Hydroponics

[Publius]

My winter personal explorations.
Starting to try and grow with hydroponics. Quite a learning curve over black dirt farming. Worry less about pest but spend a similar time worrying about water issues.

I’ve bought an indoor grow tent, which I call a “space station” closet. Mylar interior with a light bank in it so bright they advise wearing UV safety glasses. Outside ventilation blower all on timed controller.

Have five DWC buckets going and am building out three raised bed grow tents with supplemental lighting.


Remains to be seen if it will be cost effective or prohibitive on the electrical consumption side. I’m pretty frugal with an electric bill just under $100 in the off seasons. Lites are a luxury and it gets dark for a reason you know.

The irony struck me when after taking a day and a half to make it home after the snow storm one of the first things I did were to check the snow peas and and Sumer squash.
My wood lot has an excess amount of shade or I would already have a solar array.
Tried before just didn’t cut it.
If the hydroponics produce as advertised I might take out four or five trees in exchange for panels on my roof.

I’m calling it education for a collapse and a cost effective hobby for retirement.

When my wife died three years ago I thought I would travel more. But as time passed I simply had no desire to. Don’t get me wrong I love people and love talking to them when I go out. But I am comfortable alone as well. It took awhile to shake of the guilt or self doubt of being alone so much. Society stigmatizes it so much. But really in human evolutionary terms being alone or limited to small geographical areas was the norm not a psychological issue to be labeled and lobbied for.

 

[DEFCON Warning System]

I have a brown thumb. Anything I touch dies. Which makes my wife extremely nervous!

 

[Publius]

I also just remedied one of my mid term prepping deficiencies.
Ordered in a 25 lb bag of salt. Food preservation and barter.
People like to talk about how long it would take to bug out and be in the road.

I could bug out on my back in about 15 minutes. In no way optimal.
I would otherwise need 1/2 a day to just load my truck
Only thing with bugging out one daughter lives in south St. Louis and we’ve already talked about me getting them out, she doesn’t want me to do that. My brother lives 4 miles from a prison. Another non starter. There older and would very likely never come here.
So I have an area in the national forest if I needed to bail.

More importantly. I have good working relations with two close neighbors both of which have skills and families close. We share values and work ethic and because we all live on the same private road we already work together automatically to maintain the road and clear trees and snow and check on the neighborhood.
I would probably never bug out.
Except under certain dire circumstances.

Thus my burgeoning interest in hydroponics.

 

[Publius]

I have a brown thumb. Anything I touch dies. Which makes my wife extremely nervous!

My wife’s first admonishment to growing anything is don’t fiddle with it too much and never over water it.

Plants are not dumb simple things, while they do not have nervous systems or Intelligence. They have complex biochemical and bio mechanisms that will resonate to every thing from pest temp humidity light and touch. There is even evidence that sound waves of all kinds can affect almost all the molecular mechanisms in plants including photosynthesis.
Some chemically communicate with mycorrhizal fungus in the soil.
Many orchids can only move past germination with the help of specific fugal organisms in the soil.

 

[DEFCON Warning System]

Plants are not dumb simple things

I saw a documentary years ago that showed that plants know when they are going to be cut.

 

[Publius]

I saw a documentary years ago that showed that plants know when they are going to be

Not only that some release pheromones to chemically warn others around them that pest are attacking them.

Epigenetic’s is the real ghost in the machine. Studies in Northern Europe showed how the biological propensity to put on excess weight can be triggered if the Grand mother of the individual experienced severe famine. The result of famine on grandma caused her body to encode something in the egg she carried as a child which later became her child which In turn encoded something on the egg of her child she carried since her formation in grandma.
Not only what happens during pregnancy can impact the child. But what happens or behaviors of the grandmother can effect the life of the second generation.
It’s suspected that this genetic expression in the grandchildren might have lead to higher cases of diabetes. If food was not in short supply for them.

There is no end to the mysteries of life and the science will rarely be unequivocal.

 

[Yingyang]

I saw a documentary years ago that showed that plants know when they are going to be cut.

Science proved carrots scream when pulled out of ground.

 

[Yingyang]

Not sure what it is called maybe aquaponics. I knew someone who had fish under their veg and herb garden. Ended up a revolving cycle of nutrients from green algai growing on side of tank the fish ate whilst filtering the water and the root systems from veg and herbs . Very little maintenance .

 

[Publius]

well my first season of hydroponics is behind me, not a great deal of success. It’s easy to grow green leafy product,
But encouraging the grow out of fruiting or tubers is something else entirely.
So that said i have decided to sacrifice about a dozen mature hard woods this winter, simply not enough sun light even with newer supplemental lighting.
Perspective I have mature pecan walnut hickory tulip and oak all within 15 yards of my house.
I have never bothered to count the number of trees on my 31/2 acres. My yard is a wood lot not a yard.
So i made the decision to thin the herd.
My hydroponics did great for green leafy veg,
So make changes and try again.

 

[DEFCON Warning System]

I planted strawberries this year. Animals got to them before I did.

 

[william]

well my first season of hydroponics is behind me, not a great deal of success. It’s easy to grow green leafy product,
But encouraging the grow out of fruiting or tubers is something else entirely.
So that said i have decided to sacrifice about a dozen mature hard woods this winter, simply not enough sun light even with newer supplemental lighting.
Perspective I have mature pecan walnut hickory tulip and oak all within 15 yards of my house.
I have never bothered to count the number of trees on my 31/2 acres. My yard is a wood lot not a yard.
So i made the decision to thin the herd.
My hydroponics did great for green leafy veg,
So make changes and try again.

