Hydroponic Systems Blog

Yes...we are talking manure; otherwise known as guano, castings, effluent, droppings or feces. And I am an expert. To see why, read how I got into hydroponics. Manure may be a disagreeable substance but to the gardener it is a miracle of nature. It has been used by gardeners for a very long time to fertilize their plants because it is packed with nitrogen and many necessary trace nutrients that plants need.

So how does this relate to organic hydroponics? One method to provide nutrient water to your plants is to make a 'tea' by steeping some organic substance in a mesh bag to extract the nutrients and then watering your plants with this tea. It would appear that manure would be ideal for this method...well it's not! In fact, making such a tea out of fresh manure will add no nutrient value to your plants and will 'burn' the roots on top of it. Fresh manure (and any fresh organic matter such as fruit rinds or eggshells) contain a lot of plant nutrients but they are bound up in the organic matter and therefor unusable by a plant until the organic matter is composted or rotted. This is the process by which bacteria break down the organic matter releasing the bound-up nutrients.

So my recommendation is to use manure but compost it first or you are in for trouble...

September 2, 2006 13:10 - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Online Hydroponics Shopping...

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Online Hydroponics Shopping...

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September 3, 2006 12:09 - Aquaponics; will it work?

There is something fascinating with growing plants hydroponically in an aquarium with fish...The theory is that fish will excrete waste matter or effluent containing all the trace nutrients needed to sustain a plant.

Will it work? In my opinion it will not work very well at all. Fish effluent may contain high concentrations of plant nutrients but they are mostly unusable by a plant until they rot or compost. Unfortunately aquariums are frequently cleaned so fish waste is not allowed to rot and if it was it would probably result in an environment so dirty as to be toxic to the fish.

Even with the frequent cleanings, a plant may receive some trace nutrients from the effluent and grow, a little, until reaching a certain size where there simply is not enough nutrient to sustain the plant causing it to wilt and perish.

Of couse you could always add some additional nutrients to the aquarium but that would probably be toxic to the fish. So, as interesting as this concept sounds, I doubt it will work very well at all...

September 4, 2006 15:17 - Check out our customized Amazon bookstore...

I grew up before personal computers were available and I loved reading books. I still enjoy them immensely so Hydroponics-at-home.com is pleased to announce the launching of it's customized Amazon bookstore.

I scoured Amazon and selected the hydroponics books that I feel are the best and I can now offer them to you on this website so there is no need to go to another website to purchase them.

You can shop on this website but the actual monetary transaction and secure checkout is done by Amazon via their site so no need to worry.

Before you go, I do have one book recommendation to make, "Hydroponics, Soiless Gardening" by Richard Nicholls, is one of my absolute favorites. I have read it several times and still refer to it constantly. So feel free to checkout the new bookstore.

September 5, 2006 17:59 - What the heck is N-P-K?

Every package of fertilizer lists an N-P-K rating on the label. What does it mean? It is the percentage of Nitrogen (N), the percentage of Phosporus(P) and of Potassium(K) found in that particular mixture of fertilizer.

My hydroponics fertilizer shows "10-8-22" for an NPK rating meaning that by volume it contains 10% Nitrogen, 8% Phosphorus and 22% Potassium. Since this adds up to 40%, it means that the remaining 60% of the fertilizer is made of inert compounds. It is really just a general guideline as to the potency of the fertilizer.

Don't take this rating too seriously because the same fertilizer in liquid form will have a lower overall NPK rating than it's exact counterpart in powder form due to the fact that in liquid it is a little more diluted by volume.

This rating is also misleading because it does not show any other nutrients at all. For example, my favorite nutrient powder is 10-8-22 which seems rather low for a complete fertilizer when in fact it contains many other nutrients making it a complete fertilizer. Another fertilizer with the same NPK may lack the other nutrients and would not be able to be used alone.

So, when checking the quality of a fertilizer, use NPK as a very rough guideline - check the actual percentages of all nutrients listed on the back of the package.

September 6, 2006 20:41 - NFT vs. Organic Hydroponics

Can you make an NFT system work with organic hydroponics? Remember that an NFT system dangles plants roots in a flowing nutrient fluid, there is no growing medium. I ask this question because organic hydroponics involves organic fertilizer which means that the amount of bacteria invlolved will be much greater than a convention hydroponics system.

