First try at hydroponics

trinidadPepper · Feb 28, 2013

Plant is officially dead now

I don't think it was getting enough DO with the system so I have decided to go another route and purchased the liquid nutrients for it. Been using salt based nutrients and that has been clogging my airstones hence the reason for insufficient air bubbles.

Oz73 · Feb 28, 2013

trinidad, what have you been doing to clean the airstones? Do you think some kind of support (trellis or something similar) would've helped?

Island_Dan · Feb 28, 2013

Powdered nutrients should not clog up the air stone at all since the stone is expelling air constantly. What was your nutrient temperatures during the hottest part of the day? Trini is extremely hot. Like hottest island I have ever experience in the Caribbean and temperature affects amount of dissolved oxygen. Try a larger pump and two air stones if you cannot keep resevoir temps down but if your nutrients were a mix meant for hydroponics, it doesn't matter whether it s powdered or liquid, it should work fine..

What nutes were you using btw?

I asked this earlier because I can't believe hydroponic nutrients to be available in the Caribbean.

trinidadPepper · Feb 28, 2013

Oz73 said:
trinidad, what have you been doing to clean the airstones? Do you think some kind of support (trellis or something similar) would've helped?

Due to my inexperience, I've had to learn the hard way that I needed to clean the airstone. I noticed one day when I got home that there were no bubbles at all and knew immediately that the airstone was clogged. I've tried soaking it in vinegar but somehow the stone tend to break apart after a while.

The death I would say had nothing to do with the base of the plant being rotted away (again because of my inexperience in this), but had more to do with the roots being starved of oxygen after noticing no bubbles in the resevoir.
And I did support the plant using strings that helped to keep it up and not bend over

Island_Dan said:
Powdered nutrients should not clog up the air stone at all since the stone is expelling air constantly. What was your nutrient temperatures during the hottest part of the day? Trini is extremely hot. Like hottest island I have ever experience in the Caribbean and temperature affects amount of dissolved oxygen. Try a larger pump and two air stones if you cannot keep resevoir temps down but if your nutrients were a mix meant for hydroponics, it doesn't matter whether it s powdered or liquid, it should work fine..

What nutes were you using btw?

I asked this earlier because I can't believe hydroponic nutrients to be available in the Caribbean.

Island_Dan, I'm not too sure about this though as mine did clog. I clearly saw what looked like a calcium build up inside the airstone. I can't say for sure what the tepms were but I have organized to get the proper instruments (proper thermometer and ph meter) for my next try at it. However this time I am going with something that has a shorter life cycle such as lettuce to ensure that everything works out fine with that. Then I will try again with the pepper (maybe).

The nutes I'm using is Thumbs Up which has all the nutrients required for plants and the necessary trace elements (If you want I can list them out for you as it states on the package) and Calcium Nitrate.
These I always dissolve separately and then add them to the reservoir.

And yes you're right, there isn't any particular hydroponic nutrients available in Trinidad, I can't say for the Caribbean though.
All the nutrients are derived from salt based (powered) products.
However I am not too sure what the larger hydroponic farmers are using, whether it is salt based nutes (powered) or liquid based.

Jeff H · Feb 28, 2013

Due to my inexperience, I've had to learn the hard way that I needed to clean the airstone. I noticed one day when I got home that there were no bubbles at all and knew immediately that the airstone was clogged. I've tried soaking it in vinegar but somehow the stone tend to break apart after a while.

Something doesn't sound right about this. Air stones don't get clogged normally. Could you have had a problem with your pump? Can you post pictures?

trinidadPepper · Feb 28, 2013

I didn't take any pictures of it.

Island_Dan · Feb 28, 2013

Buying the right type of nutrients would be a major problem in St. Lucia also. And available at the local hydro stores here in Nebraska are both liquid organic based fertilizers, liquid chemical ones and chemical solid ones. I have visited large commercial hydroponic setups though and they mainly use 50 pound bags of bulk nutrients from one of the major hydroponic supplies. I have also seen some who order in 55 gallon drums of general hydroponics nutrients. Large bags of powdered nutes though are more cost effective and allows them to make the business profitable.

What kind of pump and air stone were you running? It is such a shame that it didn't work out but good luck in the future me lets hope it works the next time around!

scratchzilla · Feb 28, 2013

I had a problem with airstones falling apart too. Went through 4 different stones in 2 months. Then I got the 4" disc stones, the stone is encased in a hard plastic ring, and has lasted well over a year.

As for cleaning the stones, I usually do that each time I change my soup, since I know the bucket will be empty anyway. A good scrub with hot water does the trick

trinidadPepper · Feb 28, 2013

Thanks Island_Dan. Was using the whisper 40 seen here:
http://www.aquariumguys.com/whisperair2.html

It was a pump I had just lying around and I always wanted to try hydroponics but never had the time or enough info on how to get it up and running until recently.
The airstone I used were ones you'd get at the petstore, very similar to this I even think it's the same brand:

http://www.amazon.com/Penn-Plax-Stone-Aerator-12-Inch/dp/B0002AQ0RU/ref=pd_sim_sbs_petsupplies_9

scratchzilla · Feb 28, 2013

These are the stones I use. They're great. Durable, easy to clean, and heavier than traditional stones, so they sit nicely on the bottom.

Gotrox · Feb 28, 2013

Question.
Why---when living in an excellent pepper growing region---are you going hydro?
Space?
Pepper thieves?

I would think sticking them in the ground would be ideal. Maybe start them in hydro, but if I had the space they would be in dirt after a couple sets of true leaves. I could only imagine the effort to try and keep the roots cool in the tropics.

Island_Dan · Feb 28, 2013

I think it was just to give it a try and experiment. Peppers do not do as well as you may think because it can get so so hot. All mine in st. Lucia always did better if you can plant them in an Rea that gets partial shade. In Trinidad though, if he lives in st. James or POS, then space can definitely be an issue as all my friends in those areas don't even have yard space.

Weed · Feb 28, 2013

It might be better to just weight your airhose down with no stone. Also if its that hot there your air pump is pulling in hot air, heating it more and then sending hot air bubbles through the water. I would think it would be almost impossible to do DWC outside when your water needs to be kept 68-70F. Although the growth you had before then makes it confusing to me.

trinidadPepper · Feb 28, 2013

Just what Island_Dan said. I'm doing this as an experiment.
It's also as a means to grow produce by using a different method.

mx5inpa said:
It might be better to just weight your airhose down with no stone. Also if its that hot there your air pump is pulling in hot air, heating it more and then sending hot air bubbles through the water. I would think it would be almost impossible to do DWC outside when your water needs to be kept 68-70F. Although the growth you had before then makes it confusing to me.

This is a good point, but we'll see what happens when I start it back.
But as I said previously, one day when I got home there were no bubbles whatsoever so the plant was basically drowning I guess and I wasn't sure for how long.