Hydroponic vegetable gardens

[d1]

Are any of you doing any hydroponic gardening? If so what are they pros and cons? Any tips you can offer?
Thanks in advance

 

[Caribblue]

Good morning! I use a stackable pot system that works well. The hardest thing for me is having to tie tomato branches up from roof beams. We have an invasive iguana problem here so the entire system is enclosed with hardware cloth to keep everything out. Right now my Scotch Bonett peppers are filling bags daily!

 

[Tiller]

What growing media do people use? I've been piecing together a system when I have the time and money and have been looking around at different growing media types and am curious to see what everyone uses.

 

[Caribblue]

i use perlite in the bottom2/3rds and ground coconut husk in the top 1/3. I also use straight ground cocnut husk for all my seed sowing/starting

 

[HandsomeRyan]

I've done some hydroponic projects.

Pros: You get to build stuff. You get a better understanding of plant nutrition. Did I mention building stuff?

Cons: When things go wrong the plants can be injured or killed much faster than traditional soil based agriculture. More expensive. If you don't like building stuff you might not like it?

 

[RichnSteph]

What growing media do people use? I've been piecing together a system when I have the time and money and have been looking around at different growing media types and am curious to see what everyone uses.

I've been looking at media as well and have settled on -3/4 black lava rock primarily due to price, weight and availability. The clay hydrotons are way more expensive than I can afford right now. I'd looked into heat-expanded-shale also and the closest place that has it is still several hours away. I sourced the lava rock locally (less than 30 minutes from my house) and at $95 a cubic yard I can afford the few yards that I need rather easily.

 

[FarmerPhronc]

What growing media do people use? I've been piecing together a system when I have the time and money and have been looking around at different growing media types and am curious to see what everyone uses.

I use the deep water culture method, aka Lettuce Raft. I make the raft from Dow 1 1/2" blue board foam and place my seedlings in 2'' net pots. I use General Hydroponics Flora Grow series of nutrients as well as their Rapid Rooter plant starter plugs to start my seeds in. I built the grow stand from 1" pvc it measures roughly 4' x 4'. I currently have 1 2' x 4' grow tub set up with the raft. I will be adding another 2' x 4' tub that I will set up as an ebb and flow aka flood and drain. The plan is to use a mixture of coco coir and perlite as the grow media.

 

[lazy gardener]

Good morning! I use a stackable pot system that works well. The hardest thing for me is having to tie tomato branches up from roof beams. We have an invasive iguana problem here so the entire system is enclosed with hardware cloth to keep everything out. Right now my Scotch Bonett peppers are filling bags daily!

Caribblue, that looks like a nice little set up. Can you tell me a bit about it? Where did you get your pots? What is your growing medium? What is your pump set up? and pump cycle?

 

[RichnSteph]

I need to drop some blue board with lettuce in it in my AP tank. I'm hoping it'll provide some added shade for the fish and grow some yummy salad goodies at the same time.

 

[shortgrass]

What growing media do people use?  I've been piecing together a system when I have the time and money and have been looking around at different growing media types and am curious to see what everyone uses.  

Hydroclay; its reusable and a neutral buffer

Tips:
Spend money on a QUALITY ph/ec meter.
Keep PH stable
Don't mess with nutes every day. Watch them respond and respond accordingly; hydro responds faster than soil.
Pest control; make it pest PREVENTION.

And duh, lol...don't forget to change the water as needed, and check ec DAILY.