Bacteria is benefical to plant processes and actually produce more plant nutrient except that they require tremendous amounts of oxygen to sustain themselves. In a closed system such as NFT or Aeroponics, plant roots are usually enclosed within a tunnel of some sort, PVC for NFT or an actual box-type container for Aeroponics. This design is closed so reduces the free oxygen available to a plant and with a lot of bacteria at work grabbing the available oxygen, plants can literally smother in an organic hydroponics set up.

My recommendation to use organic hydroponics would be to set up a system with growing medium that is fully aerated rather than using NFT unless, of course, you are experienced enough to diagnose and handle any problems.

September 7, 2006 19:22 - A discussion of the use of Hydrogen Peroxide in nutrient water

Initially, when you think about adding a caustic chemical such as hydrogen peroxide to your hydroponics nutrient water you may say 'Are you crazy? Of course not!' but it is not as bad as you may think and does have some beneficial effects...

Chemically, Hydrogen Peroxide is H2O2 meaning it is very close to water except for an extra oxygen atom in an unstable arrangement. It is still a caustic substance but if applied to a hydroponics garden it will break down and form extra oxygen in the nutrient fluid to be easily used by plants.

But...and there is always a 'but', plants will absorb the chemical residue, affecting the taste of any vegetable not to mention the toxic residue you will ingest.

So is it benefical? Yes. Are there disadvantages to using hydrogen peroxide? Yes. Would I recommend using it or use it myself? No way! If you still want to use it, stick with no more than a 3% solution but my recommendation is don't use it...

September 8, 2006 18:45 - Organic Hydroponics and bacteria...

In an organic hydroponics system organic fertilizer will provide the breeding ground for billions of bacterial microorganisms in the plant's roots. Is this good or bad? And the answer is, 'it depends'. It depends on how often you flush your system, what you use for fertilizer and the system type.

There will always be bacteria in your hydroponics garden the same as in any garden. Some bacteria is beneficial by providing increased disease resistance for your plant and some bacteria is not so good and will adversely affect plant processing. Also an organic system is more prone to pest and disease due to the organic breeding ground provided by the organic fertilizer.

Should you be worried? Not really, as long as an organic system is completely flushed with plain water at least once or twice a month. This should reduce the active bacteria down to a manageable level. You need to do this because the more bacteria you incubate, the more oxygen is used which could eventually suffocate the plant. This is especially true if your growing system is an NFT or Aeroponics design or some similar closed design.

September 9, 2006 20:27 - Growing tip: use plastic cups to hold your plants

My favorite growing system is an ebb and flow design (click here for building plans) with a large growing container filled with growing medium in which I plant several plants. Recently I switched from placing plants directly into the growing medium to putting them into plastic cups filled with medium and it has turned out to be very handy.

I use 16 oz plastic soda cups in which I poke as many holes as possible through the side all around the cup, fill it with growing medium and transplant a plant into it. Then I sink this cup and all the other cups into the growing medium of the growing container. This has proven extremely useful when my basil plant acquired a spider mite infection. I merely took out the cup and up-ended the plant into water to get rid of the mites and then returned it to the container.

If you need to isolate a plant for some reason it can be easily moved and if you need to use some kind of harsh pesticide then the plant can be treated away from the others and out of range of the nutrient solution. Plants can also be easily transplanted from system to system if desired during the growing season and seedlings can be germinated directly in a cup. I would recommend you try it out.

Don't be worried that a large plant will become root bound in a plastic cup because a hydroponics system is designed so all plant roots easily receive all the plant nutrient needed therefore the root mass can remain small. In fact I periodically pull the cup up and trim off all the roots growing through the cup holes.

September 10, 2006 12:38 - Oxygen in your Hydroponics Garden

A good supply of oxygen around a plant's roots is critical for a healthy plant. Without oxygen a plant will literally suffocate and die - or, if in a hydroponics system, drown.

In hydroponics, oxygen is supplied to a the plant root system in 2 main ways: by an aerated nutrient solution washing the roots of the plants and, for those systems using a growing medium, by suction created through the action of the nutrient solution draining down through the growing medium back to the nutrient container which sucks oxygen down to the root system. So you can see that the least dense your growing medium is, the easier oxygen can reach your plant's roots.

