Using T8 Flourescent Lights for Hydroponics

I've been using T8 flourescent lighting in my basement gardening project. I chose T8's because they are inexpensive. At 36 watts, they also use very little electricity. After using the lights for 5 weeks, I have a few observations I'd like to share.

Pro's:

• Inexpensive price
• Easily accessible
• Low energy usage
• Little heat build-up

Con's:

• Low light intensity
• Short coverage area
• Low heat build-up

You may have noticed that I mentioned heat build-up as a positive and a negative characteristic of the lights. A larger light with more intensity sometimes requires a cooling fan to ensure safe operation. The T8's low heat characteristics help make these lights safer to use indoors. I am using the lights in my basement where it does tend to be on the cooler side with temperatures in the mid-sixties or sometimes lower during the winter months. A warmer light would probably promote faster growth for my lettuce, spinach, collards, and kale in my deep water culture system, but in my own personal view I'm not sure the increased purchase price for the fixture, long term energy cost, and risk of excessive heat build-up would be worth it. I am personally satisified with the T8's so far. But, as you can see from the picture of the kale and collards below, I need to purchase additional lights to get proper light coverage for a wider area.



Kale

Collards

These pictures demonstrate growth, but at a much slower rate compared to the spinach and lettuce that are located more directly below the four T8 light bulbs that I am using. I have no doubt that if the kale and collards were located more directly below the T8 bulbs, the growth would be greater.  I plan to add two additional T8 fixtures in the future to improve my results.

How to Plant Tomatoes in an Earthbox

From Mo Town to Grow Town?

We moved back to Detroit this summer after leaving in 2007 at the height the economic slow-down....Sitting in my motel room one Sunday morning, a local news program ran a story about how urban farming is taking root in Detroit. I really had no idea....

Here's an article about the movement published last year in My Mag.

Here's an excerpt:

"Grandpa yanked a carrot out of the ground, rubbed it on his overalls to get the dirt off and took a big bite...Because he was my grandfather, I thought anything he did was so, so cool, and so I’ve been eating carrots ever since." Kristine Hahn, Garden Resource Program Collaborative Board Member

I wish we had a little more space at our place to grow a bigger garden. Maybe then we could contribute to programs such as the Urban Farming Global Food Chain.

Basement Gardening Project - Day 9

Basement Gardening Project - Day 8

It's been a week since I planted the kale, lettuce, spinach, and collard seedlings into the do-it-yourself deep water culture system in my basement. Here's an updated picture:

Deep Water Culture bubbler system with hydroton

The spinach is starting to show noticeable growth and everything seems to be over the initial shock of the transplanting. Since this picture was taken, I've lowered the lights to within a few inches of the net pots.  This should help the growing considerably. I also took the first weekly ph and nitrite level readings today.

With ph at nearly 8.0 and the nitrite level at just barely above 0 ppm in each of the 10 gallon containers, I added an additional 10 tsp of nutrient solution (in addition to the 6 tsp of nutrient solution I added last week during system start-up). The instruction label on the back of the Botanicare product we are using recommends 2 tsp per gallon for hydroponics systems. I should have added more nutrient at system start-up, but I've learned that in aquaponics and hydroponics it's better to make small adjustments versus big ones.

It's been my experience that tap water from municipal water systems registers above 7.0, so I'll need to take a trip to the hydroponic gardening shop tomorrow to purchase some ph Down to adjust the ph.

Colorado Aquaponics Video

I really enjoyed watching this video about Colorado Aquaponics.



Build an Aquaponic System

Basement Hydroponics Project - Day 5

I have fully assembled my basement hydroponics deep water culture system.  Tomorrow I plan to add some collard and kale seedlings that have been growing in my dining room for a couple of weeks.

As I'm looking at this photo of my set-up I am realizing that I could have gotten away with shorter lengths of air line. The lights are going to be lowered to within a few inches of the net pots, but harvesting, accessing the inside of the container to check nutrient levels, or maintenance on the air bubblers would have required disconnecting the air lines to raise the lights. I was careful to cut each air line the exact same length so each tub receives the same air level. In this case, I think it's a typical "six of one and half a dozen of another" scenario.

Here's a closer view of the net pots, air lines and storage tubs.  I struggled with the decision not to reconfigure the air lines. To avoid the hassle of turning everything around so the air lines would be in the rear of the table and out of the way, which also requires me to move the air pump mount, I decided to wait a couple of weeks to make the changes in conjunction with doing the first water/nutrient change.

