My Hydroponic Gardyn Today

[MrM1]

Today was cleaning, feeding and care day in the hydro garden . Got everything dressed up for beauty shots.

This little hydro system keeps the wife and I in salad and greens 3-6 days a week. All we want. I harvested 3 stuffed grocery bags off it Monday ... Cut all these lettuces to nubs, and they're back exploding today. We gave away 4 stuff bags in the past 2wweeks. Crazy. And it does his year around indoors.







AND OUR FIRST TOMATOES



AND ANOTHER CUCUMBER THIS YEAR




Why this on a solar forum?

Well I got my powered bill today. This hydro system uses about 1000 watts an hour, 14 hours a day, 7 days a week. Or about 400+ kWh per month. At 0.135 per kWh that works out to be around $55+ a month.

Yet with a 2.5 and 3 ton heat pump, electric dryer, etc. Power Bill was $86 today ?

But The whole hydro system is off grid, along with all household lights, fridge, freezer, well pump, and all electronics in the house.

The point ... Independent Sustainability is possible.

I washed the solar panels today too (they were caked with pollen). On a perfect sunny day, the 5.3kw array produced 26.4kWh.

Self reliance and life is good.

 

[Brett V]

Very cool!

 

[Bob B]

Do you have any details on the hydro itself? You could even post that in the chit chat section if you wanted.

Are those towers home made with PVC?

This is something I have thought about doing but have never done. Part of it is that a garden ties a person down and we like to travel with our camper.
We are getting to more and more be home bodies .... might give it a go.

 

[MrM1]

Do you have any details on the hydro itself? You could even post that in the chit chat section if you wanted.

Are those towers home made with PVC?

This is something I have thought about doing but have never done. Part of it is that a garden ties a person down and we like to travel with our camper.
We are getting to more and more be home bodies .... might give it a go.

The 2 Hydroponic systems are called Gardyns. They hold 30 plants each. I've been growing with them for over a year now. If you're interested I have discount codes (I'm not affiliated and not selling or pitching the system)

The tomato and cucumber are each in 5 gallon buckets. Deep water culture (DWC) each has its own air stone and pump and lights .

 

[MrM1]

@Bob B I just updated above with a link

 

[Koldsimer]

Killer! This is trully the future of indoor gardening and self sustinence. DWC is incredible.

Have you done any aeroponic cloning? I've had incredible results with my cloner.

What lights are you running?

Thanks for sharing your setup- the satisfaction of growing off grid can't be beat!

 

[Koldsimer]

Do you have any details on the hydro itself? You could even post that in the chit chat section if you wanted.

Are those towers home made with PVC?

This is something I have thought about doing but have never done. Part of it is that a garden ties a person down and we like to travel with our camper.
We are getting to more and more be home bodies .... might give it a go.

With the right setup you can leave your garden for a week and maybe a bit longer. That makes gardening wayyy easier.

Some of these hydro systems are beginner friendly and very low maintenance.

 

[MrM1]

Killer! This is trully the future of indoor gardening and self sustinence. DWC is incredible.

Have you done any aeroponic cloning? I've had incredible results with my cloner.

What lights are you running?

Thanks for sharing your setup- the satisfaction of growing off grid can't be beat!

Time change. Early morning. I'll answer soon

 

[chrisski]

How about the nutrient solutions? I’m a little unclear about how much these nutrient solutions you would use for these salad vegetables.

 

[MrM1]

How about the nutrient solutions? I’m a little unclear about how much these nutrient solutions you would use for these salad vegetables.

I am using products from General Hydroponics, Maxigrow and Maxibloom. Both of these are highly soluble and I run them at about 650 ppm TDS (parts per million / total dissolved solids). This is fairly low. These are just N/P/K nutrients in different blends

I also keep my PH at around 5.5 - 6.3

 

[42OhmsPA]

Do you have any details on the hydro itself? You could even post that in the chit chat section if you wanted.

Are those towers home made with PVC?

This is something I have thought about doing but have never done. Part of it is that a garden ties a person down and we like to travel with our camper.
We are getting to more and more be home bodies .... might give it a go.

If you want to get your feet wet with incredible simplicity, look into the kratsky method.
As @MrM1 already said DWC is another very easy method. (growth with kratsky is the slowest of the bunch)
Some samples of both below.
Keep you pH levels in check, that's the most important part for nutrient up take.
I'm warning it's another great addiction... Wait until you start researching lights, par value, etc. (Samsung made some great diodes when I was buying mine).

Thank you @MrM1 for your post, it's some motivation / inspiration I needed to get my system(s) back online. Nice setup as well.

 

[42OhmsPA]

I am using products from General Hydroponics, Maxigrow and Maxibloom. Both of these are highly soluble and I run them at about 650 ppm TDS (parts per million / total dissolved solids). This is fairly low. These are just N/P/K nutrients in different blends

I also keep my PH at around 5.5 - 6.3

Check out the pH perfect trio from advanced nutrients if you ever get sick of / have issues balancing pH... I'll never look back. The GH line worked great as well when I used it, the AN lineup was a game changer, just mix up and let go till the next change.
Ever use cal mag for some additional supplement?

 

[MrM1]

Ever use cal mag for some additional supplement?

I use GH CaliMagic cal mag mostly in my tomato, but I sometimes use it in the Gardyn Hydro system too.

To me the real key is lighting.

Photoperiod, Intensity and spectrum. I am using both UVA and Far Red / Infrared Red petty heavily. The deep dark and reddish colors in my leaves (above) are due to lighting, particularly with the red.

They deep colors and reds in the leaves have higher antioxidant levels.

I also balance my lighting using a lighting meter to get correct intensity at all growing stages and even coverages.

 

[MrM1]

IMHO you don't get colors like these with out the right types of lighting

 

[MrM1]

If you want to get your feet wet with incredible simplicity, look into the kratsky method.
As @MrM1 already said DWC is another very easy method. (growth with kratsky is the slowest of the bunch)
Some samples of both below.
Keep you pH levels in check, that's the most important part for nutrient up take.
I'm warning it's another great addiction... Wait until you start researching lights, par value, etc. (Samsung made some great diodes when I was buying mine).

Thank you @MrM1 for your post, it's some motivation / inspiration I needed to get my system(s) back online. Nice setup as well.

Wanna stay up all nite? Start digesting some of Dr Bruce Bugbee's info, papers and videos on light.

Mind Blowing stuff right here

 

[42OhmsPA]

Wanna stay up all nite? Start digesting some of Dr Bruce Bugbee's info, papers and videos on light.

Mind Blowing stuff right here

Thanks for that, I digested it way better with a rested brain.
My extremely logical mind is now using the costs saved growing food as justification for more panels and batteries. ?

 

[MrM1]

Thanks for that, I digested it way better with a rested brain.
My extremely logical mind is now using the costs saved growing food as justification for more panels and batteries. ?

Yup ... both are addicting and circular