Farmhouse

The latest stage of life has been just to keep house, work and day to day tasks going.  I haven't had much time other than to maintain the hydro plants.  I had some more tomatoes and lettuce for a salad.  The arugala was lost due to aphids, so that went outside and unfortunately just was the way it was to be for them.  The cilantro was saved, and short of some neem and some soapy water, it almost got buggy too.

My big update just has to do with the new greenhouse.  I received it last week, picture to follow and got it setup on the weekend.  Before NJ was to get some nice new snow and hopefully the last of the season.  I tore down a smaller 6x6 plastic one I had and got that out of the yard.  My main reason for a greenhouse outside is stricly for pest control. Keep the munching critters and some bugs out of my veggies....since it seems once there is something red or near-ripe, it gets chewed on.  So, the 8x9x8 unit came, a standard farmhouse model and I set it up...wow is that a big unit.  I hope the neighbors don't care much, since it sticks up above the fence by 2 feet. lol.  Well, its a temporary structure, so Im hoping no one makes a big deal of it.  I moved my shelving and tables into it and put the tarp down.  I have a thermostat and fan for it and probably will use the over-the-top shading which comes with it for the hot sun when it gets to be summertime.  It will have fun sun.  A Mister-misty I will use in it as well for keeping the temperature down as well as a water timer for some watering in the morning.

My intend is to have two hydro systems inside, and some dirt tomato plants as well.  We will see what I can fit, and while it wont be sterile, it'll be managable and we'll keep the squirrels out.  I intend on trapping and baiting in the yard since I or neighbors have no pets and the critters just are not bearable, they chew on everything.  I am surprised the house doesn't have chew marks on it.

Now with the 3-5 inches of snow we received today, knowing it was coming, I put a small heater in there and put it on 60 degrees just to keep the snow from accumulating on the top of the new unit.  I dont want to do a weight test on 5 inches of snow when Im at work, so it'll stay on until tonight or tomorrow, depending when it passes.



More to come...

Lettuce

The lettuce is going well, as always.  There's really no way to mess lettuce up unless you cook it with too many nutes, or burn it with hi intensity lighting.  I grow a few different varieties and just stage them so I have some salad here and there on a regular basis.

I did have a sad note that a cherry tomato vine/plant that I had brought into my dirt garden area at the end of the season, finally gave up and died this weekend.  It has produced about a dozen and a half nice red tomatoes and then was fully wilted the next day, so I guess it just gave its all and died.  I didnt expect it to live as long as it did, but it did have a few runs of more small tomatoes.  Time for the new Ramapo tomatoes to take over and be the producers.

Cloner fill.

Last night I filled up the cloner with the proper amount of water, adjusted to a pH of 6.0 and dropped in a few Thrivealive drops in the container.  As usual, I let the water and system flush through again and then adjusted once it was cleaned and I was ready to load it up.  A small device really just requiring small cuts due to the distance of the  ports where the cuttings go.  So, just for the first round, I had a few basil plants, which probably would root if you tossed them in a puddle outside, they're so easy.  A few Roma tomato cuttings from the mother plant in the growbooth, and some cherry tomatoes from an older outdoor plant.  Finally, some of the hot thai pepper cuttings which being semi-woody, always take forever to even have some primary rooting begin to show on them.  I have the unit in a warm, but not too warm place, not in direct light, and I'll pick up some more foliar spray to get them through the first week.

I saw some wilting today, but I am always careful with the cuttings, I use clonex gel on them and add the remaining amount into the closing water as they recommend.   I do it quickly, with a sterile blade, and its anywhere really from a 90 to 45 degree cut.  I hear everyone has a different opinion even between experts, so I just do it quick and clean and dip them.

I did not fill up all the ports since there is a limited amount of space for these plants, so I have a few extra ports should I want to add some more cuttings.

I will add a photo of this later this weekend when I have time.  My main concern was getting the cuttings settled versus taking photos, so we'll have an update in a day or two.

The Cloner

I ordered a cloner since I didnt have the time to make one, and Im sure I could have made one for about $40, with the pump and all.  I opted to buy it since the footprint of this unit was small and that's what I need until the spring gets here and most plants move to the greenhouse.  Amazon.com is where I ordered it from, here is the link.

It was about $80, but its small and it should work fine. I am about to populate it with some cutting from my cherry and roma tomato plants, the hot peppers and some of the little pico hot peppers.  I have some family who wants some basil plants, so that, as well, will go into this.  Its only the size of a small bucket, a 5 gallon size footprint, but a little shorter.  It seems like it'll work ok, but I dont know how well the plant foam will hold the plants in - they seem like they will be a tight fit, but they shouldn't fall in.  I have a 4 slot cloner which Im finally seeing roots in on the hot pepper plants, so that's a good sign...it just took 2 weeks.  I guess I am impatient. :)

I am counting down the days until the yard is clean and I will order the greenhouse next friday and be all set.  A few tables and I need to get a 12v fan and solar setup with regulator.

