mills, Wisconsin

robograeff, the plant maxed out at a little over 400 square feet, the vines were buried and rooted normally along the vines. Even on overcast humid days the plant took in over 40 gallons! The most in one day was about 60 gallons! I have 3 x 300 gallon tanks buried so I always had a barrel of "fresh tepid" water available to add. As far as nutrient costs, I did my best not to spend a lot of money :) with that said....out of pocket ~ $60

2/9/2015 9:56:56 PM

Gays Mills, Wisconsin

Good luck with your set-up robograeff. If you want to share ideas look me up. John

2/9/2015 10:09:06 PM

Maryland

That $60 dollar figure is blowing my mind right now. how on earth did you manage to make over 1500+ gallons of nutrient solution for the whole growing season with $60? haha

2/9/2015 10:20:41 PM

norway , maine

good luck to both of you , i think your on to something big

2/9/2015 10:21:13 PM

South Carolina

Cornhusk,what brand nutrients are you using for $60 and what do you do when it rains? I've also got some winter projects going and plan to grow one next year also.

2/10/2015 12:20:39 PM

Hinckley MN

this is what I am looking at for fertilizer:

http://www.jrpeters.com/Products/Hydroponics/Buy-Hydroponics.html

2/10/2015 1:48:04 PM

Gays Mills, Wisconsin

Farm auctions, samples, home brews, teas, clearances for ferts. I started out w/ some brand name samples and used up old stuff. Got some WalMart stuff and a couple of pails of clearance 20-20-20 from the local mill. Rain could of been a problem, but I just allowed the rain to be my "cleanser" and the water was diverted from tanks -or- if a tank was empty I could collect it. I know I could do better with a good supply of quality nutrients.

2/10/2015 4:25:10 PM

Maryland

Farmer Ben, I checked out those fertilizers you were looking at and they don't look too bad. I think they make it a little more complicated than it needs to be but thats my opinion. If your looking for something like that you might want to check out AmHydro. They're a relatively new company with not a lot of feedback yet but the nutrient data sheets and information on what your getting is all there. Personally I would like to see someone else try it before I switch from my overpriced nutrients lol. The season would be 5 times cheaper using either of those fertilizers but I don't see enough results to convince me to test them on my pumpkin this year.

2/11/2015 12:34:21 PM

Hinckley MN

the 5-12-26 and calcium nitrate are the standard for hydroponic tomato production. I have to go back and look at what Beni meier used for irrigation water for the 2328 and his 3 world records this year. he basically grows in 2 ft of inert soiless mix over hardpan clay. that is one reason I'm going to go hydro this year.

2/11/2015 5:10:11 PM

Maryland

If you find out what Beni was using be sure to let me know! Thatd be much appreciated

2/11/2015 8:38:52 PM

Colorado

benis blends were very low in phospourus

2/11/2015 10:31:42 PM

Hinckley MN

I went back and looked at the article about Beni's year this year. It said he grows in 1ft of potting mix (with some compost) over 6inches of soil mixed with peat, over hardpan. he used a 15-5-15 grower and a 13-5-20 finisher.

2/12/2015 9:31:37 AM