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hydroponic Pepper in a hydroponix setup?

N

nlpokerted

Hi everyone, Im new to the site and extremely new to hydroponics. My question is a bit vague and I was hoping someone out there could shed some light on a few questions. Right now i have about 5-6 different varieties of hot peppers (in soil in buckets) but due to space limitations at most I only have 2 of any given plant so i was hoping to build an A-frame like hydroponic system but couldnt find much information on a few question.
1) Are peppers (jalapenos, habenaro, trinidad ect...) suitable for a hydroponic setup or will the get too big to support themselves?(I know many people grow tomatos but couldnt find much info on peppers)
2) If size is not a limitation then could someone recomend a good size to use for net pots?
3) And while im here a little information on nutients for hydroponics would be helpful. Ive read of people using anything from compost to commerical products to homemade mixes to miracle gro and i guess it depends on what you are growing i just seem to be a bit lost.
Any information (or a point in the right direction) would be super helpful.
 
Peppers work really well in hydroponics.  I find that ebb and flow systems work well, and I'm betting that cocoponics (non-recirculated) is probably even better.  Only problem is, that while I love the growth rate of peppers in hydro, I find that they taste like crap.  I so much prefer the taste of peppers grown in soil, and organic, at that.
 
Welcome to THP from NorCal. I would suggest searching hydroponic in the glogs section of growing peppers. There is a wealth of information there.
 
1. yes they are suitable for hydo but still need space... they can grow 4ft+
 
2. size of the net pot doesn't matter too much 4in 6in are good for large pepper plants.
 
3. there are different techniques used for hydroponics...  read this
popular: DWC(deep water culture), Ebb and flow, NFT(nutrient film)
 
nutrients for hydro generally are a synthetic blend of liquid macro and micronutrients held in solution. See Dyna grow pro foliage, General hydro flora series.. You don't use compost or miracle grow..
 
Pepper plants respond well in hydro. One plant willl get huge quickly.

I willl give my experience and observations.When starting out don't go crazy. grow a few plants in a simple system. A lot of guys with no experience decide they are going to do something complicated or drop a lot of money. You need to learn about hydro from experience.

What does simple mean? To me simple is Ebb and Flow with cheap nutes, ph up/down, digital meters and that's it. Ebb and flow is easy and forgiving. It also works well. Do not go organic. I've talked to Hydro gurus and they tell me the problems they've had. It can be done but I would have some success under my belt before I try. I use 50/50 perlite coco coir mix in 5-10 galon felt pots flood and drain 4 times a day while the lights are running.

Cheap nutes. I recommend maxibloom at half to 60% full dose when the plants are say greater than 5 inches tall.

Digital meters. Alright this is very contentious. I had someone call me a liar when I said my ph meter didn't need adjusting after two years. Look I've tried strips and drops and I couldn't get a good read. One thing, if you are going to grow peppers YOU DO NOT NEED TO CALIBRATE YOU PH METER AT TWO POINTS. Just calibrate your meter at your target ph and adjust your nutes until you hit it. When it comes to ppm meter just buy the cheapest. Close is close enough.

The biggest mistake I always make with hydro is underestimating my success. My plants are always bigger than I planned and consume more water than I planned. A lot of people think hydro is harder. The opposite is true. Other people have done all the work.

I use beficial microbes and enzymes. Probably not needed but its a hobby not a business.
 
Strips and drops are used as controls by the vast horde of people that don't trust digital pH meters. I would speak with the company (BTW, which one?) that made your meter before advising people not to calibrate. Hopefully not a pen atleast...
 
frosty said:
I use beficial microbes and enzymes. Probably not needed but its a hobby not a business.
Click to expand...
Not only not needed, but a waste of money. Microbes don't work in conjunction with synthetic fertilizers. (salt based fertilizers kill microbes) Mind you, I'm not putting you down, just hate to see a fellow gardener toil needlessly.

Typically, I like to grow peppers in hydro setups in the cold season, to give them a huge growth spurt. They don't tend to put on pods in our "cold" months, (I grow outside here, between October and February) but I'll chop them back to the main stem and transplant them to soil for the warm months. I've been very successful with this method, getting trunks up to almost an inch in diameter for some varieties, in the span of about 4 months.
 
scratchzilla said:
I have found tha ph meters are not necessary. If you change your reservoirs weekly, you shouldn't see any problems.
Click to expand...
With all due respect, I can't totally agree with this. On one hand, I can agree that PH meters aren't necessary, because drops are totally sufficient for home hydro use. On the other hand, you qualify your first statement by implying that weekly nute changes = hydroponic harmony - so I'm not sure if you're saying that PH is irrelevant for the hydro setup, or if you're simply saying that a PH meter is overboard. It seems like there's a partially developed statement in there, somewhere.

