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video DIY Hydro Grow Bucket video

I want to try these but I'm worried about the roots going down and getting soggy/sitting in water.. is that an issue?

Great vid btw
 
Jase4224 said:
I want to try these but I'm worried about the roots going down and getting soggy/sitting in water.. is that an issue?

Great vid btw
Click to expand...
 
Actually this is desirable! 
Roots are fine directly in water (or directly in hydroponic nutrient solution) as long as a sufficient portion of the roots are outside of the water and have access to oxygen.
 
This was "discovered" (or at least popularized) by Dr. Bernard Kratky at the University of Hawaii  BIO
 
If the entire soil portion was saturated, this would be a different story, as there would not be enough oxygen for the roots and the plant would be stunted and/or eventually die.
 
If you are using hydroponic nutrients you will want to cover the top with a plastic sheet to prevent rain water.  It is not required though, the pepper plant in the video was not covered.
I think for support you could build in support poles along the sides and zip tie them in place (similar to how the pipe is in place). 
 
I followed your design you shared earlier this year in the totes. I had such amazing results so thank you! I put a GCR7P in one and SBMOA in the other. I would say the plants were 7 or 8 foot in diameter and five or six foot tall and had tons of peppers. I definitely like the concentrated form of the nutes in the gallon jug and reconstitute with a cup at a time. much quicker. I bought more totes on sale and am going to do a few more next year.
 
Student of Spice said:
I followed your design you shared earlier this year in the totes. I had such amazing results so thank you! I put a GCR7P in one and SBMOA in the other. I would say the plants were 7 or 8 foot in diameter and five or six foot tall and had tons of peppers. I definitely like the concentrated form of the nutes in the gallon jug and reconstitute with a cup at a time. much quicker. I bought more totes on sale and am going to do a few more next year.
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Hey awesome!  The bucket design will make slightly smaller plants, but the footprint and amount of soil are much smaller relatively;  If you want a large variety of plants (with excellent production) I highly recommend the bucket design, if you want absolute maximum plant size and production stick with the tote design.
 
Thanks for sharing your results!  Do you have any pics?
 
I never took any pictures of them, I wish now I had documented it but I will try and remember to take pictures next year. I did make three of those buckets since I saw a how to video linked to your older video (Off the grid one). They were good, definite size difference in the plants. The first bucket I made though, I over cut the size of the solo cup I used for a wick and it kept falling through lol. lesson learned.
 
I also tried the SWC bucket design, but indoors under 800W HPS lights. The pepper did OK, but Tomatoes got fried. Masterblend mix at full concentration is way way way too much. Interesting how much of a difference there is in nutrient use indoor vs outdoor. Thanks for the post, can't wait to try this setup outdoors this spring.
 
pecker88 said:
I also tried the SWC bucket design, but indoors under 800W HPS lights. The pepper did OK, but Tomatoes got fried. Masterblend mix at full concentration is way way way too much. Interesting how much of a difference there is in nutrient use indoor vs outdoor. Thanks for the post, can't wait to try this setup outdoors this spring.
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were you using soil in the bucket or was it solely hydroponic?
 
Student of Spice said:
 
were you using soil in the bucket or was it solely hydroponic?
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50% promix ultimate organic, 50% promix ultimate.
The ultimate organic bag did say "contains compost".
 
I've got 1 mo. old seedlings started, going to try again with promix BX and 1/4 strength nutrients.
 
So, this is more of an automatic watering system than hydroponic? Do you have an air stone in the sitting water in the basin?
My understanding of hydroponic is soiless.... Though I'm not saying that I'm 100% right... never mind, I just looked up the definition.
 
"Hydroponics is a subset of hydroculture and is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, in water, without soil."
 
Thank you again, Google!
 
 
 
But I do love the results people are getting. If it works, great! 
 
I bet this would help fight against fungus gnats if you can keep the top soil dry. Might be a good thing for a lot of indoor growers if used that way.
 
Oh, and yes, great vid, thank you! You did a great job on it.
 
Not a huge deal, but is there any way I can see a picture of the roots that grow between the two buckets? I would like to see it especially after it has grown in the bucket for a while. I think it would be good to know if they flourish in the reservoir or if they tend to stay up in the soil.
 
 
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Peter S said:
At it's highest demand, how often would you say you have to add nutrients?
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I feed with nutrients with 100% of waterings... which is every day in the peak heat of summer...
 
mrgrowguy said:
Not a huge deal, but is there any way I can see a picture of the roots that grow between the two buckets? I would like to see it especially after it has grown in the bucket for a while. I think it would be good to know if they flourish in the reservoir or if they tend to stay up in the soil.
 
 
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I can say that they do thrive in the reservoir, unfortunately I dont have any pictures to show as an example right now though.
 
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