Can you specifically name what did well and what didn't please. I am very curious.

 

[Publius]

I planted strawberries this year. Animals got to them before I did.

22 sub sonic or a 80 lb hairy hollow point the also known as a German Shepard. But i had my own issues with raccoons and my domestic quail. Ended up dealing with a fat mama coon. Not something i wanted to do. But she got just way too friendly with my domicile.

 

[Torch]

I have a working Farm. The front five acres are a default petting zoo and wildlife sanctuary <enforced by my wife>.

Everything else is enforced with various tools including some large mufflered 16” sub woofers and five not so quiet quadrupeds woofers.

 

[Publius]

Can you specifically name what did well and what didn't please. I am very curious.

Sunlight sunlight sunlight as far as container gardening in general. Same with hydroponics, but i also believe the water PH nutrient balance is critical and I missed it for hydroponics. Bear in mind your “managing” light, nutrients, humidity, and temperature 24/7.
I grew up in black dirt Illinois where you could grow golf balls at a driving range. Hydroponics is sold as a no fuss no muss prospect. But that’s not true, yields are great but its not a plug it and forget it endeavor. That said there are great products out there to facilitate this balance of these four components.

So I’m focusing on extended fall crops on my south porch and greens only in my indoor hydroponics going into the winter. Which involve keeping a revolving feeder stock of starts. Which isn’t hard but it does take regular attention.
There is deep water culture (5 gal buckets) and continuous flow. To be honest im still learning with this, deep water is better suited to climbing plants, squash beans peas etc. The continuous flow seems suited well for leafy greens.
Pots in a controlled green house out shined everything for herbs and peppers. Berries of all varieties did great outside with supplemental lighter and soft pots. Gooseberries berries boysenberries straw berries and black berries all did well from bare root transplant.


That and im going to have about 15 mature hardwoods remove from my lot. My house sees about 3 hours of direct sunlight a day (seriously) . That wont even facilitate tomato’s or peppers to produce. All of that which is for me is depressing. I love watching nature have its way and as they say forest bathing.


Onnnn a funny note when i was in my local garden hydroponics store the kid actually looked at me and asked. Wait you actually wanting to grow vegetables.
They also sell boomer bags and psilocybin spores

On an entirely positive note, The current generation of full spectrum LED grow lights even running 14 hours a day at probably 15000 lumens didn’t impact my electric use. Grow lights are measured in kelvins. I just used lumens because I'm familiar with it.

If you’re not afraid to fail and experiment, then have at it and have fun. It’s a wickedly marvelous world we live in.

 

[Publius]

Not sure what it is called maybe aquaponics. I knew someone who had fish under their veg and herb garden. Ended up a revolving cycle of nutrients from green algai growing on side of tank the fish ate whilst filtering the water and the root systems from veg and herbs . Very little maintenance .

I would try Aguaponics but it’s too cold where im at to maintain artificial fish tanks.

 

[Yingyang]

I would try Aguaponics but it’s too cold where im at to maintain artificial fish tanks.

Local natives ?

 

[Publius]

I have a working Farm. The front five acres are a default petting zoo and wildlife sanctuary <enforced by my wife>.

Everything else is enforced with various tools including some large mufflered 16” sub woofers and five not so quiet quadrupeds woofers.

Well the trash pandas are controlled in my local with subsonic subwoofers after dark and 5.56 during the daylight. That and a NVG mounted on a crossbow is effective as well.

Question, do you have goats or keep small chotes, 80 lb range. Wanting to know how effective electric fencing is at keeping them corralled is

 

[Publius]

Local natives ?

I would need a deep enough water body, like a pond or lake. As opposed to a tank to support a true aquaponics system. Not sure if that was you were alluding to..

 

[Torch]

Well the trash pandas are controlled in my local with subsonic subwoofers after dark and 5.56 during the daylight. That and a NVG mounted on a crossbow is effective as well.

Question, do you have goats or keep small chotes, 80 lb range. Wanting to know how effective electric fencing is at keeping them corralled is

Sheep, Barbados. Goats mostly Nubians, sometimes cows/calves. Quarter Horses, Border Collies (5) and Rough Collies (2).

To the outside we are living the dream. To us we are living that dream Dusk till Dawn and and hour each end. Too few friends, too much manure.

Our electric fencing is success with Barbados sheep and a total fail with goats <Caprine> all types. Sheep move back and move on. Goats move back and launched themselves back in retribution. Later they still try to get over & under. Nothing like trying to free a 80lb Goat thats is wrapped in fencing and has been zapped (intermittently) for an hour.

Hot lines one high one low, and with a shock thats a blast rather than the gently urgings in the netting/fencing works better. You are going to be outside in the rain, at midnight or conversely noon with the Temp heat index at 118 (yesterday, corrected by the tropical storm that moved in) untangling the ungrateful, unhappy and unhelpful. So hot wires for the win.

We broke down and fenced in 5 acres and round pens and sub pens with Cattle Panels. There is a new truck and my never to be new cyro-ed 6.5 surrounding the barn, house and day pens/Yards. Acreage gets 3 wire (2 hot).

Sorry for the long post.

 

[Yingyang]

I would need a deep enough water body, like a pond or lake. As opposed to a tank to support a true aquaponics system. Not sure if that was you were alluding to..

Yeah not a normal indoor aquarium . I'm refering to outdoor tubs that hold 500 ltrs minimum to 1500-2000ltrs or more. Big enough to support plants , deep enough to support fish. Eg. Some of our edible fish only require 3-4 foot depth by 3-4 feet wide and 9 feet long . You can fit 3-4 rows of herbs/ veg on surface.