No matter the plastic :: When you go to drill your holes put the drill on Reverse once it is part way through I switch to forward and it cuts right through. Easy-Peezy !!
Been experimenting with just spraying water on seeds in a sealed container. They develop roots same as if in plugs or paper towels. So makes it easy to later transplant into a medium incase someone is like me who is obsessive with daily checking the plugs if seeds germinated or not lol.
haha, and yes those are all true strategies for sure can also be as rudimentary as cutting away the top off a 500ml plastic water bottle, inserting a 2" netcup into that and just keeping the water line touching the bottom of the netcup. Because the bottle is see through you can check on it as often as you like--though it is suggested to keep out the light, such as by using newspaper rolled around the plastic bottle. Very inexpensive way to get plants started without soil or fancier tools!
Since I posted this video I had already transplanted all the seedlings into my Tower Garden! But, when I do the next round of germination to get things ready for Spring gardening outside, I can show the results of that batch of seeds :-)
I can't believe the simplest solution escaped me at first lol, but this year I'm just using a netcup inserted into another netcup, which mitigates that centre dip on the bin's lid, and brings the top cup to the same level as the others :-D
Hi Joel. I wonder how you control the pH. Even I set the pH one day, the next day it has raised. Do you daily have to adjust the pH? and if so, the nutrients will have to be adjusted as well, I guess?
Hey Thomas! I can only think of one reason why from one day to the next the pH of your water would have shifted, and that would be because of preparing the water (adding nutes then pH adjusting) and testing the pH of the water right away without letting the water fully settle and let everything you added evenly distribute, by stirring it in and then waiting a little. If you just took a sample of water right away it wouldn't give you an accurate pH read because not everything will yet be evenly distributed, so the next day when all the additives in the water HAVE already mixed themselves in, if you pH test then, you could get a different read (which would be the accurate read after one day!). So if you mix the water well in the reservoir (of any hydroponics system) after adding the stuff, and wait a bit, only pH test after that for an accurate read, and adjust accordingly with Ph + or - depending on what is needed, mix, wait a bit, retest. After you adjust the pH you DO NOT need to add any more nutrients. Provided you already added the needed amount you certainly don't need to over-saturate the reservoir with nutrients. In fact a little less is better than too much so not to burn the plants. I only ever need to adjust the pH of my hydroponic systems when I add in nutrients that change the pH. I don't even modify the pH after I add in just water (without nutes) because I use distilled water which is neutral pH so I know it is never going to raise the pH over 7.0, and will in fact just keep it between whatever I had originally and 7.0. I always set my reservoirs between 6.0 to 6.5 after adding nutrients, and I often add water to the reservoir to top it up without adding extra nutrients each time. I use a PPM reader to stay apprised of the concentration of minerals present in the water and for me this works well to know whether I'm under feeding or over feeding the plants. I hope this helps.
I have the same i issues with rockwool I would like to EZ Clone by sticking a rockwool in my net pot in my EZ cloner that would be my only suggestion to use rockwool my success cloning without a EZ cloner is way down there
Hey Bruce, yeah there's a few ways to go about starting clones on a unit like this. You could just stick a cutting in a net-pot nestled between some hydroton or even glass or stone pebbles, and make sure the base of the cutting reaches the water, or better still, cut a rockwool cube half way to spread it open enough to wedge the cutting into it and then plop that into the net-pot. I like doing that because I can pre-dip the rockwool cube in a water-nutrient solution to provide readily available nutrients right within immediate reach of the cutting! I don't even usually bother with rotting hormone; though I probably would if it was a plant that is stubborn to successful cloning!