What can rob oxygen from the root system? A high level of bacteria, for one. These are living organisms in your growing medium and on plant roots and use up a lot of oxygen. In extreme cases your plant can suffocate. Another cause of low oxgen would be stagnant nutrient water and a third cause can be extremely dense growing medium.

Keep these factors in mind when building and maintaining a hydroponics growing system. What do I do to keep an adequate supply of oxygen in my systems?

I have an aquarium bubbler in my nutrient solution running continuously to aerate the liquid, I use a medium-dense growing medium of pea stone (very small rocks), I splash the overflow during the 'flood' cycle of my ebb/flow system back into the nutrient container for aeration and I drain and flush the entire system with fresh water every 2 weeks to flush out oxygen robbing bacteria and to flush any accumulated mineral salts. Do these tasks and you should not have any 'oxygen problems'.

September 11, 2006 19:58 - 'Damping-Off' disease; how you can prevent it.

'Damping-Off' disease is really a fungal infection usually attacking seedlings causing the stem near the ground-line to rot and topple the plant. It usually attacks if you overwater your plant for a period of time and if conditions are damp and humid. It hardly ever seems to attack mature plants but I have had it happen to me twice - I lost two mature green pepper plants to it and I was not pleased...

A hydroponics system is always damp by virtue of design so may be more prone to it but there is an easy, foolproof way to prevent this fungal infection.

When I lost my pepper plants to this infection I looked very closely at where the plants were placed, how much nutrient water received, etc. and I came to the inescapable conclusion that my plants were sitting too low in the ebb/flow system so the actual stem of the plants were getting washed in nutrient solution several times a day. The infection, in this case, was completely preventable...

So, how would you guard against this? If you look at a plant near the base of the stem there is almost a clear division where the stem starts and the upper root system begins. Make sure your plant is sunk in the growing medium to a point where the nutrient water line is below this division; where the beginning of the roots have to drop down to reach the nutrient solution. Do this and 'damping-off' disease will merely be something you read about and not have to experience.

September 12, 2006 17:55 - The mystery of green nutrient water.

What do you do when your hydroponic nutrient water turns green overnight? Trust me, it will happen to you someday. Fortunately, as surprising as it is, it is nothing to worry about. It is merely green algae in rather large densities.

Algae are simple organisms that turn light energy into sugars - they are harmless to you and your plants and the only non-toxic way to rid yourself of an algae infestation is to change your nutrient water and flush your system. There are chemical deterents for sale that will prevent the growth of algae but why introduce an unnecessay toxic substance to your plants? Algae is harmless...

Also, if you look very closely at the picture of my hydroponics system on my homepage you will see the green nutrient solution. Yes, I had an algae attack when that picture was taken...

September 13, 2006 21:35 - How often and how much should you flood with nutrient solution?

The amount of nutrient solution you flood your plants with requires constant attention. I'm talking about an ebb/flow or flood and drain hydroponics system where the growing medium anchoring your plants is periodically flooded with nutrient solution which drains off after a specified time over and over in a continuous cycle.

How long should you flood the plants and how often? The goal is to flood the plants for about one half hour, drain and reflood later before the growing medium dries out. This provides the plant roots with a constant feeding from the damp, nutrient-saturated growing medium. Flooding too long or too often could drown your plants and not flooding enough could also kill them.

It all depends on the density of your growing medium, the size of the growing container, the amount of heat and humidity in the air and the size of the plants. It sounds complicated but it really isn't. Dense growing medium will dry out slower than light medium, a small growing container will dry out faster than a larger one, sunlight, heat and dryness will evaporate water quicker and larger plants can drink an amazing amount of water per day.

I have an ebb/flow system with a growing container about 1.5 feet by 2 feet and 8 inches high which I keep in a hot and humid greenhouse. When the plants are young I will flood for one half hour every 4 hours day and night and I will change this as the temperature climbs in the summer and the plants grow to one half hour every 3 hours during the day and one half hour every 6 hours at night. I judge whether I 'have it right' by my plants. If they wilt during the day I increase the frequency of watering, checking first to make sure the medium is dry. If it is saturated I decrease the frequency.

In my second ebb/flow system I have 12 plants each in a 16 oz cup filled with medium. Since this tends to dry out very quickly I flood this for 10 to 15 minutes on the hour, every hour. So there is really no set rule; for small containers start for 10 minutes every hour and for larger containers start with one half hour every 4 hours and adjust from there by watching how your plants react...