Each eight gallons of water in the 10 gallon plastic storage tub has 1 large air stone located in the center of the tub.  Hopefully this will help ensure the aeration is consistent throughout the majority of the root zone.

I need to do some additional work on the way this air pump is mounted. The pump has rubber feet to reduce vibration, but since it's mounted under the floor near my upstairs living room area the vibration causes a little more noise that I predicted.  I think that will be easily remedied with a minor modification to the mounting method by installing two more hooks so that all four rubber feet are out of contact with the wooden floor joice.

One pump provides air for all four tubs.  Here's a close-up of the "bubbling".

This is my first time using hydroton as a growing medium. I wasn't sure it would wick water very well and was prepared to hand water my seedlings for a week or so, but this picture was taken a couple of hours after adding water to the tubs and the hydroton actually wicks very well.

Basement Hydroponics Project - Day 4

Based on air pump I chose for my basement hydroponics project, I might be accused by some of straying away from "frugal" and "budget minded", but since I am building a 4 tub hydroponic bubbler system rather than a 1 or 2 tub system, the inexpensive aquarium pumps available at the discount stores and pet centers won't be quite enough aeration to do the job.

I purchased this pump for $52.99 at the local hydroponics store. It is an 18 watt commercial ECOPlus pump with a single outlet. It includes a splitter that provides a method for using the pump to aerate four different tubs.

The instructions explain that the pump needs to be mounted at least 15 inches above the water line (something I didn't realize when I purchased it). If not mounted above the water line there is a chance water could be sucked back into the pump causing damage.


It's difficult to see in the picture, but the pump has rubber feet to reduce vibration. The feet have holes in them, which come in handy for mounting the pump. I used two hooks to mount the pump above my growing beds.

I also splurged on air stones and opted for some larger ones. I purchased 4 of these large ECOPlus air stones for $5 each.

Cheaper air stones are available, but these commercial versions should last longer and provide much more aeration than those designed for smaller household aquariums.

Basement Hydroponics Project - Day 3

I installed the lighting system for the deep water culture hydroponics system a few days ago. 

I may add a third light in the future, but for now I think two will do the trick.  After adding the transplants to my deep water culture bins I will lower these lights to approximately 12 inches above the plants to maximize their effectiveness. I've seen pictures of other systems where the lights were even closer than that. 

I have the lights rigged up with a surge protector so I can turn everything on and off with one switch.  I plan to add a timer so that the lighting control is completely automated.

Basement Hydroponics Project - Day 2

The basement hydroponics project is progressing.  My seeds arrived on Wednesday and I planted them this weekend.  Collards, kale, lettuce, and spinach should do well in the system.  They can be harvested multiple times, which leverages the benefits of having a personal hydroponic bubbler system.

Hopefully the seeds will begin to sprout by the weekend.  I figure three more weeks and I'll add them to the hydroponics system.  The seed packets all reflect a 55 - 60 day maturity time frame. I think that time frame will be accelerated in the deep water culture hydroponics system with proper monitoring of nutrients and ph.

Basement Hydroponics (on the Cheap)

We lived in sunny Florida for amost 10 years, but relocated to the Upper Midwest this summer.  When we left the Tampa area in early July, the fields were bare. We arrived in Michigan to thriving vegetable gardens and lush green landscapes.  As the weather turns cooler in Southeast Michigan, I know that the growing season in Florida is kicking into high gear.


For the last three or four years when we became serious about producing edible food in our backyard, we kept adding to our backyard urban gardening effort.  Two above ground grow beds, a hanging planter, several containers, an Earthbox, a deep water culture hydroponics experiment, and a 200 gallon aquaponics fish tank. 


I still haven't adjusted to the switch in growing seasons and I'm beginning to crave fresh vegetables again. With inspiration from Frugal Hydroponics, I've decided to grow food in my basement this winter.


This afternoon we headed out to Lowes to shop for some supplies.

• Four 8 gallon plastic storage totes
• Two garage style flourescent shop lights
• A 3 inch hole saw
• Some Sanyo 6500k T8 bulbs

Tomorrow we'll be making a trip to the local hydropnic supply store for a few more items.

• Hydroton growing medium
• An air pump
• Four-way manifold
• Air stones
• Plastic tubing
• 3 1/2 inch net pots

If everything works as planned we'll be growing lettuce, Swiss Chard, collards, and spinach in very short order. Stay tuned for a series of posts detailing the construction process in the next few days.

Hydroponic Troughs for Soiless Gardening

Sunday evening we were walking around in Home Depot shopping for a trellis to support some cucumber plants we're growing.  As we walked down one of the aisles, my wife pointed out a crude, but interesting, amateur hydroponic set-up on display.

