Anyone into gardening/growing your own food?

[sgreger1]

So this weekend I am buying a 12 plant ebb&flow hydroponic system.

http://stores.indoorgrowsource.com/c...owcomplete.bmp

I am new to gardening but hope to learn as much as I can. My goal is to grow enough salad vegies for 4 people using these 12 plants and maybe get more creative later on (growing my own chilis etc).

Anyways, does anyone here know anything about hydroponics? I have a small backyard that is mainly concrete so I have no soil, which is why I had to go with a hydroponic setup. I know optimally it is done indoors so I can sort of ignore the seasons, but that isn't an option for me at the moment. Plus I live in California so there aren't really any seasons anyways. It is kind of good though because outdoors I can grow much taller varieties of tomatoes etc since there are no ceilings.

Anyways, if anyone has done any of this before, or if you know anything about growing vegetables in general, let's talk about it here because I have some questions for you pros!

[GODOFSNUS]

I am the VP for a company which makes the highest grade 21st century hydroponics formula in the world.
PM Me. I will give you my #.
We are 100% organic. 100% BIOPREFERRED STATUS NUTRIENT. WE HAVE BEEN AWARDED THE GREEN ENERGY COUNCIL AWARD BY THE UNITED NATIONS TO GROW FOOD & VEGETABLES ANYWHERE & IT's A 1 PART FORMULA WITH BENEFICIAL BACTERIA & MICROBES. PM ME IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS.
Sincerely,
Corey J. Dubin
Vice President Of Global Hydroponics
www.drgrowitall.com

[sgreger1]

Really? God I love this forum, we seem to have one of everything here, from custom kitchens to fertilizers!

The website you listed is about Organic Liquid Fertilizer, it talks about soil mainly. Can your product be used with a hydroponic setup?

Namely it says: "Dr Grow It All™ can be applied through manual watering or automatic drip irrigation systems", so can this be used in a hydroponic ebb&flow system?


Edit: Wait, I read more on the website and it can be used in hydroponics, namely where it says so in giant ass bolded red letters

How do I use Dr Grow It All™ in Hydroponic and Home Garden Applications?
Suggestions for use on plants and various soil conditions.
• For foliage spray: dilute 1/2 oz (3 teaspoons) to one quart of water [10mls to 1liter]; for outstanding results apply at 2 day intervals.
• For established planted areas: dilute 3/4 oz (4 tspns) to 1 quart of water [25mls to 1liter]
• For quality composted soil or potting mix: dilute 3/4 oz to 1 quart of water [20mls to 1liter]
• For prepared soil with compost: dilute 3/4 oz to 1 quart of water [25mls to 1liter]
• For prepared soil without compost: dilute 1 1/2 oz to 1 quart of water [50mls to 1liter]
• For virgin soil: dilute 3 oz to 1 quart of water using a watering can [100mls to 1liter]
• For planted areas that have been treated with chemical or slow release fertilizer: use Dr Grow It All™, sparingly at first.

So it doesn't seem to mention anything but soil system though even in the hydroponic FAQ?




lol. Answer my PM when you get back GODOFSNUS.

[Slydel]

I live in Michigan and would love to live somewhere else just for growing tomatoes. Yes you can grow tomatoes in MI, but not for as long as I would like to eat them out of the garden. What I am getting at is I would love to grow indeterminate varieties that continue growing and producing fruit until something kills them off. My boss said his sister had an indeterminate tomato plant in TX that she had producing fruit for 10 months until she forgot to cover it one night when there was a frost. If you love tomatoes, could you not obtain a 15 gallon pot to grow one huge plant? I bet you would get a ton of cherry/grape tomatoes off of it. They are usually indeterminate. On a seperate note, my Spring garden is up and going: paris romaine, swishchard, mustard spinach, and garlic. Asparagus should be popping out pretty soon as well. I have to wait until middle May to plant the Summer garden.

[squeezyjohn]

My first 3 asparagus tips have popped their heads above the ground this week!

This is the 3rd year the bed has been going - so I can actually eat some of the stuff this time round without killing the plants. In a couple of years the crop is going to be amazing.

I've just taken on an allotment (community type garden) at the end of last year and it's huge. I'm currently fighting with nettle, bramble and couch grass roots to try and establish some nice beds to grow stuff in - not easy on such a large plot as I don't want to use any kind of sprays and have to take it all out physically. It's going to be the perfect place to grow my tobacco though once it's sorted out.

[truthwolf1]

sgreger1

I have experience with these outdoors on a patio and they work great for tomatoes and probably for everything else.

http://futuregarden.com/future-garden-products.html

Autopots.
They are pretty much the easiest hydro you can use and do not require electricity in case of a doomsday scenario- lol!

So, no pumps and also PH manages itself. You just fill a tank full of solution and the plants feed themselves.

The hydro was years ago at a rental and there was also not a organic solution option back then.

