Sunday, September 22, 2013

First post, starting hydroponic for vegetables

Just getting starting on my new challenge, growing vegetable indoors with hydroponic technique.
From the different methods of hydroponics I have seen online, the NFT (Nutrient Film Technique) seems the most interesting to me, not sure why, but decided to start with this one and see what happens.
Got the following equipment so far:
-4x4ft NFT hydroponic tray system, built from vinyl water downspout. This system comprises of 6 4ft long trays with 7 holes each, totaling 42 growing spots.
-Water pump, aquarium air pump and stone, 32 gal reservoir and distribution hoses.
-600W MH/HPS light system with ballast, socket, reflector,  and timer from Apollo. Got this from Amazon, link here for lest than $140
-Kit for starting seeds with media, trays and canopy
-Liquinox Start, Vitamin B1 Transplant solution for improving root development
-BluMoon two parts hydroponic nutrient solution (1-0-0 + 0-1-3).

-Reflecting film to confine light within a 4x4x4ft space

I have started the seeds of Lettuce, Spinach, Basil, Arugula and Watercress and I'm amazed how fast some of these take off.
Lettuce and Arugula takes usually a day or two to sprout. Spinach is the slowest with few plant after 2 weeks and Watercress and Basil in between.
I'm right now waiting the plants to develop enough roots to move it to the NFT system, here's how my setup is looking so far.




















6 comments:

  1. Your systems looks amazing! How did you cap the downspouts? One of the nicest looking DIY NFT systems ever!

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    Replies
    1. http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1687195

      I made some caps for my system and posted the design here

      Delete
  2. Looks good will you post pictures with plants growing?

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  3. Hi, I was wondering where to find the rain downspout end caps in your 6 - 4ft setup?, I have seen the downspouts at Home Depot, but not the end caps. Thanks for you're time... -wa-

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  4. Hi, I was wondering where to find the rain downspout end caps in your 6 - 4ft setup?, I have seen the downspouts at Home Depot, but not the end caps. Thanks for you're time... -wa-

    PS Sorry I showed up as unknown, hopefully it won't now.

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  5. Where did you find the end caps for the downspouts. I want to use 2x3 white downspouts. Thank you

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