Finishing the Deep Water Culture System For Lettuce

While my lettuce isn't ready to transplant out of the seed tray yet, I picked up a couple more supplies for the DWC (Deep Water Culture) system I will be using for them.  I'm going to recap what I've done and tie it into what I'm doing to complete this system.  Before I do, though, here is what a DWC system is:

Deep water culture (DWC) is a hydroponic method of plant production by means of suspending the plant roots in a solution of nutrient-rich, oxygenated water.  ~Wikipedia

 So, here is how I am constructing the Deep Water Culture system that will house 6 lettuce units and 2 spinach units.

Made a trip to Menards for a heavy duty tote.  Do not get the cheap ones unless you want to be mopping and pumping nutrient water out of your house when it cracks!

Next, we measured out hole spacing in the lid of the tote using the net cups we purchased.

Then, Heather went to work cutting out holes with her wedding present!

Here how the top looks:

And this is a net cup (maybe $.50 each) purchased from a hydroponics store.

They fit together so nicely!

 

As you can see, this system has room for 8 different plant units, and I will put 2 lettuce plants in each.

Also a necessity is air hose.  This is, I believe, 1/4" hose, also purchased from a hydroponics store, although I'm sure this can be found at a hardware store as well.  I have a lot more than I need at the moment, but it will come in handy down the road.

This is the pump I will be using to aerate the water.  This was a $50 pump, but they range in price from $10 to $100s depending on how strong you want them.  This was the size recommended to me.

 

 This may be the most important piece of the whole puzzle, the air stone.  Without this stone, the roots of my plants will drown and my plants will die.  This 2" air stone was only $2. 

I hooked my air stone to one end of my air hose(I cut my air hose to a healthy length)

Then, I dropped the air hose in through one of the net holes in the top of my tote.  I made a little notch in the side of the hole so the hose would go in and the basket would still set nicely.

 Then I hooked the other end of the air hose to the air pump's output manifold.

And here she is!  My 8 pot hydroponic DWC system for lettuce or small herbs!

When my lettuce is ready for transplant, this tote will be filled almost to the top with water and nutrients.  I will post again at that time.  Then, the whole unit will be placed under the light bank where it will begin to grow me salads!

Day 4: Seedling Update

It's day 4 of my indoor gardening project and the lettuce is starting to poke up above the Rockwool now.  I can see that some of the Roma tomatoes are sprouting, but they aren't making any above ground appearances yet. 

I also started a new pot, Elephant Garlic.  Following some simple instructions I found online, I broke up a store bought garlic bulb into the individual cloves, then planted them in some potting soil.  I watered the cloves with some of the same nutrient solution I used on the seeds in the tray.  The pot of garlic is now also under the light bank for 18hrs a day.  So, we will see what happens.  Garlic is our favorite, and I love the spice of the Elephant variety, so I'm hoping I can start producing our own!

Day 2 of Hydroponics & Whiskers Comes Home!

Well, this has been a very interesting day.  This morning I had all of my wisdom teeth removed.  I was just under local anesthetic, so yes I could feel and hear my teeth being broken and ripped out.  Needless to say, I'm not feeling too hot right now.

There was some awesomely amazing news today though.  Heather gave me a Christmas present, very early.

This was by far the most epic Christmas present ever!  Bravo to my wife and children for keeping a secret I would never be able to keep!

And what post would be complete without pictures of our newest addition, Whiskers the American Alligator!  At 10 and a half inches, and 1.9 ounces, she is just a little peanut for now.

On a hydroponics note, the seed tray is still under the light.  Right now I have the light on a timer to run for 18hrs then shut down for 6hrs.  Peering into the tray, I was able to see a couple of the Roma tomatoes and some lettuce starting to peek out of their seeds, but only just.

Starting Construction of the DWC for Lettuce (I know, sounds impressive!)

So, not long after finding the Sure To Grow videos I mentioned in the last post, I found another blog, one whose very name encapsulated so much about what I want to do!  Frugal Hydroponics is a fantastic little blog that has a great video segment on how to build a DWC system for small vegetables This was perfect for me, since I wanted to find a way to economically grow quite a few lettuce plants, and I didn't really want to try to build a complicated system for doing it.

Even though we just planted our seeds, I am very excited about this project(almost crazed), so we started construction of our DWC system right away(so it's ready when needed, of course).  A DWC system works by feeding the plants highly oxygenated, and nutrient rich water constantly.  To do this I am going to suspend planting pots called net cups over a reservoir of water.  In that water are nutrients, and one other very important thing, an air bubbler!  This is a must, or the plants will drown and rot.  Air pumps, one of which I have not purchased yet, range in price from $10 to $100s.  I will probably shoot for around $40.  The air pump is hooked up to an air stone(about $2) that produces bubbles to oxygenate the water.

Here's what we've done so far (this will be an ongoing project as funds allow!):

Made a trip to Menards for a heavy duty tote.  Do not get the cheap ones unless you want to be mopping and pumping nutrient water out of your house when it cracks!

Next, we measured out hole spacing in the lid of the tote using the net cups we purchased.

Then, Heather went to work cutting out holes with her wedding present!

Here how the top looks:

And this is a net cup (maybe $.50 each)

They fit together so nicely!

 

This is as far as we've gotten on the DWC system.  When it's complete, well, I'll have another post for that!  Maybe even some fun video :)

 

Day 1 of my Foray into Hydroponics

So this is my first blog post on my journey into hydroponics.  My wife and I love fresh veggies.  We make amazing fresh salsa, fantastic chili, and enjoy having a fresh crisp salad.  Fresh fruit and vegetables are great for us, but if we don't have them in the house, we just wont eat them! Hence, a (hopefully) 12 month indoor garden.

We are starting small(ish): lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, spinach.  I spent a lot of time searching different tips and techniques online, and found some great help, as well as picking the brains of the local hydroponics shop owners.  For a great explanation of the different methods of hydroponics, and DETAILED instructions on how to make your own using hardware store equipment, check out this series on YouTube: Sure to Grow Videos. After watching these videos I felt ready to go!

I first visited a local hydroponics store and picked up a flat of Rockwool, the greenish stuff you see in the tray above.  Rockwool is just a soil substitute that is great for starting seeds and plant clones.  At the store I also purchased two black trays, and a plastic dome to go over them to keep in the humidity.  I broke off some chunks of the Rockwool then planted my seeds in the premade holes.  I also cut a piece of basil off an existing basil plant and planted that in the Rockwool(called cloning) just to see if it would work.

Next, I mixed in the growing nutrients I purchased from the hydroponics shop, and then tested the PH of the mixture.  I mixed 5ml of the growing nutrients with 1 gallon of water.  When I tested the PH, it was right around 6.5.  This may seem complicated, but the guy at the store told me how, and if I could do it....well.

 

I got a little lucky here.  I found a guy who was selling an older hydroponic light bank on the cheap.  The new banks are around $240, so I feel fortunate to have gotten the deal I did!  Once your nutrients are mixed with a gallon of water and the PH is tested and adjusted if needed, you simply pour the nutrient mixture over the tray off would-be seedlings and let them soak for a bit.  After a good soak, I poured off the excess water.

  

Once my tray was all set, I hung my light bank(that you will pay way too much for) in the basement just a few feet off the ground, then slid my seed planting tray underneath it.  Viola!  With some luck, I'll have some nice seedlings popping up in a week or so!