hydroponic DIY guide: how to make off grid hydroponic self watering container

nice, i subbed to this guy when he teased this last year and have been waiting!
 
kinda unnecessary to put that much soil, could put less and have a bigger reservoir i bet.
 
JoynersHotPeppers said:
If I understand the concept, the solo cups have dirt that touches the water and acts as a wick system to the above soil. 
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Now that makes a lot more sense. Might have to try this next year. 
 
The pwc pipe is to pour the new water in.
 
I'm not sure about the solo cups. Perhaps so the water transfers better into the soil, and also that some of the roots don't reach water but stay in the soil. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
 
 
 
You beat me to it, just as I was posting :D
 

JoynersHotPeppers said:
If I understand the concept, the solo cups have dirt that touches the water and acts as a wick system to the above soil. 

 
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Correct, the solo cups wick up the nutrients in the solution, apparently in mid summer he goes through about 2 gallons of solution.  I'm going to see if I can get him to respond up here and answer our questions.
 
Here's the project items needed and ingredients for the solution he's using:
 
You will need:
Container [appx. $5]
PVC pipe (18"), cut at 45 degree angle on one side [less than $1]
10~12 zip ties [less than $1]
Potting soil [varies]
Plastic sheet [recycled]

Hydroponic Solution:
5 Gallons water
12 G Masterblend
12 G Calcium Nitrate
6 G Magnesium Sulfate
Mix in that order, until dissolved before adding next ingredient
 
Hi everyone!  I created and posted this video on "Animal Farm" channel (originally posted the video showing off the plant on my excel 101 channel). 

svfd1118http://thehotpepper.com/user/4409-svfd1118/ let me know about this conversation going on here, so I was excited to join and share my experience.
Thanks for showing interest in the project btw!  You guys already correctly answered about the PVC (for adding water) and the solo cups (to wick the solution up into the main soil area), but let me know what other questions you have!
 
Awesome, glad you could join and explain more about this.  I personally haven't dove into the hydroponic arena and really want to, it seems like a really interesting way to grow pretty much anything.  A couple questions, how did you come up with this project and idea?  Did you feed the plants the solution you posted on your channel every time, or did you sometimes feed straight water?  I saw you added the mosquito net with the gasket maker, but was there anything else you came across that could help us as we try this project out?
 
Thanks a lot for joining and helping us out and explaining what you've done!
 
The design is pretty much an 'earth-box' clone, designs exist on the internet, but I changed it up with my own modifications over the last few years. It really wasnt anything special until I started using the hydroponic nutrients.  The nutrients are really the game changer; they work really well with this setup as none of the nutrients are wasted by run-off.
I use the solution 100% of the time from seedling to maturity (well, 99.9% of the time there have been a few times when I was in too much of a hurry to mix up a batch of solution.)
 
I have 2 updates on the mosquito net.  1.  Use hot glue instead of gasket maker, it adheres much better.  2. Bunch up the netting so that it makes a loose pocket over the hole (as opposed to gluing it tightly against the hole.  Some soil may get in the solution and start to block the netting, but if it is loose it wont be a problem.
 
I havent really figured out how to post pictures here yet, but I posted a bunch of pictures here:  (maybe someone can copy some of the interesting ones and post them here)
http://gardenshare.yooco.org/forum/diy_self_watering_container-25388-t.html
 
I now buy the Masterblend and Calcium Nitrate in bulk.  The magnesium sulfate (epsom salt) is cheap enough that I still buy it in small (~4-5 lb) bags from the supermarket or drugstore.
 
Masterblend is purchased from https://www.morgancountyseeds.com/store/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=487
 
Calcium Nitrate will be cheapest from a Farm/Feed store if you have them locally.  Alternatively the link above sells it at a very resonable prices, and also you can get a reasonable price on ebay.  Any grade will work, but the greenhouse grade (looks like small spheres of white styrofoam) makes a lot "cleaner" solution; the agricultural grade (looks like yellowish small gravel) leaves a residue on the mixing container.
 
If anyone is interested I am willing to ship smaller quantites of the nutrients at bulk cost (+ shipping).
 
pepper_rancher, really cool of you to join!
 
I have a tiny question, the pvc watering pipe, does it go straight down to the bottom of the box or does it stop short at the 'net' section?
 
That monster plant you had in the video, was that a first year plant?  Do you grow year round inside with hydroponics?  What's the best way to get started with hydroponics, was there a book or specific resource you learned from?
 
Comptine said:
pepper_rancher, really cool of you to join!
 
I have a tiny question, the pvc watering pipe, does it go straight down to the bottom of the box or does it stop short at the 'net' section?
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It goes all the way down, there is a 45 degree angle cut at the bottom so it wont get blocked off by the floor of the container
 
svfd1118 said:
That monster plant you had in the video, was that a first year plant?  Do you grow year round inside with hydroponics?  What's the best way to get started with hydroponics, was there a book or specific resource you learned from?
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That was a first year plant, I dont grow indoors during the winter.  Check out MHPGardener on youtube, he has awesome dutch bucket tomatoes, and other hydroponic setups.  Although, you will probably only be interested in his older content.
 
SichuaneseFoodFan said:
How often do you have to refill the reservoir in the Alabama summer?
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Every day.
 
To speed up mixing the nutes I have come up with the following...
 
In three separate 1 gallon milk jugs mix the following with very warm water:
 
192 grams Masterblend --> Label jug #1
192 grams Calcuim nitrate --> Label jug #2
96 grams magnesium sulfate --> Label jug #3
 
It will take a lot of shaking, but make sure you disolve all of the solids.  Once they are disolved they will remain disolved, just shake before dispensing for good measure.
 
Once you have the concentrated solution in jugs, it is easier to measure out and easier to disolve into the buckets of cold water.  A set of 3 jugs will make 80 gallons of nutrient solution.
 
To make 5 gallons add 1 cup (8 oz) each from jug #1,2, &3 in that order.
As the 5 gallon bucket is filling up I add #1,  wait as it fills more add #2, wait as it fills more add #3.
 
I do this in a plastic Ames cart in 15 gallon increments (all measurements x3) to save more time.
 
What is the benefit over keeping the plant in a large DWC set up? (other than the power required for the air pump, or is this it?)
 
cloose said:
What is the benefit over keeping the plant in a large DWC set up? (other than the power required for the air pump, or is this it?)
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That's a valid question...  DWC of course requires an air pump as you mentioned, which isnt required for this setup because the roots are kept aerated in the main soil reservoir (which never becomes fully saturated due to the plastic covering on top)
The second main difference would be anchorage.  This plant could end up weighing... (im not sure how much, but...) a lot.  A DWC system would require overhead cabling to support the plant, or it would simply fall over and pull the roots out of the solution.
 
The advantage of a DWC system would be less frequent feeding requirements, because the reservoir isn't that big on this system   :P
 
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