The exhibit consisted of a black utility mixing tray about 10 inches deep and 3 feet long x 2 feet wide filled with water. Various plants were growing in net pots and inserted into holes cut out of a piece of styrofoam trimmed to fit into the utility tray. The holes were big enough for the roots to have contact with the water below, but small enough so the net pots would not fall completely through the piece of styrofoam into the water below.

I'm not exactly sure what they were using for nutrients in the water, but I suspect it was some liquid fertilizer that was on display nearby.  I don't have an exact hyperlink to the instructions they had on display with the exhibit, but it was similar to this document posted on the University of Florida IFAS Extension website.

Here's a description of water culture growing methods from the IFAS article:

In water culture, plants are grown with roots submerged in a nutrient solution, with the stem and upper parts of the plants held above the solution. With this system, the main considerations are: provision of a suitable container, suspension of the plants above the water, provision of a suitable nutrient solution, and proper aeration of the water solution.

I don't think the Home Depot display was using any type of aeration for the water, but an inexpensive aquarium air pump and air stones would likely work well.

I am not sure about the advisability of using styrofoam to suspend the plants, since I have no personal experience using it, so before you try to use these methods additional research needs to be performed.  I have been told that BlueBoard manufactured by DOW is often used in aquaponic systems, but again I cannot recommend for it or against it since I have no personal experience with it.

I may try some of these techiniques in the future.  Until then, if you decide to try it or you have personal knowledge of using this growing approach I'd enjoy hearing from you.

Growing Blackberries

While we continue to transform and, in some instances, completely replace our urban landscaping with edible food bearing plants, trees, and bushes it isn't surprising that we ended up planting two blackberry bushes this weekend. Besides being practical, relatively easy to grow, and of high personal sentimental value to me, it was inevitable that we'd eventually plant some blackberries.

As a child, I remember my grandmother giving me a plastic container and sending me out behind the hog barn to pick some blackberries from the massive bushes that had been there for decades.  It was fun and besides that, I got to eat all the free fruit I wanted while I worked.  Turning in a heaping bowl of blackberries also guaranteed that a blackberry cobbler and a bowl of vanilla ice cream would make an appearance as an after dinner desert.

According to Garden.org:

"Blackberries are among the easiest fruits to grow at home. Cultivated varieties have larger berries than the wild types. They'll start to bear the second year after planting and continue for about 15 years. Trained properly, four plants, each with a 3-by-3-foot growing area, can supply enough berries for a family of four. Where winters are not too severe, the new thornless varieties do well."

We've been looking for blackberry plants for several weeks from a local nursery source without any luck.  While walking around in Lowes on Sunday I ran into an assortment of berry bushes as I was leaving to include raspberry, blueberry and blackberries. Finally!

Most of the online sources sell the 2 year old berry plants for about $5, but require a $50 minimum order.  At Lowes, I picked up 2 of them for less than $10. What a deal. I only wish they were the thornless varierty, but you know what they say about beggars and choosers.

We decided to plant them in two large clay pots that Old Tyme Pottery had marked down to clearance levels.  Eventually they will become root bound in the pots and require some root pruning or re-potting, but hopefully we'll be set with the current containers for 3 or 4 years.

Front of package

Instructions for planting on the back

The instructions explain that once a week watering is required and that fertilizers shouldn't be used until new growth become visible. Easy peasy!

Building My First Aquaponic System

It feels good to type this, because one of the biggest parts of goal setting and goal achievement is to write them down.

I've been researching aquaponics via Google searches for more than 3 years, but I have not yet built my first system.  I compost with worms and sell my extras on Craigslist for $17 per half pound and $30 per pound. I grow vegetables in above ground beds. I even have a very simply designed deep water hydroponic grow bed made from an 18 gallon Rough Tote plastic container with cheap air stones/bubblers that is beginning to grow it's first bell, banana, jalopeno, and pobalano peppers. But...I don't have an aquaponic system.

Hopefully that will be changing soon.

After finding AquaponicsCommunity.com via a Google search a couple weeks ago, it's rekindled my desire to build an aquaponic system that will grow enough fish to feed my wife and I a weekly meal of catfish and enough vegetables to severely reduce our grocery bill for store bought produce. 

