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  1. #16
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Deception Bay Qld
    Posts
    14

    Default

    Hi Colbra
    I had a little play with Hydroponic's about 30 yrs ago, i think your 400mm pipe is too big as most farm use around 75mm, my setup was a budget one using old Brocolli boxes and 150 mm pvc pipe 1-8m long with the ends blocked and about 25% of the pipe removed from the top where the plants would go, the medium [what the plants grow in] was Perlite and Vermiculite mixed 50/50 and washed coarse sand which i washed again so it was inert [ no nutrients].
    Fill your boxes/pipes with medium and at about 1/3 from the bottom drill a 3/8th hole drain hole in the boxes and pipe end cap, 1 hole for each container this creates a reservoir for nutrients then about every 2 or 3 days i would mix nutrient and flood the boxes until it run out of the drain hole.
    Buy your perlite from a rural store like Elders and Packaged nutrient is ok but not suited to every plant.
    Try this method before you commit to a flood and drain system it is interesting.
    I read 2 books one by Joe Romer and one by Albert [bert] Sundstrum from Port Macquirie he had brick raised beds full of sand using this method also have a look on You/tube for idea's.
    Hope this helps.

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Central Coast
    Age
    77
    Posts
    43

    Default Where I am up to now

    Hi Whitey56 thanks for your reply
    I obtained the 400mm conduit from a company laying a high voltage power cables. They were short off cuts with no collars and were not of any use to them.
    The reason I was going to get into hydroponics is that I had nematodes in the garden soil and could not get rid of them, so I thought that may have been the best way to go seeing I had the conduit I now realise that the conduit is to big and that there is a lot of work in setting it up for hydroponics
    So what I have done is follow the advice of Gidgee 1 and put some nematode mustard plant seeds in when they grow a little, dig them back in before they go to seed I hope this works at this stage I must apologise to Gidgee 1 for not replying to his post on his message and thanking him for his advice which I have taken so thank you Gidgee1

    I will now put some drainage holes in the conduit and seal the ends fill with new soil and make a tiered hanging garden I am not sure how it would go but I have to use the conduit somewhere, how I have it sitting about the place all fifty meters of it when it’s all laid out end to end.
    Cheers Colbra
    May your saw stay sharp and your nails never bend

  3. #18
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    sydney
    Posts
    100

    Default

    Hi Colbra
    I use an auto pot system mostly for tomatoes but also small amounts of other veges. I have gone over to coco peat and renew it each year. it can be added to the garden without issue. I have stopped using perlite / vermiculite as I believe there is some asbestos fibre in those products, I also use simple grow GP1 nutrient

    its 2 part and easy to use at a reasonable price ( powder) PM me if you want more info

    Doug

  4. #19
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Adelaide, SA
    Posts
    11

    Default Help Please on Hydroponic Gardening

    If u want a super easy system, go for the autopot system. It's a bit pricier than others to set up, but there's no power & it's good for a beginner. I've found it to be idiot proof for me, & there's no water loss to evaporation.

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