Saturday, May 23, 2015

Hydroponics - Small Recirculating System

I haven't gotten very far into using hydroponic methods on the farm yet. I grow lettuce successfully in old gallon milk jugs. But I'd like to get more serious about growing certain things hydroponically. 

Last week I stopped by a friend's small homestead and saw that they had a small recirculating hydroponic set up for producing greens. Simplistic. A small pump set on a timer pumped the nutrient solution up to the pipe, whereupon the water flowed via gravity through the system and back to the water reservoir. During the daylight it pumps briefly about four times an hour. 


The system runs along the edge of their porch, out of the way of normal traffic. 


They say that this system is successful for them. It works. Using salvaged discarded pipe, it wouldn't be costly to set this up. And you'd be able to grow a wide variety of greens. Not a bad idea. By the way, they just replanted this system, so the baby plants are just getting acclimated. In a couple weeks they should be growing well. 

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