I'm a horticulture student at the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) at the University of Florida. Hydroponics is my hobby and my obsession. My future plans are to be a greenhouse hydroponic grower. On this page you will find notes and images that are a record of my experiences growing vegetables in my backyard. I hope you enjoy the information here, and please feel free to email me.
The system consists
of two 10' lengths of PVC sewer pipe, spaced way too close together.
2" holes are drilled on 12" centers. Again, too close. My oversights
on this, my first effort at hydroponics, will serve to make my next effort
that much better. The system is fed continuously by a 265gph aquarium
powerhead. The reservoir is a Rubbermaid sweater box: 20 gallon
capacity. I built the trellis out of 1"x2" furring strips and have
the tomatoes strung up, reminiscent of the movie 'Coma.' The 1/2"
poly header tube is fitted with a gate valve to regulate flow, although
with only two 3/4" spaghetti tubes feeding each pipe, I have it on full
blast all the time and the nutrient flow is fine. There is a 100W
aquarium heater in the reservoir to keep the nutrient at 64F when it gets
chilly out. The reservoir also is equipped with an aquarium airstone,
driven by a cheap airpump that I had left over from one of my fish tanks.
I just got a bunch of pictures scanned, but don't have time just yet to put many words to them. I'll just post them for now (the pictures) and work on the writing when my finals are over. Please check back regularly as I'll be making changes and adding to it regularly. Enjoy the pictures!
This was the beginning of the system. It was late to start the
tomatoes, sort of, but hey who cares?
Within a couple of weeks they began to put out roots.
Shortly after this picture was taken, the chances of pulling the plant
out of the hole were nil.
After moving the system to the side of my apartment (as opposed to
in back), the additional sunlight really helped get the system growing.
Notice the ridiculous stringing routine I've got going. I let
the plants go for ONE WEEK early in their growth and the suckers got away
from me. Light penetration's been terrible. Air circulation's
been ugly. But the tomatoes sure look good...
I'm waiting for these to ripen. The fried green tomatoes have
been stupendous, but I'm lookin' for the red
ones!
This is the granddaddy greenie. I've got my name on this one...
"Sweet Chelsea 100's", 12/1/99
The author with his trusty Jiboo.
This page will be severely modified in the coming weeks. More information on my system will be added, including technical specs and tinkerer's musings. Thanks for waiting for this to load and then wading through the images. Good gardening, and stay tuned!