4th Grade Science Project

[hydroguy]

Hydroponics is not that complicated, granted you have to know whats in the water your giving your plants but if my 9YO can master it most any adult out there can do the same.

The system we built is about as basic as the come. A fluorescent fixture (125 watt ) thats sold locally at Rural King, a 5gal bucket with lid sold at Lowes, some scrap would from previous grow, and air pump and stone from walmart. The timer and power strip were picked up at a local hardware store. The net pots, rock wool and hydroton easily purchased from Ebay at a bargain. Nutrients and testing equipment are mine but easily picked up on Ebay aswell, where I get most of my stuff.

System started out with the frame and bucket;
[img]https://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy130/hydroguy/hydro%20fall%20winter%202011/1205111618-00.jpg[/img]

Drilled 5 holes in the lid for the net pots. Could have used a hole saw but just cut them out with the dremel cause thats what we had. He took 5 plants from the seed starting flat, yea I was flipping my lettuce system at the same time so he had planty to choose from:

[img]https://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy130/hydroguy/hydro%20fall%20winter%202011/1126110918-00.jpg[/img]

Placed the rockwool cubes in the net pots making sure the roots were hanging down through the pot then filled the rmeinder of the net pot with hydroton.

Drilled a hole high on the side for the single air line going into the bucket. Net pots hang down from the lid about 3 inches and water is filled to the bottom of the net pot.

[img]https://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy130/hydroguy/hydro%20fall%20winter%202011/0126121653-02.jpg[/img]

Jan 26
[img]https://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy130/hydroguy/hydro%20fall%20winter%202011/0126121653-01.jpg[/img]

Jan 31

[img]https://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy130/hydroguy/hydro%20fall%20winter%202011/0131121655-00.jpg[/img]

the mechanical side:
[img]https://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy130/hydroguy/hydro%20fall%20winter%202011/0131121656-00.jpg[/img]

[webmaster]

That's really cool.

[DoubleDogFarm]

4th grade, that would be " KEWL "

[hydroguy]

Well we have a problem, Science fair isn't for 10 more days and these plants are huge! Can't decide if we should cut some leaves off or just let them go. If there's a problem then this is the type to have. If we do a harvest tonight then there will be plenty of time for the new leaves to get this full again.

Here's some pics taken tonight, compare these to the ones taken on the 31st. It's why we really like playing with hydroponics. It's really simple and the results are FAST!

[img]https://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy130/hydroguy/hydro%20fall%20winter%202011/0204121557-00.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy130/hydroguy/hydro%20fall%20winter%202011/0204121559-01.jpg[/img]

[hydroguy]

We decided to go ahead and cut the leaves down since there was 9 days remaining before the project has to go to class.

[img]https://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy130/hydroguy/hydro%20fall%20winter%202011/0205121336-00.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy130/hydroguy/hydro%20fall%20winter%202011/0205121334-00.jpg[/img]

Nice harvest from 5 plants!

Today is the day the system goes to class. He is only going to take the bucket with the plants and another bucket full of stuff like the net pots, hydroton, rockwool, nutrients etc. Leaving the light, frame and air pump here. Taking it all up there at noon today and guess what? it's supposed to snow tonight so they probably wont do the science fair until Wed. Plants will be fine for a couple of days without light or air.

[img]https://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy130/hydroguy/hydro%20fall%20winter%202011/0213120733-00.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i784.photobucket.com/albums/yy130/hydroguy/hydro%20fall%20winter%202011/0213120732-01.jpg[/img]

I really hope that this little project has proven that hydroponics is not that complicated. My 9yo is a smart kid and hopefully learned a few things along the way. If he can do this then the only thing stopping an adult is fear of getting your feet wet!

[bellabonbon]

This hydroponics kit you made is quite impressive. My son is also interested in growing fruits & vegetables. I can't wait to show him this post. Keep up the good work.

[Fresh Salad]

Lettuce looks great!! The setup looks neat and professional. Rob