If you fill more stone little by little to cover more tomato plant stems, you start getting tomatoes and less foliage. Also makes for stronger stems, bigger tomatoes.
I keep up with the nutrients in the water at all times so there is no trouble with dilution from the rain. The plants get everything they need in the buckets, air, water, nutrients, etc.....
@metalhaper greetings from Panama, I want to congratulate you on this hydroponic system and I see that you make it functional and the system is staggered is very good, I want to start, but I would like you to help me with some questions before please and thank you. 1. how many pounds or kilos does each plant give you 2. How many days does it take you to produce a plant? 3. also the pump of how many liters of water does the tank have 4. the plant dies in a period.? or they never die and always produce you 5. the nutrients and fertilizers made in the sieve all together 6. plastic drums can be smaller 7. I see that you use only a specific stone. Or is it mixed with something else?
Thanks for posting! Few questions for poster or anyone else: Neat system, the rock idea is great, i just wonder about root growth compared to perlite, so has anyone tested rocks compared to perlite and how is the yield/plant growth? Without covers how do you keep rain from diluting/overflowing reservoir and nutrient levels? Also, why is is necessary to have drip lines on the bottom buckets? Once the water reached the overflow level, arent the bottom buckets getting the same amount of water as top buckets just from upper overflow?
Thanks Mike, tomatoes are coming along great. How is your front end coming along? hopefully no troubles. Thanks for being a continued supporter and positive commenter.
Front end is finally done and is ready for testing thanks Brian. Hopefully my wobbles have gone away so I can proceed with the back end and drivetrain strip. It was a major job, kept me busy for a week non-stop.but it was cleaned up to the very last nut and bolt. I have an 2 aquaponics tanks setup, also growing tomatoes, red peppers, basil and some other herbs. Wish you all the best in your growing.
Very nice setup! I'm a little bit afraid to use just stones as a medium. Isn't it too heavy? Are there water everywhere in the bucket and the root system? It's hard to imagine those stones wicks water
I cut bottom off of white kitchen trash bags... slip them down on each bucket. Use the drawstrings to form around the base of the plant . The bag performs double duty. Blocks the suns heat and sheds rain. Yet... you can still get at the system/plants when you need.
You have a lot more evaporation occurring than plant water usage. I suggest running a timer for 30 minutes, three times a day. Your water\fertilizer usage will drop dramatically. Keeping the sump in the shade and covered will also help.
i guess im asking the wrong place but does anyone know a tool to get back into an Instagram account? I stupidly lost my password. I appreciate any tricks you can offer me
@Rene Gerald thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site on google and Im in the hacking process now. Looks like it's gonna take a while so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
Hi! i love Your system! For the last 3 years we are living in South Spain and trying to grow our veggies in simillar system. I have a question, how You are avoid locking the nozzles? We are growing our veggies outdor, and cleanig nozzles is a nightmare. We need to do it sometimes 2/3 times a day. Cleaning pipes, changing nozzles gives a result only for a sort time. Best regards from Tarifa!
I never had a problem with clogged nozzles. Make sure your reservoir is large enough and all your nutrients are well dissolved. Mix them in a small bucket until they are completely dissolved then add them to your main reservoir. I can usually go a full season without having to clean a single nozzle.
metalshaper are you planning on cloning any of the tomatoes suckers? I jad 95% turn out on ours just have to have a early start on them so they can get fruiting before the cold comes. The suckers turned out better then the ones I got em from and mostly free. Where did you get the seals from the return pvc could hold clones, maybe operate it for double use?
What is the size of your feeder line into the bucket? I have tried to different pumps and am only able to get my water go about 6 feet even when my pumps say the can go 25 feet, any thoughts on how I can get it to go to my last bucket?
Hi j l, Try to bend those small feeder hoses in secured manners so that the closer to the feed pump, the more restricted the feed, With adjustments, the final bucket will get a flow.
This system works great and saves a lot of space. This year I changed things up a little bit and am growing in 55 gallon drums. No pump, or hoses, just the drum and tomatoes and cucumbers. It is working great and would work great in a situation with no electricity or when you don't have a lot of space.
Results were great. I grew the plants down instead of up and they reached the ground and kept going. The amount of tomatoes was at least double compared to growing them in the ground. Didn't spray any pesticides on them so picking the hornworms off was a daily chore. Once you try this system you will be hooked.
Hi nice setup man! I was wondering, how do you deal with rainwater? Seems that it is now collecting in the buckets. I have same dutch bucket setup myself and also collect a lot of rainwater into my system.
5/17/20 You still growing dutch bucket tomatoes? Did you have any problems with the temperature of your nutrient? I've read to keep nutrient 65 to 80 degrees but that's hard to get when the plants are outside in 100 degree heat.
I have never had any trouble with the temperature of the water bucket. We have plenty of 90 degree days and tomatoes are in full sun. My bucket is under the deck in the shade and the water is always cool.
I have a six bucket system (3 tomatoes & 3 cucumbers. I'm adding at least five gallons of nutrient solution to my 12 gallon tank (a cooler) every day. I don't have any leaks. Is this normal?
Good Job, may I've the details abt nutrients or fertilizers you are using for tomatoes and cucumbers. and do you have fish in the tank or just water with nutrients? will appreciate for a detailed reply.
