Anyone have hydroponic experience?

[Kris5902]

I think a small flood and drain table might be more efficient... you could buy 1/2 or 3/4” plywood for the base and make it whatever size you need. You build it with a very slight tilt (think like your bathtub) 2x4 height sides, a drain in the lower end, pump outlet at the higher, waterproof the whole thing with pond liner or such and aquarium type silicone. Build or buy mesh type trays (think like the open ones berries come in) to contain your seeds so they don’t wash out into your reservoir.

You can then stage them the same way you do your jars... if it takes ten days to grow to where you want it, make it big enough for ten trays, each day harvest one tray and start a new one. Adjust your pump and flow rate so the table floods and then drains back into your reservoir... 5gallon bucket (most likely for #of chicken you’re feeding) or a garbage can depending on the size of the system. You can have the pump on a timer so it does all your watering and draining for you.

Say it takes ten days to maturity from seed and you want to feed a 6” square piece of fodder daily. Your table could be almost as small as 16x34” , and you could easily put a full spectrum fluorescent shop light fixture above it. You could probably even use the super heavy “contractor” garbage bags instead of pond liner for such a small system.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

My husband does hydroponics in large sterilite totes. His pump is 300 gallons per minute.

Are you sure it's not 300 gal/hr? A 300 gal/min pump would be huge, expensive and require 3-phase power.

 

[Kris5902]

^^^ *even better idea... those large shallow under bed storage plastic totes! Just add drainage and prop slightly...
Don’t have to build anything but add the reservoir and pump. I did some large deep bucket systems (think giant brute garbage cans) with the clay balls, for 6 very large tomato plants, so that was what I was first picturing with the jars, lol

 

[FnWeirdo]

^^^ *even better idea... those large shallow under bed storage plastic totes! Just add drainage and prop slightly...
Don’t have to build anything but add the reservoir and pump. I did some large deep bucket systems (think giant brute garbage cans) with the clay balls, for 6 very large tomato plants, so that was what I was first picturing with the jars, lol

i worry about materials used i know some plastic can leech off nasty stuff. are those plastic totes safe? wouldn't i want to use food safe plastic? i know pvc is suppose to be "food safe" as one of its main uses is to supply potable water?

 

[Kris5902]

i worry about materials used i know some plastic can leech off nasty stuff. are those plastic totes safe? wouldn't i want to use food safe plastic? i know pvc is suppose to be "food safe" as one of its main uses is to supply potable water?

I’m pretty sure they are food safe, plastics labeled with a 1,2,or 5 should be fine, also remember they won’t be in contact with the water for extended times... I would make sure to use food safe plastic for the reservoir (ask at local grocery stores... oil, olives, feta cheese all come in large food safe buckets!) if you’re concerned about leaching. Remember you will need to change the water every so often so it doesn’t get too much sugar accumulation from the grains as well, it’s not totally a set it and forget system, but would be less maintenance than the jars.

 

[Jerry H]

You might want to check micro greens growing kits or at least hydroponic growing mats.

I do some hydroponic growing in several different systems

 

[Jerry H]

Here's a few pics they are not new we are actually shut down right now still making repairs from Hurricane Michael and working on some other projects around the farm. Everything that I'm posting in this thread is hydroponic most of it uses coconut coir. Most but not all are drain to waste.

 

[Jerry H]

 

[Jerry H]

 

[Jerry H]