September 14, 2006 19:15 - Plagued with Plant Pests? Counterattack with predatory bugs

One thing you will never, ever evade are garden bugs. They descend in hordes just looking for a plant to feed on. What can you do about it? There is always the old-time, yet effective pesticide solution...but let's look at a more favorable alternative - good bugs.

It is now possible to order a variety of bugs to hatch and release into your garden to eat the bad ones; and they are very good at it. They are also safe to use around people, plants and pets. There are predator bugs available to treat just about any 'bad' bug infestation including thrips, scale, spider mites and aphids to name a few. The 'good' bugs include larvae of lady bugs, minute pirate bugs, fungus gnat predators, praying mantises, green lacewings and various beetles, mites, parasites and nematodes.

You can't go wrong with this method of pest control so try it out...Click here to check out Better Grow Hydro's online selection of 'good' bugs for 'bad' bug control.

September 15, 2006 21:43 - Seaweed; Nature's Hydroponic Miracle

Seaweed is an absolute gardening marvel loaded with many major plant nutrients and over 60 trace nutrients required by plants. And it's not really a plant, itself, it's more closely related to algae but when used dry or fresh it can really give your plants a huge boost.

Traditionally it is used as an organic hydroponics fertilizer in conjunction with fish emulsion and possibly bone meal but can also be added to the nutrient water of a conventional hydroponics garden as a supplement. In fact I would recommend it. It can be bought as an extract and, in full strength, is added to nutrient water at the rate of 1 to 1.5 teaspoons per gallon. As a supplement in a conventional hydroponics system using a processed hydroponics fertilizer I would add no more than 2 teaspoons per 8 gallons of water.

In addition to it's nutrient value, seaweed will also encourage the growth of bacteria around plant roots due to it's organic nature. Remember that bacteria is 'good' in that it aids much of the plant's basic processing as well as giving some increased disease resistance. And if you regularly flush your system with plain water every 2 weeks or so bacteria will never be a problem. So I encourage you to try out some seaweed as a supplement - you may be pleasantly surprised at the results...

September 17, 2006 14:36 - Benefits and Dangers of Compost Tea

Compost tea is the process of steeping a bag of compost in water to extract the 'essence' of the compost, the same way you would make tea with a tea bag. There is evidence that compost tea has been used for thousands of years for it's an excellant way to provide nutrients for your plants.

The process is easy; a shovelfull or two of compost is put in a mesh bag and allowed to sit in 5 gallons of water for a week and the tea produced is mixed with water (1 part tea to 2 parts water) and used as a foliar spray or just to water your plants. What happens is that over the week of steeping, bacteria grows and feeds on the organic components of the compost producing essential plant nutrients as a by-product of the feeding. Not only are nutrients produced but increased disease protection for your plants is developed making compost tea a very useful and powerful part of your organic hydroponics garden.

What you should be aware of is that the bacterial colony working in the tea is actually a balance of good and bad bacteria; 'good' meaning benefical for nutrient development and 'bad' meaning pathogenic to humans. In this time of newly emerging viral, bacterial and fungal strains you need to be careful in how you make the compost tea. How it has been made for thousands of years could actually be dangerous to your health.

So, how to make a 'safe' compost tea? First, always wear gloves and practice good hygiene. Wash your hands well after handling the 'tea'. Second, place an aquarium air bubbler into the compost tea as it steeps to provide oxygen which encourages the growth of 'good' bacteria. This may seem like an unnecessary concern but 'better safe than sorry'. By the way, I probably don't need to say that this is entirely my opinion and others will feel differently.

September 18, 2006 19:14 - Fine Tuning your Hydroponics System

Even though a hydroponics system is designed to grow large, healthy plants, if you do not keep in mind basic plant requirements your plants will not flourish. There are 5 basic plant requirements; sunlight, adequate temperature, oxygen, water and nutrients and each type of hydroponic system meets these needs in different ways.

Sunlight is the same for any system type; plants are grown in the sun or under artificial lights providing the right spectrum for growing and flowering and temperature must be somewhere from 40 to 115 fahrenheit. As for oxygen, it must be readily available to the plant leaves and it's roots. This means that an ebb/flow system must use a growing medium dense enough to anchor plants but 'airy' enough to drain nutrient solution and suck oxygen down to the roots as part of the draining process.

