Happy New Years! - I have questions

Happy New Years everyone! Here's to 2011 being the best year yet. :)

As you know I am getting ready for a new project. I want to make an indoor hydroponic herb garden. I'm thinking of making it a NFT (Nutrient Film Technique) type system. My main reason is I want to design a new NFT system because I think it will be a lot of fun. The second reason is from what I've read it is an excellent system for growing herbs.

My major worry is unlike most systems NFT systems are prone to catastrophic failure in the event of a power outage. Maybe I can design some type of a back-up system just for such an event. Living in N.W. Ohio we have had power outages before but fortunately not very often.

My questions are, what are you thoughts about NFT systems? Have you used one? If so, do you have any advice for me? Also I would like to hear suggestions on what herbs you think I should grow and why.

Thanks for checking in and see you next year.

Indoor Herb Garden: Introduction

If you've never tried fresh herbs in your cooking you don't know what your missing. Like a lot of people I have several small jars of dried herbs on my counter next to the stove. I never really understood the big deal or the expense of fresh herbs in cooking.

When I first got into hydroponics I was looking for plants that not only grew quickly but were also useful. Unlike peppers and tomato plants, my favorite plants to grow, herbs can be eaten when only a few weeks old.

Seed Sprouting for a Hydroponic System

I will continue my short series of answering questions. A subscriber asked how can he go about sprouting seeds for his home built hydroponic systems. Here is my answer.

Can I use River Rocks in my Home Built Hydroponic System?

This Hydroponics Hobbyist wants to know if he can use river rocks in his hydroponic system. Below is where I answer his question along with my opinions about other hydroponic media.

Water quality issues in a Hydroponic System

This question is from a guy who has been having trouble with his bubble cloner system. I have tested and proven you can successfully grow clones of your favorite plants with nothing but water. No chemicals or Hydroponic Fertilizer is necessary for the cloning process.

The issue he seems to be having is his water quality. His first problem is he used tap water which may be harming his cuttings.  The second is his PH has gone too high. The following is my response to him.

Merry Christmas!

Sorry I haven't posted anything on here in a while. I haven't made any new Hydroponic videos lately but I have answered many questions recently. I'm guessing if someone has a question maybe other people have similar questions. Over the next few days I will be posting the advice from these communications in the hopes it will also help others.

In other news I hope to start a new series of video about having an indoor herb garden. Since we're well into the winter season I really miss gardening and having home grown fresh herbs. I want to set up a small indoor hydroponic home built garden using a combination of natural sunlight and florescent lighting. I'm checking into what herbs would be best for low light indoor gardening.  

For anyone who has stopped by to read and follow my blog I wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

DIY Cheap Bubble Cloner with Instructions

By following these instructions you can build your own Bubble Cloner for next to nothing using parts that most people throw away. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.


If you wish to check out a professional Clone Machine I've provided a link for you. It's called the EZ Clone Machine - 120

Why build the Percolator?

I had a subscriber on You Tube ask me a pretty straight forward question. He basically asked, why build build the Percolator when a bubbleponics system would be so much easier? Couldn't you just put a hole in the lid without the PVC pipe and add an air stone? This in part was my response.

  If you wanted to build a bubbleponics type system you would not need the PVC tube at all. Yes you could just drill a tiny hole in the lid and feed the tube through it, no silicone necessary. I did not want to build a simple bubbleponics system.
This is a variation of a top drip system. It was made to eliminate a few issues I was having building an inexpensive home made system.

How to make a Top Drip Bucket Hydroponic System

This video contains instructions for building your own Top Drip Bucket Hydroponic System using a 5 Gallon Bucket, a Mesh Pot Bucket Lid, and the GH Farm Kit. This kit was intended to be used for the General Hydroponics Water Farm System. I knew with a little modification I could build my own system and save a few dollars.
The Pumping Column is an "Air Lift Pump". It uses air bubbles instead of an electric water pump to supply the hydroponic nutrient to the plant.
I recommend you buy the 10" lid. As you see in the video the 8" will work also with a very easy modification. I'm using this system to have my own home grown heirloom tomatoes.
Here is the list
Bucket Boss 10002 5-Gallon Bucket
10" Round Mesh Pot
8" Round Mesh Pot
General Hydroponics Farm Kit
General Hydroponics Flora Kit 1 Pint each
Hydroton 10 Liter Bag
Elite 800 Air Pump - Elite A800

Sure To Grow Promo You Tube Contest WINNER!

http://www.hydroponicsfriend.com

This is my first submission for Sure To Grow's You Tube contest Show Some Love, and I WON!!!

Going from Hydroponics to soil you can see the roots growing right through the STG Cube.

Going from Soil to Hydroponics, even after a couple weeks the surface of the STG Cube is still white and clean.

This video was made mostly with out takes and extra footage from my other videos. You will see I use STG Cubes in many of my videos. Please explore my Youtube channel and take a look around, I think you will enjoy them.

Have Fun! More videos on the way.