Another pasttime in the spring is the bamboo transplanting.  I know how invasive bamboo is so I have been using 4-6mil thick hard plastic boundaries or just some pond liner I picked up at Fairfield garden center.  I have a few patches of bamboo which I planted in the back of the yard to allow me to have some natural boundary.  I have some on the back side where ideally a hottub will go, and that's about 6 foot long and a foot wide trench I planted them in.  My friend Maggi always has plenty of bamboo and I intend on getting some more this year for transplant.  I put them into large pots and a few of them are inside the house for the winter, livingroom, plantroom, etc, so they don't freeze.  The ones in the ground are winterized and live through the NJ winters...which is quite amazing, I think.

The Greenhouse

Its almost time to order the greenhouse.  Just a way to extend the season and to keep those squirrels out.  It doesnt have a screen door on it like my smaller one, but it'll work.  I just need a way to use a fan and get some shelves and I'm all set.  A few hydro systems, or 11 packs will fit in there, along with some other dirt plants, since it won't be a 100% clean system being outdoors.  I just want to keep the treerats out of there for the season.  I have some solar panels (flex) that I can charge a car battery with and keep the fan moving air in and out, but I think a thermostat and possibly some shade panels might be in order once it gets going in July.  Even in NJ, it gets quite hot and I dont want to cook everything.  I have to order it next week and then it'll be a 2 week waiting for it to arrive.  Snow melt most likely by the end of March.

Arugula seedlings

Assistance.

When I do my gardening and hydro, I try not to use any harsh chemicals, since I am eating the crops and well, not all chemicals are good.  So, I use NEEM oil a bit, and it helps keep aphids and spidermites at bay.   Short of a nutty-smelling work area, it seems to do ok.  I believe it slows down the metabolism of the bugs once they ingest it and its organic and safe, so it works well.  The next item would be some foliar spray to use on the plants now and then, help with some extra nutrients in the cloners or just when the plant is a little stressed.

Not shown in this picture is some anti moth corn BT spray for outdoor crops, should I ever attempt to grow corn again in such a squirrel infested area.

Someone always says to grow sacrificial dill and chives to attract the aphids and leaf suckers to them, but I just check my plants regularly.  Im eager for the spring to get here and then we'll have some crops outside with natural predators (bugs, birds) to take care of the little stem suckers.

Transplants

After a week or so in the cloner, my tomatoes and basil cutting are rooted and loving life - they have secondary roots going on and I move them into either a bigger hydro system or into dirt, depending if these are going to be given to friends, family or used in my own hydro or (in the spring) outside garden.  So far, the peppers are the biggest challenge, most likely due to their woody, rigid stems and I have to research it further.  No plant death, but no roots being created either, so its a mystery for me at the moment.

I have to just keep an eye on the transplants and keep the deadly aphids and smidermites away, it seems that it happens in my grow area, and its most likely my own carelessness.  Rule of thumb is never to bring hydro plants inside from the outside world - dirt, air, wind, bugs, you name it - thats where they come from.  If you're desperate, buy a bag of ladybugs and let them chomp and clean up the local pests.

The tomatoes are producing nicely, and I continue to pollenate them with the electric toothbrush.  I have some new Ramapo tomato seeds which I put into starter cubes, the brown dirt-colored ones, the name skips me at the moment, but I picked up a 5x10 tray of them and dug out some old seeds I had saved.  I had a 40% success rate on germination with a heated seedling mat, so that's not too bad.  I will take pictures of them this weekend and post them, they're about 3-4 inches high now.  Some were transplanted into my 11-pack ebb and flow system, and some I planted in dirt since I will be moving them outside in 8 weeks or whenever the frost is passed here in NJ.  I plan on getting another greenhouse put in in March/April, so those will be put in there as well.  I have no patience for squirrels and other biting varmints, so Im going to be taking another hard line against them this year.  We will see.

Nutrients

For the most part I have used Botanicare and General Hydroponics nutrients and Ph control.  My local hydro store, www.hydro77.com carries a wide selection, although they're not always the cheapest.  They are convenient and have a few people on staff who know what they're talking about.  I was tired of having such large containers of nutes all over, so since my growing space is limited, I picked up a few glass/rubber eye dropper bottles since I don't whip up more than a few gallons at a time when I do refresh/flush every few weeks.  The eye droppers give me a better control over how much I measure in.  Maybe a graduated cylinder or other measuring glass would be better, but for now, this keeps the counter less-than-cluttered and they're all ready for me to even mix up a small amount for seedlings, young plants.