A container or passive system dangles plants roots in nutrient solution so the solution must be constantly aerated with an aquarium bubbler or the plants will eventually drown. The other extreme, aeroponics, is a closed system keeping out available oxgen but the forced nutrient spray should provide enough oxygen while a closed NFT system made from PVC pipe needs some extra holes drilled down near the plants so the action of the running solution will suck air into the pipe.

Water should be of a neutral PH with no contaminants and nutrients can be processed hydroponic powder or liquid fertilizer or some organic mixture for an organic system. Organic nutrients also help bacteria grow around root systems aiding plant processes but also using up available oxygen causing you to provide more aeration or flush your system with plain water more often to reduce bacterial levels.

September 19, 2006 22:23 - Guano; take the plunge...

Guano has been used for centuries in South America as a plant fertilizer for it is loaded with nitrogen and phosphorus. The word, 'guano', comes from the Incas meaning 'the excrement of seabirds' but is now used to describe the excrement of seals and bats as well.

And it has become big business. In fact a war was fought over the taxation of guano at one time in South America and it is becoming more and more important with each passing year. Estimates now predict the current resources of phosphorus used in commercial fertilizer to run out in about 30 years leaving guano as one of the few phosphorus fertilizers left.

Guano is the nutrient rich excrement of seabids such as the cormorant and pelican and is also gathered from seals and bats. The best guano is collected from caves where it has not been broken down by sunlight and usually contains other organic materials such as bits of feathers or bones as well as benefical bacteria and fungi that act as a fungicide protecting plants against disease. Typical guano contains somewhere around 6% phosphorus, 9% nitrogen and 2% potassium (NPK rating of 9-6-2) which makes it one of the most nutrient rich fertilizers you could buy (of course NPK guano ratings can vary widely by species and diet).

Commercial guano is processed, aged and ready for instant use as a supplement in a dirt garden, conventional hydroponics and organic hydroponics growing systems and is relatively cheap and readily available. Guano is now produced in South America, Cuba and America and is fast becoming a booming business.

For organic hydroponics, a combination of compost tea, guano and seaweed extract would be all the fertilizer your garden would ever need...

I highly recommend it and suggest you give it a try. Check it out in my store.

September 20, 2006 18:54 - Save the seeds from the plants you grow

Saving seeds from your current harvest to plant and germinate yourself next year is a good practice. It reduces cost and in most cases the seed will 'breed true' meaning it will produce a plant with the same characteristics as the mother/father plant. To save seeds simply let one select fruit or vegetable stay on the vine until it is past over-ripe. Harvest the fruit and air-dry the seeds you find in a cool, dark place until they are dry then store in a light-proof, moisture-proof container until ready to plant.

Be aware though that if you are growing different varieties of the same plant they may cross breed resulting in a plant with characteristics of both varieties. Now, how do you know if a plant will 'breed true'? Not all will, resulting in some wild and probably useless variations or what you might consider to be a 'throw-back'.

If the plant you are saving seeds from is pure bred or not a hybrid (check the seed package) and you are not growing any other same plant varieties the resultant seed will breed true. This is pretty much guaranteed due to the fact that pure bred strains are highly inbred where there are no 'strange' dominant characteristics that will show up - they have been bred out. If you are dealing with a hybrid variety you are taking a chance but, most likely, you will get a duplicate of what you gathered the seeds from.

It is still worth saving seeds and planting them - even if, by chance, you get some wild variation, it might actually be superior to the parent...but don't count on it.

September 21, 2006 18:59 - Keeping animals out of your garden

Indoor hydroponics systems do not have this concern but outdoor ones do...animals who feel you planted a garden just for them to eat! My hydroponics growing systems are mainly outdoor set ups and I am plagued with rabbits, woodchucks, racoons, skunks, opposums and too many deer to count. It's a war, and you need to devise clever ways to keep them out of your garden.

I'm really not the kind of person who would kill an animal that is pestering me so I have come up with some good ways to deflect, distract and discourage them from eating my plants. I realize that in different parts of the world there will be different animals to contend with but these techniques will be just as effective...

The 'war' is waged on many fronts meaning there must be a combination of techniques keeping animals at bay at work at the same time. Here are some strategies:

• If you have a compost pile, make sure it is a good distance from your garden. Containing leafy food scraps, these piles are bound to attract feeding animals - racoons are the worst; when they feed and fight they sound like a horde of banshees from hell have descended upon your garden.


