hydroponic Hydroponics Worth it?

S

Springy147

Hi all,
My big question is..
Is hydroponics worth it? Diy rdwc looking at £200 ($400) plus running costs

However it is worth the superior growth and yield etc?

I currently have a 8x6 foot greenhouse

Thanks
Andrew
 
there are also intangibles like
ease of use
portability
space efficiency
eco friendlyness?
 
for people with many of hectares of land... is it worth it? no, they can just plant a few extra rows and call it good.
for a home grower yes it can be if they maintain the setup it can last a long time.
no more having to buy soil mixes and dig in the dirt is nice.
 
Anything is worth whatever you want to spend. Some dudes have $40.00 rackets some dudes have $800.00 rackets. Ect, ect.
 
I'm about to find out this winter but here are a few things that will help u cut down the cost. Try the kratky method which requires no pumps or moving parts. You might need to buy a light if you don't get enough sunlight in ur green house but that's about all the electricity ur gonna need.

Then try to look for dry fertilizer mixes to make the solution. It was significantly more cost effective over the long run
 
I agree. Go with a Kratky. I really like Peter S. experiments, lots to learn from those. I have a 5gal DWC that has been going for a few weeks now, the growth rate is phenomenal. The only downside I would say is all of the maintenance that DWC requires, where as from what I have seen of the Kratky method is supposed to be a one and done. Maybe before you try peppers in hydro start with lettuce or some other leafy green. This will give you an idea of what you could do better. Have fun with it though, hydro is pretty awesome.
 
It may or may not be worth it economically, but it would be worth the experience. You will get to know the plants needs on a whole new level.
 
Maybe do some extra  searching for low-cost DIY options, or crazy specials.
 
Or, even look into other hydro-type ventures. I not usually, but sometimes an Ebb and Flow table goes on clearance, or you have something already at home that you didn't think before about turning it into one... Old bathtub, fish tank, 5-gallon buckets from Home Depot in the garage, shower pan, etc. Just a thought.
 
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The equipment for my ebb and flow set up cost maybe $100 total. You can definitely do it cheaper if you think outside of the box a bit. As long as the system functions like its namesake, it doesn't matter how fancy it is.
 
My reservoir is the black container with yellow top from Lowes that you see in lots of pictures. My flood table is a concrete mixing tub. Pump, fixtures, and timer from Amazon. The concrete mixing tub is sitting on top of the reservoir with a few empty vodka bottles holding it up.
 
I don't think it will cost that much since the bulk of the cost will be in fertilizers and light. So if u use masterblend/dry ferts and led lights/have good sunshine, u already save so much on the bulk of the cost.

Then use kratky because it is the cheapest form of hydroponics since no pumps required and all u have to worry about is some containers. I'm using a 2L soda bottle with some aquarium gravel just to test but if ur creative, u can just reuse trash or stuff laying around in the house. Also if u want to use those 5 gallon buckets, some delis and bakery give them out for free because it is their trash
 
If you are new to hydro, and aren't doing it for the love of experimentation, or for some very specific purpose, I don't think I'd bother.

It's way too easy to do soil, or even passive hydro. (coco coir and drain to waste nutrients)

Right now, I'm growing in a 60/40 mix of coco coir/perlite. To that, I mix in 10% worm castings, OR 20% composted rabbit manure. Then, I feed it Neptune's Harvest tomato fertilizer (liquid) at every watering. Great growth, no deficiencies, no hydroponic taste. My plants are outside right now, but you could use this method indoors, with no trouble at all. Even better, capture your nutrient runoff, and feed it to your houseplants, ever so often.
 
Thanks im looking for experimenting. Liking the idea of nft as it has no issues with potential leaking however will peppers do well with little root room
 
Springy147 said:
Thanks im looking for experimenting. Liking the idea of nft as it has no issues with potential leaking however will peppers do well with little root room
Click to expand...
 
 
NFT is not one of the preferred methods for peppers.  Most commercially available systems will get clogged with tomato or pepper roots well before harvest.  I tried it even with a custom built system, and the growth is grand, for awhile.  But after a bit, it fails  spectacularly.

If you aren't talking drain-to-waste, the next best choice for pepper hydro, is probably going to be some form of DWC.  If I have to go that route, my preference is RDWC.  But DWC is so cheap, and so simple.  But it's going to lend itself well to a projected crop, not a long term grow.  One harvest, and then cull...  Mine always do really well up to that point, and then it seems to get exponentially harder to sustain the growth and yield.
 
Ebb and flow is also a great choice, but with higher start up costs, and complexity.
 
I know I'm sounding like a broken record, but Drain-to-Waste is easily the best place to start a hydroponic experiment.  I'd do coco coir and perlite, and use CNS17 nutrients for the first grown.  It just doesn't get any easier...
 
I agree. Coco is about the easiest way to get started in hydro. I went through the same questions you're going through now when I started looking into soil alternatives.

For me it was the benefit of fast growth for my short growing season. I simply couldn't get any of my super hots to produce in soil.

Neil
 
I just wanted to share my "hydro" experience, since I've finally gotten back into my photo sharing account.
 
29494088543_e049c0dfeb_z.jpg

 
This is an Inca Berry.  The photo makes it very difficult to show you just what a beauty this one is.  It's only about 14" tall, but it's about 22" in diameter, and loaded with pods.  It must have 5 or 6 dozen pods on right now.  What makes this one awesome, is that I haven't actually gotten any ripe pods off of this plant yet - many started setting on at the same time. (not just an initial "onesie, twosie")  After the first pods ripen, I expect it to go completely berserkers, as is customary. 
 
The container, which you can't see - the one in the foreground is a different one - is a 5 gallon bucket, "hempy" style, but with mods.  3" of perlite in the bottom of the bucket, with a hole 2-1/2" from the bottom.  My grow media is a 50/50 coco coir/perlite pre-mix.  I then add that mix to composted rabbit poo, at a rate of 4:1. (coco coir + perlite / composted rabbit poo)  I add in about a cup of Azomite, and at least a cup of Dr. Earth Tomato fertilizer.   It then all gets fed with Neptune's Harvest Tomato and Veg formula, for the first couple of months, and then Neptune's Harvest Rose Bloom formula after that.
 
Sounds complicated, but that's where I ended up.  You can literally just use coco coir and perlite with Alaska Fish, and Alaska MorBloom, and produce an amazing plant. (done that, too!)

Oh, sorry, this is my organic grow.  Again, you can do what I've done, with the "Hempy" style bucket, run 60/40 coco coir/perlite, and use the CNS17 nutrients. (you won't need anything else - no Cal/Mag, nothing)  If you don't get absolutely phenomenal growth, I'll just say something clever, and wonder why you didn't.  LOL
 
I've tried the hempy buckets, Coco perlite mix and cns17, but I've not had the same growth and success as I've had with plain coir and GreatfulH3AD's formula of 6ml GH micro, 9ml GH Bloom with RI water.

My extreme summer temperature is about 92f with an average temp in the 60s.

This is my grow from this year. I grew in plain Coco, 3G root pouch. Plants transported in and out as weather dictated.

There are 3 plants in my spare bathtub and one on the floor.

87c1990ed0d7bec3c65a55ab55add5d7.jpg


This is one harvest from the Jolokia plant I had. I managed 4 harvests this year.

e3c0ebc319eff67ccdb0e0a14a0f8c6c.jpg


Passive hydro in coco may not be worth it to everyone, but since my grow season is around 90 days in total I had to make some adjustments so I could grow the superhots.

Neil

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