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.
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