• The makings for compost tea should be covered, weighted down and located far from your garden.


• If you cannot put a portable greenhouse or similar structure around your plants, try to enclose them with a fence.


• Forget about shiny and noisy objects strung around the garden to frighten animals away - this only works for about 30 seconds.


• If you must feed those cute deer during the winter months like my wife, feed them in a location away from where your garden will be located or these same deer will come back all year to that very same feeding spot and if a garden happens to be there...all the better for them.


• Deflect deer from your garden by putting a salt lick a distance away.


• Urine, even human urine, is viewed by animals as territorial marking - I don't need to mention the possibilities here...


• One of the best ways to keep out deer is to place a dryer cloth (those little perfumy, smelly sheets you can throw in a dryer with your clothes to make them smell nice) on a stake putting one cloth/stake next to every plant. Deer seem to dislike this smell intensely and will go elsewhere to feed.


• You could always get a dog...

To sum up, use a variety of methods to keep animals away including deflection, territory marking and a little common sense and you may just have some vegetables to eat when you harvest...

September 22, 2006 18:18 - Alternative Greenhouses

I currently have 2 outdoor ebb/flow hydroponics systems, 2 mittleider grow boxes and 2 dirt grow boxes in a portable greenhouse I put up and take down each year. It serves my purposes and works just fine but I am thinking of a new design and approach to a greenhouse type structure.

Right now there are 2 possibilities with the first being a traditional square structure with peaked roof (still portable) made from PVC pipe and light wood. Only the roof would be covered with plastic and the sides would have netting on them. This would solve the overheating problem greenhouses have, provide a roof to keep rainwater out of the ebb/flow systems, keep animals out and let pollinating insects in...

The second option is more appealing to me and would be a greenhouse tipi covered with plastic down to 3 feet off the ground which would be covered with netting. This would be the easiest to build only requiring a large number of 14 to 16 foot poles. I am still researching these options but when I do decide on a plan I am considering videotaping the construction and offering it to you on this website.

This would be free of charge, of course, and would be able to be viewed on the website or as a video download... I would welcome any comments - just click on the 'comments' link under this blog entry or you can give me some more private feedback.

September 23, 2006 20:01 - Selecting the proper plants for your greenhouse hydroponics system

Greenhouses are great for protecting and growing plants hydroponically. Drawbacks include high day-time temperatures possibly reaching 115 fahrenheit, a more humid environment than outside which encourages bacterial and fungi diseases and the lack of pollinating insects. On the other hand, it can keep animals out, give you more control over the growing environment and supply a little heat on cold nights. I personally like growing hydroponics in a greenhouse.

When I first put up my greenhouse, I was not sure what to plant so I chose, tomatoes, squash, basil, cilantro, parsely, green peppers, lettuce, hot peppers and bush string beans. The tomatoes and squash were grown in Mitteider grow boxes with 5 plants in one 6 foot by 3 foot growbox and the rest were placed in ebb and flow hydroponics systems.

I had great success with basil, parsely, string beans, green peppers and hot peppers except that my 'bush' type string beans grew 12 feet tall forcing me to quickly figure out a means of plant support. Later I realized that they were a 'hybrid' variety and, as such, are not really guaranteed to breed true - they had reverted to the characteristics of some earlier ancestor. Still they had a better than average yield. The tomatoes grew to 14 feet with an average yield and caught a plant disease and died. Now I realize they were too closely packed together in an extremely humid place so were bound to fail - since they could not spread out they grew very tall.

The worst problem was with the squash. First they had to be constantly treated for powdery mildew and second I grew a lot of squash blossoms but no squash. I eventually learned that they have male and female flowers and rely on pollinating insects to produce squash but my greenhouse was closed with no bugs at all. I ended up hand pollinating them for a small yield. So, learn from my experiences and realize that some plants are not suited for growing in a greenhouse.

Squash, melons, pumpkins and cucumbers are only some plants with male and female flowers so if grown indoors or inside a closed greenhouse will not produce fruit without manual intervention. There are also plants that prefer colder weather. My lettuce grew just fine but was extremely bitter because colder temperatures are required to make lettuce sweet. Radishes also need lower temperatures or the root will not form into a radish which is something that really mystified me when I first put them in the greenhouse.

