Hydroponic grow experiment #2 update

This is week 2 of the second experiment with hydroponics. As you can see, everything is going pretty well. I have a little helper, who has really taken to growing. I've moved the tomatoes out to the garage. I installed a timer on the aeroponic system. I programed it for 15 min. on and 15 min. off. 24/7. The plants grew just fine with the pump running 24/7 without shutting off. The only problem I ran into with the water pump running continuously was, it caused the water temp. to rise above acceptable levels. I fixed this problem by rotating a frozen 3 liter bottle of RO water, twice a day, to the reservoir. Every third bottle, I took the cap off and let it drain into the reservoir for topping off. I added the timer for three reasons. To save money on my electricity bill, lower the water temp.(which it hasn't), but more importantly, the off time allows the roots to absorb more oxygen which breeds healthier roots and a healthier plant. So it's a win/win situation.

The Ecogrower is really a maintenance free system. You can see the relleno peppers are getting bigger. There about 6 inches at less then two weeks. Since the plants are getting bigger, I have to top it off with a gallon of 1/4 strength nutrient water every two to three days.I am using the same nutrients, with the following levels:

-Turbogarden 6.3ph- 470ppm- water temp. 70-76

-Ecogrower 5.9ph- 700ppm- water temp 69

I've planted 50 pepper plants, for the garage grow room. Half the tray is sweet peppers and the other half hot peppers. There are about 10 different varieties total. I plan on growing them in a 4x8 flood and drain table. We're still about a month away for that.

Garage Indoor Garden

I'm at a stand still right now until I get more funds for the rest of the room. Here are some pictures of the progress to date. It continues to change daily. I'm taking baby steps to a bigger goal. So far I have a room I've built out of metal piping with metal corner brackets. It was a frame for a golf driving net in it's previous life. The dimensions are 9'x10'x8' tall. I wrapped it in 6 mil black poly film and bought a tarp zipper for the entrance at home depot. It works better then expected. I used emergency blankets to add reflection inside the room. They don't seem to be very reflective, so I'm planning to order some white poly film to cover the entire interior top to bottom. I have two 600 watt HID lights running on Galaxy digital ballasts. In the near future, I plan on installing a 4'x8' ebb and flow table and two 3'x6' tables. I am going to experiment with the 3'x6' tables by growing the same seed stock, one in dirt and one in hydroponics.

Hydroponic grow experiment #1

Dec. 26, 2009

The lettuce in the turbogarden are really filling out. They are almost ready to pick. I think next time I will try other taller plants with the lettuce, to give them more room. I'm getting ready to switch things around a bit.

Here are the nutrient levels and ph in each system:

-Turbogarden 500ppm and 6.1 ph

-Ecogrower 450ppm and 6.2 ph

-Cocogrower #1 (Chadwick cherry) 600ppm and 6.0 ph

#2 (Brandywine) 330ppm and 6.0 ph

-The turbogarden runs 24/7 misting plant roots.

-The Ecogrower runs 24/7 dripping water over the top of the plants.

-The Cocogrowers run while the lights are on and off when the lights are off. I have added an airstone in every systems reservoir that runs 24/7 for the roots.