This is my experience, and my opinion: One absolutely MUST have some way to check PH in ANY hydro setup. If not just to get the solution initially adjusted, then to have a way to diagnose anything that may go wrong in a setup. PH fluctuations are as much an indicator of a problem, as they are a precursor to them. But either way, anyone who throws nutes into a tub of water, and lets 'er rip, is just relying on dumb luck. If you've had that luck, you'll be amazed at your results with something as simple as PH adjusting. ;)
 
root spa's and ph perfect 3 part mix, and some calmag+ on hand just in case.
DSCN0117.jpg

 
Left to right:
FG Jigsaw, BG7, SB7J
 
Just so I'm clear - are we getting an influx of posts from people who are seriously advocating not PH'ing or checking PH in hydroponics?
 
Maybe I have just had dumb luck, but ever since I stopped using my ph pen, my plants have done great.

Remember, different nutrients are more and less available at different ph levels. Fluctuations in ph make everything available over the course of a week.

Mind you my water comes out of the tap at 7.0ph and 15ppm TDS, so I have very little extra goodies to deal with.
 
solid7 said:
Just so I'm clear - are we getting an influx of posts from people who are seriously advocating not PH'ing or checking PH in hydroponics?
Click to expand...
 
Yuuup :P Still waiting on frosty to reply, but it appears easier to make claims without backing them up :rolleyes:
 
Monitoring pH will help you diagnose potential root issues, changes in water quality or failures in your system. I can understand backing off on checking pH after a few solid runs, and there are nutrients that buffer pH to the ideal spread but advocating never checking or not calibrating your meter is just asinine, especially to someone new to hydroponics.
 
As far as holding up the petomato as an example, try that on scale, would love to hear how it works out...
 
solid7 said:
Just so I'm clear - are we getting an influx of posts from people who are seriously advocating not PH'ing or checking PH in hydroponics?
Click to expand...
Yup.
PH of water is 6 to 8 out of the tap.
PH perfect 3 part and tap water.
2 charges ph perfect--2 charges tap water---drain--repeat.
I charge with the mix, refil with plain water when down to around around 1/4, refil the next time with ph perfect mix when the level drops to 1/4, one more time with plain tap water next refill---drain---repeat.
 
Wow! I can't believe the nastiness from me saying my experience is one way but others have had different experience. I never said don't calibrate your meter. I said you only have to calibrate it at the target ph. So you just need one calibration fluid. SOME manufacturers recommend two points not all. There are two reasons to calibrate at two points. One is in case you have a range of PHs you are shooting for. The other is so that you can read do a calculation and then precisely adjust PH down or up. Most people do a bit of adjusting at a time until they hit their target so no point in doing two points.

I never said don't calibrate your meter. I realize some people will read "you don't need to calibrate your meter at two points" as "you don't need to calibrate your meter" but I wasn't writitng to them. I was writing to the OP.

I don't read THP everyday or even every week. My lack of a reply is not me quivering in fear of anyone's internet prowess.

PH shifts a lot when you have big plants. I find meters convenient and accurate. Many people will telll you that they are a lot of work. I haven't had that experience. I think it is like when people told me I had to have a chiller to do outdoor Hydro in AZ. I experiment and I post my results. Some people appreciate it. Some people are good at bluster but not so good at reading.
Gotrox said:
root spa's and ph perfect 3 part mix, and some calmag+ on hand just in case.
DSCN0117.jpg
 
Left to right:
FG Jigsaw, BG7, SB7J
Click to expand...
Btw PH perfect does work. I did something similar to grotrox.

I want you to read what I wrote and how I said calibrate your meter at one point. Then I want you to read lippy boy's post in response to mine. Ask yourself if this guy gets so easily confused do you want to listen to his advice? If you do what I tell you you will have success.
 
I probably should just drop out of this topic. I've been growing hydroponically for almost 10 years, and sadly, I cannot agree that PH monitoring is not necessary. I wish I could, but I can't. God knows it would have saved me some trouble.

There are WAY TOO MANY variables that go into water quality to make carte blanche statements about PH monitoring not being necessary. One would NEVER get away with no PH checking in my area with hydroponics. And I know because I've tried it.

IF you are knowledgeable on your water quality, and have a few successful runs, yes, by all means, scale back on PH monitoring. But to suggest going into hydroponics willy nilly with no means to check PH? (I don't care if it's a pen, strips, drops, whatever) Hmmm...

Just wondering if anybody can answer quickly - what will be the #1 question you'll be asked if you ever ask someone who is knowledgeable in hydroponics, to help you diagnose a plant problem in your hydro setup?
 
I would think that would have been just as easy to type up when you made your first smarmy reply, no? I think so.
 
I had someone call me a liar when I said my ph meter didn't need adjusting after two years.
 
Not sure how else you would interpret that, other than that you have only calibrated it once?
 
One thing, if you are going to grow peppers YOU DO NOT NEED TO CALIBRATE YOU PH METER AT TWO POINTS.
 
Two point calibration is pretty simple, a zero and a reference, fairly common with digital meters. Perhaps your meter is different, hence why I asked the brand. Something easily cleared up had you originally taken the time to reply in full, but I guess one-liner comments are just as well?
 
But then again, I'm pretty simple minded, maybe if you typed everything out in capitals it would be easier for us dimwits to read? :think:
 
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