Other cold weather plants include cabbage, kale, brussel sprouts, spinach, peas, beets, broccoli and cauliflower. Plants that grow well in greenhouses are string beans, cukes, melons, squash, peppers, basil, parsely and, of course, tomatoes.

September 25, 2006 19:24 - Hydrogen Peroxide to control bacterial growth

On a previous day I spoke about the benefits and disadvantages of adding hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to hydroponic nutrient solution. It does break down actually adding oxygen to plant roots but it is still a toxic substance and not something I want in my garden. In my opinion the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.

There is another reason to add H2O2 to nutrient water - to sterilize the growing medium eliminating all bacteria. Remember that bacteria can grow quite easily in an airy, oxygenated growing medium and may actually be detrimental to your plants. The more bacteria present, the more oxygen is taken from the plant root system. H2O2 would take care of this by killing off all bacteria.

But this is overkill, in my opinion. Some bacteria is needed for plant functioning and imparts disease resistance by acting as a fungicide. Bacteria is needed by plants and should be present in a balanced system - balanced where no one type of bacteria will take over. Sterilizing the bacteria with H2O2 is not a very good option. Why not just flush the system from top down with plain water to get rid of excess bacteria? It's safe, non-toxic and will suck air down to the plant roots during the flushing process.

And don't forget about the toxic residue H2O2 will leave. Plants will drink it and it cannot be a very healthy substance for them; not to mention the trace H2O2 taste in the vegetable yield.

I still see a lot of articles proclaiming H2O2 as some sort of miracle substance written with the same attitude as the United States old west snake-oil salesmen, "One drink of this miracle elixir will cure all your ails". Well, sometimes the cure can be worse than the affliction. I guess I don't need to say that H2O2 will never be found in my hydroponics nutrient solution...

September 26, 2006 19:16 - Drip Irrigation; an excellant way to garden hydroponically

I never hear too much about drip hydroponics even though it would be relatively easy to build and maintain. Drip emitters that attach to a garden hose are fairly common so parts can be found in most department stores or garden centers. A drip hydroponics system would still require some kind of growing medium in a growing container and a nutrient solution container with nutrient solution and pump. A long hose is attached to the output of the pump and short tube lengths are attached to the garden hose at various intervals each ending in a drip emitter resting at the base of a plant.

Water pumped into the hose is stopped at the drip emitters which come in various sizes. Each size is rated with it's GPH output or the amount of water it drips in gallons per hour. When the pump is on, nutrient water drips out of the emitter and around your plant.

The system is simple and parts are cheap and widely available. Traditional drip irrigation in dirt gardens use a hose attached to a faucet which can be attached to a timer. Something like this could be adapted for hydroponics if you can figure out how to add into the system the hydroponic nutrient. I would recommend a nutrient solution container and submersible pump attached to a timer.

Advantages? Parts are cheap and there is not many parts that can break down. The small pieces of drip tubing attached to the main hose are each fitted onto the barbed end of a plastic fitting that is pushed right through the main hose. The drip emitter comes in 1, 2, 4, 5 GPH and has it's own barbed end to attach to the drip hose. It's all very easy. For a pump I would select a medium capacity submersible pump capable of pushing nutrient solution into the hose with a fair amount of force. Drip emitter ratings are set at 20 to 40 PSI so with a weaker pump the rated drip amount will be lower.

Disadvantages? Not many, in fact, only one possible problem: The drip emitter has a very small hole in which water drips from so nutrient solution will have to be well filtered or there will be clogs. This can be solved easily by placing the pump in a small mesh bag. So, once again, drip hydroponics is quick, easy and kind to your wallet - give it a try...

September 27, 2006 19:33 - Drip Hydroponics and organic hydroponics - are they compatible?

Will organic gardening methods work with a drip hydroponics system? This is really a leading question because organic gardening methods will work with any type of dirt or hydroponics garden. The question really is, 'Are you willing to put forth the effort required to maintain an organic drip system?'. Drip systems using plain water frequently get clogged emitters and when used with conventional hydroponic fertilizer will become clogged a little more often. Think of what will happen when using organic solids you are making a tea out of - there will be continuous clogging...