Your video was very good and with the light and heat. I thought would fish live in the dark and I try to use rain water . Just making it more of a project . I have done from simple to everything but the fish. Thank you
@@redwood1957 I guess you must be referring to Aquaponics. That is terrain I have never ventured into. But there are many RU-vidrs out there who have done Aquaponics so there is no shortage of ideas on that subject. Good luck :-)
Hey there. So this depends on your overall environment. I do not bother with a dome because this thing is set up in my indoor grow room which is plenty warm and humid as it is, and the T5 lights over top offer an ambient warmth as well. So with lights generating heat over top I do not find a dome necessary. If the room temperature is too low then you may want to put a heating mat underneath the bins (but with a thin towel between the mat and the bins to buffer the heat). This will also create a favourable growing atmosphere to get the seeds going and growing. The amount of time for seeds to germinate depends on the type of seed. Lettuce seeds get going within 2 days. Cilantro seeds can take up to 2 weeks! So just depends on your seed. Once the plant is growing, how well it grows depends on the amount of overhead light you provide (the more the better) and also ensure you are adding liquid nutrients for hydroponics to the bins; but keep in mind you are using VERY LITTLE nutrients as a small set up like this does not want a high concentration in the water. Also just make sure your pH is adjusted after adding nutrients (the needs will vary depending on what you grow, but to simplify, 6.5 is a great number to round off on). And to make refilling the reservoir bins easier with pH adjusted water and nutrients, just make a large batch in 4 gallon containers or so, and it's ready to pour when you need to top up the water level of the bins! I HIGHLY suggest using DISTILLED or RO water in all indoor hydroponic applications. Hope that helps!
Try without a humidity dome first and see how it goes. I'm assuming you'll have T5/grow lights to use over top of the setup? If so that might be quite sufficient. Besides, things can very quickly outgrow the height of the humidity dome.
These 2 foot long CF bulbs consume 24wats of energy each. Which is a fair bit. LED's are much more energy efficient and capable if you can acquire those instead of compact fluorescent bulbs.
@@CardinalGardener So,when transporting these in use with the tower garden system,can you explain the process of doing that,or maybe a video? :) I'am a beginner and will be getting the tower garden soon and I see your point with problems germinating with what you get with that system.
@@draydyoc857 hey buddy You know I've let my life directions really keep me from creating new videos even tho I have a bunch of stuff recorded and stored on my hard drive, unedited lol, including that which speaks to what you are asking about! But I'll keep it brief, the most important thing is to keep seedlings with supplemental light overhead, the distance just depends on if you're using CFL bulbs or LED lights. When I see about an inch or 2 of root growth from the rockwool cube into the water reservoir, I just gently remove the cube from the netcups in the unit here, then into the Tower. I don't use netcups in the Tower anymore because I prefer their newer hanging clips, makes it easy to get things in and out, but same idea, I just secure the rockwool cube to the clip being careful not to crush the roots, then insert into an open slot in the Tower. Depending on the type of plant sometimes I'll let it grow longer in this unit before putting in the tower because it will have CLOSER proximity to light here than in the Tower, to make sure it gets a good start and not stretching out too much! Leggy plants are generally weaker plants. Hope this helps for now!
So your water lvl that i seen near the end of video has it touching the bottom of the net pot is that how high it should be for seeds or even after it gets roots etc?
Hey James So for a system like this I like to keep the water level touching the bottom of the net pots so ensure the rockwool stays moist. Once seedlings develop their roots past the bottom of the rockwool, then you can let the water level go below that point, so long as some roots remain submerged in water. Also good to check the rockwool doesn't dry out due to your ambient environment/heat. Definitely don't let the rockwool dry out while seeds are still germinating and the root system not yet developed! :-)
Hey Gray, Well here's the thing, this Particular set-up is intended for JUST germinating seeds into little seedlings to then transplant into a larger Hydroponics unit, in my case, the Tower Garden (or to plant into soil!). Therefore, with that intention no nutrients are actually even necessary, really. Unless you wanna use a bit of the Gro or something similar if your transplanting is delayed. Now, if you create a setup like this and have less holes in the bins so you can accommodate the full life-span growing of herbs, lettuces, light duty stuff, etc., then I would definitely mitigate nutrient deficiencies by using a water soluble nutrients, so many options out there in Grow stores... either something all around balanced or you can be more selective and start off with higher Nitrogen for growing foliage stage, then up the Phosphorous, etc., as the plants progress from seedlings to vegetative to flowering. BUT for the kinda stuff I'd grow in a unit like this I wouldn't want the plants/herbs to flower so that I could have a continuous harvest (which I've indecently had to do with lettuces and herbs cuz I was too busy/delayed with transplanting young seedlings into the Tower lol). Hope this helps mate!
I see, thanks! I do something similar in the beginning by adding seaweed extracts like RapidStart, SuperThrive, or Floraliscious Plus since they all have nitrogen.
