msibartie
Newly Registered
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon May 31, 2021 12:08 pm

Complete noob (newbie)

Dear all, I am about to purchase a house. It has a pond at the end of the garden which fills up and then seems to dry up by september. It has a silty base and has no fish in it although it does have some wildlife. Ducks fly in every now and then. I must also point out that the backyard backs onto a large wheatfield, so I am not sure how much of any nutrients etc from the field leaches into the pond. To get to my question. I wanted to know if I could use the pond water as a source for a hydroponic setup. I wanted to make a hydroponic tower to grow lettuce, herbs etc, consisting of PVC pipe and 45 degree junctions stacked on each other. I would have a tank below the tower but wanted to know if the pond water could be used instead of buying nutrient additives etc. If so, how can it be done? A pump sucking water into the tank and pumping it up to the top of the tower? how do you deal with silt/leaves etc? Can I use a swirl filter?

Lot of questions but would be very eager to hear your thoughts.

msibartie
Newly Registered
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon May 31, 2021 12:08 pm

I suspect that may have been a very basic question but your thoughts are welcome

imafan26
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Posts: 13962
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

I think you would have to have the pond water tested to see if it has nutrients or bacteria you might not want.

Hydroponic plants have pretty specific needs depending on what you want to grow and you cannot afford disease or pests since they are planted so close together.
You also would need to adjust and maintain the pH and I don't know how you would do that exactly.

Aquaculture uses tilapia and catfish for the nutrients and they still have to adjust the pH and keep it around 6.0. Iron is added to the water for the lettuce, but it does nothing for the fish. The tanks have to be drained periodically because it becomes too toxic for the fish and they get fin rot and other stuff like snails end up in the pond and the pump moves snails and baby fish into the hydroponic rails.

Since you are just starting out with hydroponics. Try Kratky first. It is more of a passive system. For a short crop like lettuce you only add the nutrient solution Master Blend in the beginning. As long as the tank stays clean, you don't have to change the water and it will last until you harvest.

This is a youtube video made by the inventor B.A. Kratky. It is a bit nerdy but he
breaks it down step by step.


msibartie
Newly Registered
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon May 31, 2021 12:08 pm

Many thanks. will check it out. looks like I may want to try baby steps first.



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