Here's a look at the overall set-up. The shadecloth helps protect the plants from the hot summer sun. The bird netting keeps the birds out as they will destroy the plants in a day. The tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers are putting on blossoms.
Originally, the planting containers sat in another container filled with water and nutrients. We could run a small pump for a short time to bring the water up to the growing medium and then it would drain back out. However, we had such a problem with mosquitos, even with the dunkers, that he changed the set-up to pump water from closed buckets. A small aquarium pump is in the bucket. It pumps water up to drip irrigation hose that goes to each plant. The water then drains back into the bucket. This actually uses less water than plants in the ground and less water is lost to evaporation and transpiration.He is using a variety of growth mediums. The seeds are started in rockwool and then the seedling is put into a pot filled with Hydroton (little porous clay balls) or coconut coir. The coir comes in compressed dry blocks and expands when water is added. It is a waste product, a more sustainable gardener's friend than peat moss. We think it could also be used in a composting toilet, but we'll need to find a bulk source for it to bring the cost down.
Right now, he is using liquid nutrients he got with the hydroponics equipment and organic liquid nutrients from the local hydroponics store. Once we get moved and settled into our own place, he plans to make his own nutrients using compost tea, worm tea, and aquaponics.
These are pepper seedlings started in the coconut coir.
These are wonderberry seedlings with a large basil plant in the bucket.
The okra is doing well, has huge leaves, and a few buds.
And then we have this mystery plant. It sprouted in a pot and my sweetie has no idea what it may be since he didn't plant it. Can you help identify it? The stem is red and waxy. The leaves are pretty big.
The plant is a climber and is currently growing at least an inch a day!The next experiment in the hydroponic garden will be potatoes. He'll plant the sprouts in coconut coir mixed with compost in a bucket and then keep covering it up as the plant grows. He cut the bottoms off two more buckets in order to stack them up in a column to hopefully produce lots of tasty spuds.
14 comments:
I've sometimes wondered about the possibility of growing hydroponically - but have distinct reservations about the "nutrients" that come with this system. Would be interesting to see how your homemade nutrients work out.
Another thing I wonder about - tho' I dont know the answer to that - is what the nutrient level is like in plants that havent been grown in the soil. Maybe theres some research somewheres that says whether that makes any difference in that respect? I know that plants need good healthy nutrient-rich soil - rather than poor-quality soil that has had all the goodness drained from it by overuse of chemicals. I dont actually know the position re plants when soil hasnt been used at all.
You should check into Red-dicculous.com- he hasbeen a hyrdoponic afficianado for some time ansd I am sure you will find some tricks there. As for me I am sticking to the terra firma- not ready to go out and get into a new medium!But kudos to Mr Chile for trying and succeeding
I believe you have a volunteer Morning Glory. In the picture it looks like there are little pointy flower buds starting along the vine and broad vaguely heart shaped leaves. If so, you should be enjoying some lovely flowers (assuming you can tolerate a large vine and don't rip it out)
VERY cool! Our local tomato green house (that keeps us in 'maters all winter long) grows in coconut coir. Looks like your sweetie has the touch!
Looks like a morning glory to me as well. They grow like weeds here (kudzu type weeds), but in the desert you should be fine.
How much water would you say this system uses, Chile? Is it more or less than soil-based growing? Curious...
WOW, lookin' good. I like your sweetie's initiative and enterprise.
Hi, Chile -
I'll bet its a Morning Glory, too; or maybe a Snail Vine.
Wonder if it shouldn't be dipping into the 'spa water' and instead be sipping of the ground water...
Hope you are feeling well...
LadyBanksia
PS: I think my cherry tomatoes are pretty much exhausted, but I did fire-roast some of the peppers this morning that stuck it out through the recent heat... guess that means its time to turn over the raised beds... :^)
Answers from "Mr. Chile"
Ceridwen – I did quite a bit of reading about nutrients and the companies that make them. There has been an enormous amount of research done in the past 20 or 30 years to create nutrient solutions that provide everything a plant needs for healthy, robust growth. Some of the nutrients are organic and some are not. I’m using one organic line that I bought and one mineral based line that came with the stuff I bought on Craigslist. So far, my plants can’t tell the difference. Home made nutrient solutions take a lot of effort and require a lot more knowledge about plants than I currently have. I will continue to use manufactured nutrients until I’m a lot more knowledgeable – or until peak oil makes shipping costs so outrageous that I don’t have a choice, whichever comes first.
Rob – Red-icculus is on my regular reading list J The hydroponics and future aquaponics will be additions to the dirt garden when we get settled. I’m surprised hydroponics doesn’t appeal to you – the opportunities to create systems from re-purposed junk are endless.
Morning glory? It doesn’t look like the typical morning glory we see around southern AZ. I’m hoping for something more exotic – Audrey II maybe….
I read about coconut coir on Melinda’s blog before I started the current experiments. It’s turning out to be an excellent medium here in the desert. I have two plants using it in the main hydroponics systems that are doing noticeably better than the plants in the mineral mediums. The tomato seedlings I put in coir out in the shadehouse are far more advanced than the plants I tried in the soil there.
Water use – In our case, the hydroponics uses far less water – easily less than a quarter of what we were using on a similar number of plants in the soil. This is one of the main benefits of using hydroponics in arid areas. Another low water-use method I want to try is in-ground wicking worm beds. Since we’ve decided to stay in the desert, I think it’s important to get familiar with a lot of different growing methods. I’m particularly following developments in Australia since they’ve been forced by drought to become very efficient water users.
Looks to me like a bleeding heart vine -- though where it would have come from, I couldn't guess! If it is, it should get lovely red or red and white flowers.
I second the morning glory idea, it looks like the vine that's trying to take over my backyard.
And I'm so happy that this takes less water! Yay!
Totally off topic, the hubby was able to fix both of our bikes except for my shifting problem, so we are now ready to take over the road! Thanks for the encouragement.
Very cool Chile. Glad everything is doing well. And yes, I also guess morning glory. I just saw some in our sideyard that I SWEAR weren't there yesterday. But here they are a whole foot tall and blooming like mad.
OK, since I didn't see this, where exactly do you find coconut noir? Our ground is such an awful clay here and I'd love to find other options.
At this point, we're waiting for a bloom on the vine to get a more definite ID.
Krista - glad to hear your bikes are ready to go!
Rjs - we've been getting it at the hydroponics store locally. It's specifically gardening grade coir. The lower grades evidently have a lot of salt in them due to coconuts growing near the coast, so non-gardening grade coir would not be a good choice. Check online for hydroponic supplies.
For me, it looks like malabar spinach. The seeds are purple in color. You can see the seeds once it grows.
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