Ochretis
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New to hydroponics

So I've been doing lots of research about hydroponics, and related topics and I'm really wanting to get started. However I've been trying to figure out what's the best way to go about nutrient solution. Since I'm new to this I'm going to start with leafy greens and herbs only to start with as I ease my way into it. I understand the concepts of needing different nutrients at different stages of the plants life, but with leafy greens from what I understand you just want vegetative growth. I've been going back and forth looking at different nutrients and styles.

After everything I've decided to start with liquid nutrients since I'm just starting, and I was thinking of going with the Flora Series. However I wasn't sure if leafy greens require the Flora bloom later in its life or if that would just make it bolt faster which I don't want. So would Flora Veg or Floranova Veg be the best in my situation?

I've read a lot about additives and making hydroponic plants a lot closer to soil grown quality, as in the higher brix scores. I saw that a lot of hydroponics used to have terrible taste/ brix scores because they were lacking a lot of things in the soil. It seems now that by adding in certain things we can simulate soil a lot better producing better quality crops.

I thought it'd be best to add some silica, CalMag, seaweed extract, fulvic acid, and amino acids. Unfortunately I'm unsure of how much of these things to add along with my main nutrients and I'm curious as to how people decide how much of these additives to add. I understand with CalMag it depends on the main nutrient solution as well as the makeup of the water used, but what about the rest?

I'm really just looking for some feedback from experienced hydroponic growers. If possible I'd like to hear about their attempts with different solutions, if they prefer making their own from scratch, and why. How many people have attempted growing with these additives, it sounds like amino acids are very important to getting a great brix score. Thanks in advance for your time and advice everyone.

Best Regards,
Ochretis

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rainbowgardener
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Hi and welcome! Sorry you haven't gotten a response. Your post is actually pretty technical and asks a lot of different questions.

I don't do hydro and a lot of the way hydro folks talk sounds like Greek to me. But since no one else has ventured a response, I will take a stab at the first question. I don't think you would want to use any bloom booster type fertilizer/ nutrients for lettuce. As you say, the last thing you want is for it to bloom/bolt.

There are lots of hydroponics specific forums out there, where people that are in to all the technical stuff hang out. You just have to watch out a bit, because many of the denizens of hydro forums are marijuana growers.

pepperhead212
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I have a hydroponics setup in which all I grow are greens and herbs, as you describe you wish to do. I use deepwater systems, in which I keep an aquarium powerhead, attached to a sponge filter, and an airstone. Here are some photos I have taken through the years.
https://s24.photobucket.com/user/pepperh ... tup?sort=3
I have used a few brands of nutrients - Maxigro, a powder, and the cheapest choice; Liquid Foliage Pro, which I got at clearance, and had great results with last winter; and a two part liquid Triflex, Base and Gtow, which I also got at clearance, but it didn't do as well as the other two. I also like to add Karma, one of many supplements with humic acid and other nutrients. Another supplement that I have found very useful is Hygrozyme, which is an enzyme that helps break down dead roots, and add the nutrients back to the water. Before using this, there would be a mass of slimy, dead roots, when the plants would get large. With greens and herbs there really isn't a lot of changing that needs done, as with fruiting vegetables, when one nutrient solution is needed for growth, one for flowering, and one for fruiting. I just leave it pretty much the same, and seldom change any solution, as is often suggested.

ccar2000
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I have a small (25 plant ports) ebb and flow set up with a timer set up for 15 minute soak time three times a day growing culinary herbs. I use the MaxiGrow and pH down products. I used to religiously adjust the dosage every three days based upon pH and TDS. Now after growing for a year, I just do water changes every three to four weeks and add a fixed dose of each product, in my case it happens to be 3TBS of the dry fertilizer and a 5ml dose of the pH down. I have a 15.5 gallon sump. If the sump level gets low between change outs I add some aquarium water or fresh water with a little Alaska Fish fertilizer. Everything seems to grow well.

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lakngulf
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ccar2000 wrote:I have a small (25 plant ports) ebb and flow set up with a timer set up for 15 minute soak time three times a day growing culinary herbs. I use the MaxiGrow and pH down products. I used to religiously adjust the dosage every three days based upon pH and TDS. Now after growing for a year, I just do water changes every three to four weeks and add a fixed dose of each product, in my case it happens to be 3TBS of the dry fertilizer and a 5ml dose of the pH down. I have a 15.5 gallon sump. If the sump level gets low between change outs I add some aquarium water or fresh water with a little Alaska Fish fertilizer. Everything seems to grow well.
Do you have a picture of your setup?

ccar2000
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Thank you for your interest, I'll work on getting pictures. It's a pretty simple system that I based off of pictures from the Internet. I used 4" PVC pipe and a 27 gallon heavy duty storage box (black with a yellow lid)

ccar2000
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Location: Littlerock, CA USDA 9a 3,ooo ft Elevation

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brianr11
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I don't claim to be an expert, but I know that when I started out I was recommended this:
https://www.htgsupply.com/products/heavy ... oncentrate
and I honestly haven't tried anything else- It's worked for me really well, I just have a small set up with one 720 watt LED grow light. So, if you're just starting out with a small-scale set up, I'd give this a try! Hope this helps :D

johnpradeep
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Location: Chennai

Hydroponics is both environmentally friendly and nature-friendly method of cultivation which has the power of saving the entire mankind of the present world as well as the future generations from the food problems which we have to face due to the present living conditions as well as the changing climatic conditions.

johnpradeep
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Location: Chennai

It is scientifically proven that NFT cultivation gives high-quality yields rich in proteins and vitamin in less time when compared to another method of hydroponics cultivation. Nft hydroponics system is also applicable in home hydroponics.

imafan26
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Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Hydroponic produce grows faster and looks very good if it is well grown in a greenhouse. However, I prefer a soil grown plant. For some reason, the hydroponic produce does not taste the same. It is like the difference between wild caught fish and farm raised. There just seems to be something missing.

That being said, hydroponics uses water and space very efficiently. You can grow more produce in less space with less water. the initial set up costs are higher and the hydroponic chemicals are still expensive, but as the method becomes more popular, the price may come down.

We only have two hydroponic suppliers here and I would have to go over 20 miles to get to either of them and the hydro supplies are expensive. I can get net pots, which are being offered by other ag suppliers but even those are not inexpensive.

Kratky is still the simplest way to get started with hydroponics since you do not need to have a pump, just an aerator and a rubber maid tub makes a good tank.

johnpradeep
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Location: Chennai

Thank you for your comments

johnpradeep
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Location: Chennai

The Nft hydroponic system is another successful method in the field of hydroponics as water mixed with minerals and nutrients in equal proportion is recirculated continuously to the plants so that they get an equal amount of nutrients and also give the equal and good amount of yield. The medium chosen by the farmer for hydroponics is more important because it plays an important role in this method of farming. This medium should make the water drain into them properly and give necessary moisture to the plants all the time.

dobro13
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Location: Upstate SC. Zone7B or 8.

I’ve just started to study on this for peppers and maybe tomatoes. It is fascinating to say the least.



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