Easy To Build Hydroponics System: The Percolator

http://HydroponicsFriend.com

What do you do with your old plastic coffee can. Build a mini Hydroponics system of course.

A Hydroponics system built into a coffee can that sounds like a percolator while it's running, how funny is that?

The piece of air tube going into the home made lift pump is from a small aquarium air pump. The tube comming out of the side goes right into the center of the net pot. The solution splashes onto the Hydroton right next to the plant stem but not directly at it.

Build one of your own. It's a lot of fun!
See more videos on my You Tube Channel.

Build your own Ebb and Flow / Flood and Drain Hydroponics System DIY Animated Version

http://HydroponicsFriend.com

I hope this video will show how and encourage people to build their own Ebb and Flow Hydroponics System. This is a fun hobby for me and I believe other people would enjoy it too if they knew how easy and relatively inexpensive it can be.

Why an Animated Version? It allows me to show the inner workings of how this Ebb and Flow system works. I suspect this is something a person who has never seen one in action would want to see. It will also take some of the mystery out of it. This shows how simple a Hydroponics system can be. It also allows me to show variations without having to build several systems. And finally, I wanted to do an animated video and try out the Narration feature of Windows Movie Maker. LOL
May more videos on You Tube.

Square Foot Gardening Pictures

http://HydroponicsFriend.com

These are some pictures I found on an old picture CD of my first Square Foot Garden. My intention when I first started making videos was to do videos on SFG and Hydroponics. So far, because of bad weather and lack of funds I haven't done much of anything about Square Foot Gardening. No excuses, I promised you SFG videos and you shall have them!
Check out my other Youtube videos here.

Gardening Update #2 Hydroponics Success and seed starting failure

http://HydroponicsFriend.com

This is my second update 12 days after Update #1. My homemade Hydroponics system is working extremely well. I am very happy with the results. So far its a great success. The pepper plants are showing slight damage, either from cold or more likely over watering. Starting seeds in the Jiffy Pots was a total failure. I believe the salad container was sealed too tightly. This could have easily been avoided by simply leaving the clear lid loose instead of snapping it down.

So what have I learned?
1. Hydroponics is easier than I thought it would be.
2. I have to pay closer attention to not to over water.
3. Too cool temps are deadly to seeds in Jiffy Pots.


Thanks for watching. More videos on my Youtube Channel.

Hydroponics Transplant for my Home Made Ebb and Flow System

http://HydroponicsFriend.com

This is how I transplant sprouts into Sure To Grow cubes.
It is very much like rockwool and other growing media.

Once the sprout is "transplanted" it can be inserted into whatever
type of hydroponic system you may be using.

In my case, the cilantro seeds would not sprout in the cube.
Other seeds I used in the cubes took right off no problem.
Sprouting seeds in a paper towel is a system I am familiar with.
Some times it's better to resort back to home TURF.
(Another bad gardening joke)
Check out my Youtube Channel to see more Hydroponics videos

Gardening: Hydroponics and Square Foot Gardening Update #1

http://HydroponicsFriend.com

This is just a simple update from my first video.
I set up a little corner in the laundry room for a work area.
I use a plastic four shelf unit and had to remove the top shelf
so there would be enough room to suspend a grow light.

As you can see you don't need an entire room or building
to get started. You can grow into that later. (Pun Intended).

You may also notice I edited the video with Windows Movie Maker.
As I am learning about Hydroponics and seed starting
I am also learning to do videos. Learning by doing is
one of the best ways to learn. I may make a few mistakes
but that's all part of learning too.

I like to learn something new everyday.
I also like to teach what I learn.
I have made some friends here on You Tube
who are alot like me, who also like to teach.
Learn, teach, enjoy, repeat.
Check out my Youtube channel to see even more videos.

Home Made Ebb and Flow or Flood and Drain system. DIY Hydroponics

http://HydroponicsFriend.com

This is my first attempt at building my own Hydroponics growing system. So far it works great! I chose the Ebb and Flow because It appeared to be one of the simplest to build. This is constructed mostly of things I had around the house.
A used laundry detergent bucket, well washed of course.
A Ziploc disposable food container.
Aquarium air pump.
Tabletop fountain water pump.
I had to purchase one foot of tubing,
Hydroton pellets,
and Net Pots from a Hydroponics store.
It was actually fairly easy to build but if you wish for me to explain exactly how I built it, just ask in my comments section.
Check my Youtube Channel for even more videos.

Gardening Intro: Hydroponics and Square Foot Gardening.

http://HydroponicsFriend.com

This is an introduction video of a series about my experiments having to do with Square Foot Gardening and Hydroponics. I haven't even considered going back to typical row gardening after discovering the ease of Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening Method. Have a look for your self at. http://www.squarefootgardening.com/

Hydroponics is something new to me. I've read about it for years and decided to give it a try for myself. I will be releasing more videos as the growing season progresses, success or failure. Either way I think we will all learn something. There is a lot of information on the web and here on You Tube and I hope to add to it in a constructive way.

I welcome any HELPFUL comments and suggestions. This was my first Hydroponics video on You Tube.