It would have happened sooner if aquaponics design was simpler to understand and more inexpensive to build.  I can probably build a DIY barrel system for under $200 to experiment with.  Or, I can purchase a basic hobby-level system for $1,200 - $1,300 from a few different suppliers that will grow out a few fish each year. Or, I can buy a turn-key purpose-built aquaponics system that will grow a substantial amount of fish for between $3,000 and $4,000; and as a bonus the designers of this system will likely even deliver it to my house and help me set it up. Or, I can take the time to learn more of the in's and outs' of building a system by improvising my own components, my own media, my own beds, fish tanks, etc. and probably make some mistakes along the way, but save $1,300 - $1,800 in the process.

Besides deciding to prioritize spending money on something that may not be as simple as it sounds on paper, my second thru sixth largest obstacles has been convicing my wife that we should spend the money on it, sacrifice space in our backyard, risk a few uncomfortable glances and comments from my neighbors, and risk the HOA police putting the kabosh on the entire system before it really gets going well.

Whew! I'm getting tired typing out the list of all those obstacles that are probably closer to excuses than actual obstacles.

I am a complete novice just beginning the journey, but I have learned one thing for sure...my backyard aquaponics system is not going to build itself some night while I'm sleeping.  I'm going to have to get my hands dirty and step outside my comfort zone a little to turn it into reality.

I guess I've already taken the first several steps in the process this weekend by making the decisions to use a 300 gallon Rubbermaid fish tank stocked with catfish and attempt to camaflouge the set up with some type of bamboo fencing or some type of retention wall made from a concrete composite or stone pieces.

Only 239 more decisions and steps to take on the journey. Wish me luck!

Build an Aquaponic System

Commercial Hydroponic System for the Backyard Gardener

We're members of a local Community Support Agriculture (CSA) vegetable farm.  They use a commercial hydroponic system from Verti-Gro as their primary growing method, but they also have a smaller system set-up for demonstration purposes that they use for growing herbs.  Members are encouraged to choose a few of their favorite herbs each week, at no extra charge, and they get a mini-course in how their food is raised at the same time.

Four tower hydroponic system from Vertigro

Nutrients are stored in the plastic trash can and then pumped through the plastic plumbing pieces into the top of the vegetable towers.  The water then trickles down through the stacks providing water and required nutrients for the veggies.  The growing pots in each of the towers rotate 360 degrees to make harvesting a breeze. 

This type of gardening system is often used in areas with poor soil quality due to environmental factors such as hot and arid climates with sandy soils. The basic system provides a commercial quality food production system option for backyard gardeners without the time, effort, and expense involved with building above ground growing beds. 

If I understand the price lists correctly, this system is sold for approximately $400.  That may sound like a lot, but if you price supplies to build a traditional above ground bed separately you might be surprised to find that $400 isn't quite as high as it might first seem.  Counting the water savings alone versus traditional sprinkler and drip irrigation, the break even point might surprise you.  Plus you don't have to worry about weeds, cultivation, bending, stretching, etc. to harvest your food.

For comparison purposes, here's a picture of the main hydroponic system used by the CSA to provide weekly vegetable supply for CSA members and a couple of local produce stands.

Commercial hydroponic tower systemm from Verti-Gro

Aquaponics Gardening

Aquaponics creates a marriage of sorts between vegetable gardening and fish farming.  Like any healthy marriage, each one supports the other.  In an aquaponics system, fish provide a nitrogen source for vegetables and the vegetable grow beds filter water for the fish creating a mutually beneficial eco-system where both thrive. And like marriages, if one is neglected the other can suffer.

Admittedly, this explanation of aquaponics is perhaps a little over-simplified but accurate nonetheless.  The mechanics of making it all fit together and maintaining it properly is where it becomes more complicated.

Aquaponics has been around for several decades, but for some reason the practice and art seems to be more prevalent in Australia than in the United States, but that is changing.

I don't have first hand experience with aquaponics, but my future plans include building a small system for experimentation and personal consumption.  Depending on the climate, various types of fish are used in aquaponics.  While tilapia might thrive in Florida, they would likely stuggle in Michigan.  Similarly, perch might do well in Wisconsin, but poorly in Texas.  Catfish do seem to be used successfuly in most climates, although in warmer climates like Florida a bigger (and deeper) water resevoir may be required to keep from overheating the fish tank.

For more in depth discussions of aquaponics, Aquaponics Gardening provides a knowledge base that can help guide you in the right direction. For aquaponics supplies, TheAquaponicSource.com has some basic systems that should do well for home use.  And, "to kick it up a notch" as Emeril Lagasse is fond of saying, check out GrowingPower.org.  If you are anything like me, you'll be amazed at the possibilities.