Now with a yard I switched to Grandma soil organics (eggshells, dead fish, manure etc..) and get tomatoes and other vegetables that taste much better. Organic is definately better.

I think I started my seeds a little too early though because we still could get hit by frost in the midwest.

[precious007]

So this weekend I am buying a 12 plant ebb&flow hydroponic system.

http://stores.indoorgrowsource.com/c...owcomplete.bmp

I am new to gardening but hope to learn as much as I can. My goal is to grow enough salad vegies for 4 people using these 12 plants and maybe get more creative later on (growing my own chilis etc).

Anyways, does anyone here know anything about hydroponics? I have a small backyard that is mainly concrete so I have no soil, which is why I had to go with a hydroponic setup. I know optimally it is done indoors so I can sort of ignore the seasons, but that isn't an option for me at the moment. Plus I live in California so there aren't really any seasons anyways. It is kind of good though because outdoors I can grow much taller varieties of tomatoes etc since there are no ceilings.

Anyways, if anyone has done any of this before, or if you know anything about growing vegetables in general, let's talk about it here because I have some questions for you pros!

I grew my own chillis in my apartment :-)

I grew a batch of 3 plants and they produced about 1000 small chillis that lasted me one year

and then they dried up

the plants looked something like this

[squeezyjohn]

sgreger1 - over here in the UK, we have things called gro-bags which are amazing for growing tomatoes in a yard as long as you get enough sunlight. I don't know if they are international but essentially they are just a standard plastic sack of compost with the right make-up for tomatoes, peppers, aubergines etc - so you could use any bag of compost although gro-bags tend to be a bit flatter. They cost about £3 each and you can grow 3 plants in each one with only watering and the occasional feed with a good liquid tomato feed once the flowers start to set. Last year mine were over 11 ft tall and provided a great crop despite the dreadful summers in the UK.

Seems a lot more simple and cheap than a hydroponic set up. - Sorry Dr. Growitall!

[squeezyjohn]

You can also do them in hanging-basket type pots! There's a new variety of tomato out there called "tumbler" which is very suited to growing this way - they make hundreds of fruit and take up virtually no space this way as you can walk under them. Apparently there are varieties of strawberries that grow in a similar tumbling fashion too which I haven't tried yet.

As always with tomatoes - especially if they're not in the ground - the key to success is regular watering and feeding at the right time. It can be a bit of a bind to remember on hot days before you are reaping the rewards of your labours - but it's so rewarding at harvest time and only takes 10 minutes or so in the morning or evening.

Best of luck

Squeezy

[sgreger1]

Great replies everyone. I already have the system so this is the one I will be going with, though I know there are other alternatives. It handles the feeding and the watering automatically essentially so that should make it easier.

So far I have tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, lettuce, jalapenos, cilantro & basil. The cilantro and basil I will be planting in the soil though.

@Precious: 1,000 pappers?!?! Damn that is awesome. I just love peppers of every variety, right now I am goign to start with some jalapenos. Were your peppers hard to grow? How long did it take from when you planted them to when you were able to harvest? Also, they look almost like multi-colored christmas lights lolol.


Those hanging pots are pretty cool too, i've seen those before. The problem is they are really for growing tomatoes and I am looking for something that will grow pretty much all of the vegetables we will need so it has to be able to do any kind of plant.

@squeezyjohn: Wow those bags sound like an awesome idea, I have never seen one of those here. Especially at only like $5 that's a great deal.

[sgreger1]

Also, if anyone has any books they can recommend about hydroponics (preferably outdoor) it would be appreciated. Right now all the books I can find only deal with indoor hydroponics.

[squeezyjohn]

Chili peppers are if anything easier to grow than bell peppers - even here - they seem like really hardy things once they are established. I've had a few problems getting them to germinate from seed so it might be a better bet to buy a couple of plants from a garden centre. If you're in California I doubt you'll have a problem at all with getting them to perform well.

Also - with chili peppers - if you grow them in pots then you can bring them in to the kitchen to over-winter and they can go out the next year often with another full crop.

I'm afraid I can't be of any help with the hydroponics - I only do my stuff the old fashioned way.

[Ansel]

I know nothing about hydroponics except for there is aquaponics too, which you may or may not want to look into...

[sgreger1]

I know nothing about hydroponics except for there is aquaponics too, which you may or may not want to look into...

Aquaponics are sort of the next step after hydroponics. Hydroponics is where you substitute soil for water laced with nutrients which allows you tighter control over what nutrients it is getting, aquaponics is where you incorporate something like a fish pond next to your hydoponic system so that the fish poop feeds the plants and the plants clean the water for the fish. Aquaponics is much more complex since you don't have as tight a control of the amount (or type) of nutrients being fed to the plants (since it's harder to regulate fish poop), and you have to have enough space to grow tilapia sized fish (can't exactly grow them in buckets). But it is more sustainable and automated. I would love to have a setup like that but I need to learn the basics of gardening first.

[Ansel]

There may be some hydroponic how-tos on youtube...