hydroponics

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paulw60
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A friend of ours has installed a hydroponic system in his greenhouse and has had such a success he has converted the whole greenhouse to it. I am now in the process of changing half of mine using square downpipe etc double shelf with two runs on each. has anybody got suggestions to propogate etc/ or even improve the run of pipe? I have a pond pump to push the nutrients in the water around.
thought there was light at the end of the tunnel, but it was somebody with a torch bring more work!!
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oldherbaceous
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Hydroponics is something I have never tried, so can't be of any help but, please do let us all know how you get on with it through the season.
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.

There's no fool like an old fool.
paulw60
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oldherbaceous wrote:Hydroponics is something I have never tried, so can't be of any help but, please do let us all know how you get on with it through the season.

will do, looking forward to it if i can will post some pics once it is all set up, oh and my friend has lettuce in three weeks and he now has two trusses of tomatoes!!
thought there was light at the end of the tunnel, but it was somebody with a torch bring more work!!
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oldherbaceous
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My Uncle who lived in Basildon, (No, not Shallot Man :) ) used hydroponics and said he would never go back to normal pot culture.
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.

There's no fool like an old fool.
paulw60
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wow, sounds good.
thought there was light at the end of the tunnel, but it was somebody with a torch bring more work!!
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OH? Time to share the family secrets?
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paulw60
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thank younutrient, can't wait to get going. will take a bit of setting up, but reasonably cheap to do. apparently you start seedlings the conventional way then wash all soil off and plant in 'small' cages in the running water that is treated with a nutrien. From what I have seen looks a great option.
thought there was light at the end of the tunnel, but it was somebody with a torch bring more work!!
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Please make sure you continue to post paulw60, especially as it is a DIY project as the kits are very expensive. Funnily while I was wandering around the internet I found a wee hydroponic set up on the top of a small fish tank. It looked bought as very neat little set up but said they designed & built it. I would share the link but it was about number 6 of the 'Oh that's interesting' clicking that I do every time I go online! ;)
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paulw60
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will do, seems easy with downpipe etc but needs a decent pond pump to circulate the water, as far as i ncan see that is the biggest expense.
thought there was light at the end of the tunnel, but it was somebody with a torch bring more work!!
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Shallot Man
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oldherbaceous wrote:My Uncle who lived in Basildon, (No, not Shallot Man :) ) used hydroponics and said he would never go back to normal pot culture.


We could if you like OH become blood brothers [without the blood of course ] :wink: :wink:
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Geoff
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Don't know if these people are any use to you, came across them when looking for hormone rooting powder https://busygrow.co.uk/index.php
paulw60
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thank you Geoff
thought there was light at the end of the tunnel, but it was somebody with a torch bring more work!!
Cookie_2
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Hello! I think that hydroponics is quite unusual, however, it is really successful. Plants have full access to water so they bring it while needed. Many people don't know about this method but it can really improve our garden! I have a very small home-hydroponic system and I have to say that plants in here grow much more better. Have you already found any solution for pipe system?
paulw60
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Cookie_2 wrote:Hello! I think that hydroponics is quite unusual, however, it is really successful. Plants have full access to water so they bring it while needed. Many people don't know about this method but it can really improve our garden! I have a very small home-hydroponic system and I have to say that plants in here grow much more better. Have you already found any solution for pipe system?

not yet, but the plan I have is almost a copy of my friends which works well so fingers crossed. I just need to find a square blanking cap that fits end of downpipe so I can fit an overflow connector and pipe acting as a reducer back to the water tank.
thought there was light at the end of the tunnel, but it was somebody with a torch bring more work!!
vivienz
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Giving this thread a little bump. I saw an article recently in an old KG where a chap had all his strawberries growing in a hydroponic system mounted on his garden fence. Reading the article coincided with my sorting out my strawbs into new troughs (raised bed construction currently underway) and pulling out all the nasty vine weevils. It occurred to me that vine weevil wouldn't be a problem with a hydroponic system (the little devils would drown!) and that was worth looking into further. Has anyone any thoughts on whether it would be impervious to the dreaded weevil? Has anyone seen a system for this kind of thing?
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