One of these systems will probably make it onto my Christmas Wish List next year.  Someone with more mechanical and electrical knowledge than I have could make something similar with recycled parts, but I prefer turn key systems with instructions

Upside Down Tomato Planters

I've spent the last couple of weeks exploring ideas to maximize food production with a minimum of space.  Upside down hanging planters seem like a good idea, but I don't have any first hand knowledge of their effectiveness.  I'm looking forward to trying them out though.  I'll get my chance pretty soon, because I broke down and ordered the "tree version" of the most popular commercial brand name upside down tomato planter.

I'm sure I could have made one from a two gallon or five gallon plastic bucket, but $49.99 for the commercial version looked pretty good in the A.M. Leonard Gardener's Edge catalog.  The tree is a free standing metal hanger product that allows the hanger and plants to be suspended independently.  This eliminates the need to anchor the hanger onto anything.

After reading some of the mixed reviews at Amazon.com, I developed a slight case of buyer's remorse but I'll be able to test this impulse purchase out pretty soon.  Who knows, maybe it really does work as advertised?  I really hope so. Here's the version I purchased:  Hanging Tomato Tree  I plan to try egg plant instead of tomatoes though.

Amazon.com does have one review from someone who re-used the product for four growing seasons before needing a replacement.  I hope it works that well for me. 

Gardener's Supply Company has a similar product.  The bag portion of the container seems a little more durable than the plastic bag design in the competitor's version.

Grow Your Own Lunch Salad

Here is a picture of our pre-Superbowl lunchtime meal.  Ultimately, I should be able to grow everything in the picture (sans the mushrooms) in my own backyard garden.  The bib lettuce in the photo was harvested literally a minute or two before we ate it.  Talk about fresh! 

There's a certain satisfaction that accompanies growing your own lunch.  Even though it was only lettuce today, the time is coming when I'll be able to harvest the rest in my urban setting.

I've got bell peppers, poblano peppers, red bell peppers, and jalapeno peppers growing on my backporch and carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli, growing in my above ground gardening beds.  Soon I'll be growing Asian varieties of eggplant from suspended planters to take advantage of the small foot print vertical growing provides. 

It's a lot of fun and I get excited just writing about it.

--------------
Eat for Energy

Growing Fuyu Persimmon

Last night while waiting in line at the drive-in movie theatre we noticed a persimmon tree nearby.  I've seen persimmon trees grow to more than 25 feet tall and to a span of 25 or 30 feet. This one had been tightly pruned and although it was obviously an older tree it was not more than 4 feet wide and roughly 5 - 6 feet tall. 

It's my understanding that the normal fruiting period for persimmon ranges from Septemeber - December, but this tree had quite a lot of fruit remaining, although I couldn't be sure it's still edible.  The fuyu variety is commercially grown and highly popular.When I'm back in the area of the drive-in theatre, I'll take a picture.

I think a fuyu persimmon might make a good container gardening candidate.  They are very hardy trees in the wild, and based on my research  at the California Rare Fruit Growers website they require only moderate amounts of water and fertilizer.  They do need a well drained soil because over watering or water logging the roots can cause root rot.

The University of Florida IFAS Extension has an article containing persimmon recipes and nutrition information.

-----------------
Eat for Energy

Why Grow Food?

There are multiple reasons for learning to grow food:  To save money, to eat healthier, it’s good exercise, and it’s a nice hobby, but perhaps there is an even better reason – it’s nice to know where your food comes from.

It’s probably not possible to grow everything you eat in your backyard, especially if yours is as small as mine (think postage stamp), but you would be surprised how much of your own food you can grow in a small place.

You don’t need farm land, a large yard, or a lot of space, but a little creativity goes a long way.  You can use a raised bed garden, commercially available growing boxes, growing bags, or plastic buckets.  You can even use common flower pots. It’s really up to you.

The food you buy at the local grocery store may have been grown in your own town, in the next town over, or a town 2,000 miles away. You really have no way of knowing.  But, if you grow it yourself you control those variables.

Growing food helps develop a certain source of security for families - security in terms of not being completely reliant on someone else to feed us.  It's an opportunity to learn about food and the work it takes to provide it.  It's an opportunity to teach children about it.

Growing food is becoming a lost art.  Our parents and grandparents grew a large majority of the vegetables they ate.  They grew so much food that they couldn't eat it all, so they canned it for later use and kept in the cellar to preserve it.  They shared it with their friends, their neighbors, and their extended families.  Growing food provided a sense of community.

We look forward to learning, and in some cases re-learning, how to do the things our grandparents took for granted in terms of growing food.

We hope you will join us.

-----------------
Build a DIY Aquaponic System