You stated if the plants started turning yellow "get on that right away", since I have no experience with hydroponics please elaborate. Fertilizer or pH problems? Or...?
you should always know the ph of your water. check it a couple times a week if it is changing due to rain or other conditions. If your plants are not a deep green you probably have a fertilizer condition and may be lacking nitrogen. Not knowing your fertilizer blend it is hard to say what is going on but you should feed your plants immediately.
My hydroponics are outside. No problems. I did build a greenhouse around them but my neighbor complained and I had to take it down. Turned out the hurricane would have anyway.
I have the pump set to come on about five or six times a day. it runs for one hour and the water is recirculated continually for the time it is running. When it shuts off the tomatoes have 3" of water left to drink and by the time that is gone the pump is running again.
This process worked better than expected. No weeds to deal with, and super healthy plants. Harvest was more than double compared to the same amount planted in the ground. I grew them up at first but the growth was so fast I let them hang down after a while. Most of the plants were about 14 to 16 feet long from the rock base I planted them in and there were tomatoes the whole length.
I did an update on the tomatoes in another video, check it out. The tomatoes are over 8 feet tall now and doing great. We are now harvesting tomatoes every day. The root systems are doing well with the nutrient mix I have been giving them. Averaging about 25 pounds of tomatoes a day right now and new ones are growing like crazy.
I use masterblend with some additives to give the proper fertilizer. It is added at different intervals depending on how much the plants are drinking. Sometimes daily, but at the beginning of growth about every week. Every system is different.
The water/fertilizer is in a 55 gallon bucket with a pump. It is pumped into the buckets where 3 inches of water will always remain. Any more than that will flow out of bucket and be returned to 55 gallon drum. The root system is constantly feeding off of the water in the bottom of the bucket and that is kept wet 24 hours a day. As the plants drink more water must be delivered. My pump will supply water 6 times a day, and run for 45 minutes per cycle. Pump is on a timer and begins just before sunrise and last cycle is just after sunset. More water during the hottest part of the day as the plants are really drinking and giving off water.
It depends on how often it rains. After a heavy rain I add nutrients. When it doesn't rain I add water and nutrients every week. Lots of things effect water an nutrients, heat and humidity are big factors. Keep an eye on evaporation and nutrients if you are loosing a lot of water due to heat. It takes a while to figure out what to do and when to do it but once you have it figured out the results are amazing.
Hello. Thanks for sharing your work. Can you please inform about (1) Peak and normal ambient temp outside (2) Are you using DC water pump for supplying nutrients? What power? (3) do you use only one type of nutrient?
Tomatoes grow fine outside in temperatures of 60 to 110 degrees. I use a standard water pump that runs on AC power. I have it plugged into an extension cord off of my basement electrical outlet. I mix my nutrients and add to the barrel as needed. Always a mix of masterblend fertilizer, calcium nitrate, and magnesium sulfate.
So i want to start it from my House top roof if this method good and please tell what is the completion of Vegetables Tomatoes or Cucumber how many weeks full growth ??
I live in the northeast part of the USA so I planted everything in June. I was picking cucumbers in mid July as they grew very fast. tomatoes were harvested from late august until just about the first of November. The harvest was over 5 times as much as we get by planting in the ground in the garden. You have to keep a close watch on water/nutrients/water ph level, and bugs/garden pests. I picked the bugs off by hand because I didn't want any chemicals on the plants. Give it a try and you will be amazed at how good the plants grow and the amount of fruit and vegetables you will harvest. Brian
I have the pump on a time and run it during daylight hours. comes on about 6 time a day for 30 minutes at a time. Starts just before sunrise and ends just after sunset. If it is extremely hot I run it a few more times a day
can we grow tomatoes in vertical aquaponic system. Can we use WS npk?, if not Why can't?, if i want to fish in storage tank then the nutrients which i add to aquaponic can kill fish or not?
yes the water is loaded with the proper nutrients for the plants . The water is the delivery system for the nutrients. You use different food for different plants.
hello bro i am from india n i want to grow tomato into bucket... i have doubt.. plz let me know how much time and how many times i have to run water pump and air pump in 24 hours? thanks
I keep my water bucket under the deck in the shade so it stays cooler than in direct sun. I have never had trouble with water that was too hot and the plants don't mind the different water temps from early morning until late night. Never had plants suffer as there is always water in the bottom of the bucket and the roots enjoy the water and nutrients.
I've seen videos where people use chillers but if you put just a tad bit of chlorine bleach in the water [Or if you are rich buy resClear] keeps weird stuff from growing in your water. Keeping in dark helps too.
@@David-mv3zl Chlorine is not advisable. The water must be free of chlorine to being with. As you have rightly pointed out, colouring the buckets, pipe lines and reservoir / storage drum in black definitely helps.
my pump is on a time and runs for an hour at a time. comes on about 6 times a day and runs for an hour. I run it during daylight hours and it is off from about 8 at night until 5 the next morning.
I don't have a greenhouse built yet so I wanted to try it outdoors. It worked GREAT!! Growing season isn't as long as greenhouse with temp control but the crop was huge and better than expected.
we had a few cucumber beetles that we just hand picked and they were not a problem. Biggest problem this year was a lot of tomato horn worms. I don't spray any pesticides so just hand picked them off as well.