Even with the best of filters, organic material large enough to clog an emitter will escape through the pump. Of course if you do not mind the constant maintenance then there is no problem. My recommendation would be to use a powdered or liquid organic nutrient such as fish emulsion, powdered guano and seaweed extract or some commercial product such as 'earthjuice'. These products will have already been processed for you and, with a pump filter, should not clog your emitters too often.

Such powdered and extracted nutrient products are much easier to use anyway. They can be added to water and can be used as nutrients immediately. Drip systems are worth the time and effort to perfect (I almost built one myself) and with the proper products you can grow organically and easily...

September 28, 2006 19:46 - Plan how to support your plants early on or you will have problems

This topic may seem rather uninteresting but if you do not plan how to support your plants you will be 'tearing your hair out' at the last second. You may be saying, 'what's the big deal? As they grow I'll tie them to something...'. I said much the same when I first started hydroponics and I have paid the price for it. Now I plan for and build plant supports at the same time I plant seedlings.

The first thing to remember is that hydroponic plants develop smaller root systems than their dirt counterparts because roots do not need to grow to reach nutrients; it is readily and easily supplied in a hydroponics growing system. Plant roots help serve as an anchoring device for the plant so a smaller root system means less anchoring. The second thing to remember is that by virtue of design, hydroponics will use a lighter growing medium (or none at all in the case of NFT) which provides plant roots with very little to grab on to and anchor with.

What this means is that hydroponic plants reaching a certain height will more than likely fall over unless supported. And hydroponic plants will grow faster and larger than when in dirt. Here's a true-to-life example of what happened to me: I planted several beefsteak tomato plants in a mittleider growbox in a portable PVC greenhouse. Normally a 6 foot steak driven into the ground next to each plant would be enough support to tie the plant to. These plants grew to 14 feet so the top 8 feet of the tomato plants were not being supported. Suddenly I find myself crawling in and around these tomato bushes tying them to the greenhouse support structure. It was not easy and not fun but it did work even though the combined weight of the plants bent the PVC out of shape. If I had planned ahead, this would not have happened...

With small plants a stake driven into the growing medium may be good enough or a stake nailed to the boards underneath the growing container would work. With larger plants you have to be creative with support design - just keep in mind that the combined weight of several large plants will exceed several hundred pounds. And when you tie the plants to a support do not use string or twine as this will cut right into the plant stem. I use small 2 foot cloth strips torn from an old sheet or pillow case. So please keep plant support foremost in your mind when starting a hydroponics garden and you will not be sorry...

September 29, 2006 18:12 - What to do with your harvest?

Although it's nice to finally get some vegetables and herbs after all your hard work, everything seems to come at once. So what do you do?

You can only eat so much so with the rest of the harvest you can...sell them, give them away, can, dry, freeze or make craft items. I have never tried canning but freezing and drying are pretty easy. First and foremost, save some seeds to plant in your next garden. For harvesting ideas here are some of the things I do with my harvest:

• Squash: Great for roasting, frying and making many squash breads. You can also stuff the squash flowers with ricotta cheese with some spices and fry them up.


• Tomatoes: Boil into a sauce for a couple hours and freeze or, better yet, simply rinse the tomatoes in water, pull off any stem and freeze whole. If you need to remove the skin do it when the tomato unthaws when it is very easy.


• Green Peppers: Rinse, cut in half, get rid of the seeds and freeze.


• Hot Peppers: Rinse and freeze whole just like with tomatoes.


• Parsely: Tie whole plants together near the bottom of the plant and place in a brown paper bag with holes all through the sides and store in a cool, dark place for 2 weeks to dry. Then strip the leaves and put into an airtight container.


• Basil: Make pesto in serving size portions and freeze. To do this use a blender to make paste of 2 cups basil leaves, some olive oil, pinenuts and garlic. Freeze and serve as-is over pasta. Or you can dry the plants the same way as for parsely.


• String Beans: Rinse, cut up and boil in water for 3 minutes then freeze.


• Gourds: Carve them into small birdhouses.

When freezing vegetables try to get all air out of the bag to avoid freezer burn unless you have a vacuum sealer (which is something I plan to buy). When drying, don't leave plants to dry for longer than 2 weeks or you will lose a lot of taste.

My harvest is largely eaten immediately and given to family and friends but I do manage to freeze enough to last a few months. I hope I have stimulated your imagination so, 'good luck' with you harvest - it is worth the wait...