Thankfully I have not ever burned my plants.  Short of them getting too close to the lights, they have been ok. Chemical or nutrient burn hasn't been a problem short of in a seedling batch where I mixed in the wrong batch of water, and quickly noticed the next day some browning of arugala seedlings.  I flushed them and gave them the right low-to-no nute water.

We'll see how long it takes the Ph Down to eat through the rubber stopper on the dropper, but I bought a case of 24 online for about $15, so it wasn't bad.

The first crop is always the tastiest, that is if you've done your job as Plant god and supplier of nutrients.  Too much and you burn your plants, too little and your plants could wither away, or just have some small amounts of growth that you are not a happy plant parent at the end of the cycle.

My roma's started Nov 9, 2010 as 3 inch high seedlings are now full grown and have produced about 3 lbs of tomatoes so far.  They started ripening about 2 weeks ago, and I have been enjoying the crop:

I used botanicare grow, bloom, micro and some "ripe" when I got along to having a lot of green fruit hanging on the vines.  Again, the whole ebb and flow system is housed in a bedroom inside a 6x6x8 grow booth.  Lighting is a 400W HPS light with a standard reflector.  Also sharing the nutes and home are some hot chili pepper plants shown below:

They're hot, but not quite habanero, but I'm going to let them grow a bit and see how much bigger they get.  I have used some in my hot sauces and hot jelly that I make.  I pollenate both plants with a small $5 kids electric toothbrush every few days and visibly I see plenty of pollen out and about.  A small fan keeps the plants tossing around and keeps fresh air cycling through the system.  I try and keep my TDS anywhere between 1500 and 1800 for now, and I just use a small handheld meter to keep me in line with nutes.  Ph is tested via vial and drops, and I check it every few days to be in the 6.x range.  Flushings happen ever 4-6 weeks, depending on the TDS readings and I top off the water every 4-5 days now that there is fruit and the plants requirements are much higher.  I have a small 12v pump which pumps out into the drain in the bathroom, then I reverse the pump and pump in tap water.  Once that's filled, I drain it once more, and pump in PH and Nutrient adjusted water.  Its a 25 gallon tank, so it takes about 10 minutes through a standard garden hose attached to the pump. 

The end result today, was a very nice salad with some hydro basil added in for a little extra flavor.  Short of making my own olive oil, salt and pepper, I feel very proud as I always do for bringing all these plants to fruition.

Lettuce is a mix of varieties which I grow in dwc, ebb and flow mini systems and grow trays.

Ok, off to eat lunch. :)

Hydro Systems 1

The following are pictures of my first homemade hydroponic systems, which I began building a few years ago.  Some of these are still in use, just in a larger scale.

The first was a drip system which the first tomato pic in post 1 is using:

Following the success of this drip, I made some modifications to prevent some of the algae buildup, such as covering the clear tubes with tape/paint, and making sure I put covers over the hydroton clay pellets.

The next system I found online, I'll have to find the link to credit the author, but here is a photo of the building of the "11-pack" as I called it. http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/05/hydroponics_onl.php is the closest I could find to the original author, so if you find the original link, please reply/post it for me here.  Using leftover 2 liter soda bottles, some pvc, a pump and a rubbermaid tub, it worked like clockwork, and add a timer and you're all set.  This unit is still working, and its modular in a way that the cups and holders just get cleaned and replaced when they wear down.

This unit just needs some regular bleaching/cleaning between crops, and occasionally the roots will grow down into the tubes and a coathanger is required to snake them out.  Low maintenance and I intend on making another one this spring for outdoors.  Hot peppers and tomatoes have lived together in harmony in this hydro system.  I used general hydroponics powdered nutrients and had very good results with them.  The regular rainwater-ph adjustment was the only other issue I had since the covers on the plant bases were not that good.  Just something to improve this year with some light "sheet plastic".

I will post more pictures of my past and current crops in the days ahead.  Drop me a note if you have any questions.

About me.

Hi there.  I've been doing hydroponics for a few years.  Originally starting with the aerogarden, I soon began to build my own DWC, ebb and flow and other variants for for growing.  Being in the NJ area, the zone isnt perfect for a long outdoor season, so most of my hydro is done inside.  Currently my equipment exists of a few 400w lights, HPS and MH, fans, some homemade ebb and flow units as well as a 6x6x8  growbooth with a Botanicare ebb and flow.  Hot peppers and tomatoes are usually my choice of crops, but I keep herbs handy and peas and beans are always on the list.  I hope to post some pictures so you can get an idea of what I have done in the past, mistakes I have made and what I did to overcome those challenges. I will try and post regular pictures and as many data points and values I can. My arch nemesis the spidermite (and aphids) will also portray a piece in the story, as the neverending battle explodes regularly.  I will skip around chronologically due to the nature of how long I have been doing this versus my blog time.

Any questions, feel free to email me and ask.

Hydro973