OK, so I think I’ve learned some lessons, thanks to you guys. I so appreciate your input!
I’m starting over with one plant per 5-gal bucket, with a large net cup that snaps onto the top of the bucket. Problem is, the seedling doesn’t have enough roots to reach down into the nutrient water yet. I have clay pebbles to stabilize the seedling, but the cup is so deep I’m just not sure how to get the plant going. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I am used to systems that allow the water to cover the bottom 1/4 inch of the cup. Up to 2 inches of the bottom of a dutch bucket set up. The dutch bucket does not need a net cup. The bucket is filled with cinder or hydroton. The nutrient solution is pumped with an air pump to the top of the bucket (for a small system), It percolates through the bucket to the drain hole set about 2 inches from the bottom of the bucket and the effluent goes back to the reservoir ( you should have a filter in the reservoir), and then it is pumped back up to the buckets again. You would still have to do the EC and adjust the pH and nutrients as needed. In an ebb and flow, dutch bucket or flow by system, that is all you need is to be able to keep the roots moist, but allow a lot of air as well
https://www.volusia.org/core/fileparse. ... Bucket.pdf
https://www.hightechgardening.com/dutch-bucket-system/
In a Kratky setup you still need the 1/4 inch of the bottom of the cup to be in the solution at the start. As the roots grow the solution level will drop and the bottom of the roots will be in the nutrient solution and the rest will be air roots. It would take more than a 5 gallon bucket.
https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/hg-44.pdf
https://www.volusia.org/core/fileparse. ... Bucket.pdf
https://www.hightechgardening.com/dutch-bucket-system/
In a Kratky setup you still need the 1/4 inch of the bottom of the cup to be in the solution at the start. As the roots grow the solution level will drop and the bottom of the roots will be in the nutrient solution and the rest will be air roots. It would take more than a 5 gallon bucket.
https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/hg-44.pdf
Thank you. I guess I’ll just fill the bucket enough to reach the grow sponge and the few, short roots. I can’t afford any other systems, so I have to work with what I’ve got. I did buy cucumber-specific fertilizer and Cal Mag, which I didn’t have before, and a friend had success with one plant in a 5-gal bucket. We’ll see!
It might work if you have a 50 day or bush cucumber. I know it can be done if you are changing your nutrient solution on a regular basis and topping off.
I did grow cucumbers in dutch buckets. There was also a sub irrigated system that was on a timer and was turned on then drained and left off for an interval. The bucket was very small. While it worked, the plants grown in the larger dutch buckets were bigger and produced more. There were other problems in that shade house because of a tank butted up next to the wall of the shade house that interfered with air flow.
https://www.greenhousetoday.com/how-oft ... ic-system/
https://www.nosoilsolutions.com/how-to- ... cucumbers/
I did grow cucumbers in dutch buckets. There was also a sub irrigated system that was on a timer and was turned on then drained and left off for an interval. The bucket was very small. While it worked, the plants grown in the larger dutch buckets were bigger and produced more. There were other problems in that shade house because of a tank butted up next to the wall of the shade house that interfered with air flow.
https://www.greenhousetoday.com/how-oft ... ic-system/
https://www.nosoilsolutions.com/how-to- ... cucumbers/
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pepperhead212
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Sub irrigated planters are a lot easier to take care of too. Unlike hydro systems that you have to monitor like a swimming pool. The only thing I grew in 5 gal sips were peppers. I plant up to 4 cucumbers in an 18 gallon pot and I have mostly 60-70 day cucumbers. While they don't escape the pot, they need more space. They still take up less space and resources than separate containers for each plant. I also have to get the trellis in the pot and even with the 18 gallon pot, it can be a challenge, and one of the trellis legs still ends up outside the pot. The larger pots can go longer between watering in the cooler season. The other advantage is that if the reservoir is not overflowing all of the time, fertilizer lasts longer in a SIP. Downside, the soil in the bottom of the SIP does not smell very good because it is anaerobic.
There are newer designs that has some kind of barrier like a t-shirt, cotton, or weed block to keep the soil separated from the water. The SIP I originally made had soil legs and the roots always end up filling the reservoir, so it kinda looked like and overgrown hydro system cup.
There are newer designs that has some kind of barrier like a t-shirt, cotton, or weed block to keep the soil separated from the water. The SIP I originally made had soil legs and the roots always end up filling the reservoir, so it kinda looked like and overgrown hydro system cup.