Hi Patrice. I like your laid back style of making videos. Perhaps consider (instead of Kratky, DWC & flood & drain) trying the rain gutter grow system using hydroponic nutrient. No need to recirculate, no need for air pumps & (provided you keep the roots out of the rain gutter) no need to adjust the pH. Use your downspouts instead of an open rain gutter, use a float valve to set the nutrient level in the downspout & use geotech fabric to prevent the roots getting into the channel. Use coco coir with perlite as your aggregate. You can even use standard potting mix instead if you want (use with hydroponic nutrient for maximum yield). I don't think you will go back to any of the above systems after you have tried the RGGS.
@@stuffmydadknows Thanks for your reply. You can put the float in one of your kitty litter containers, then just adjust the height of the kitty container up or down to match the level you want in your rain gutters. This is easier than installing the float in the end of the rain gutter itself. Use half inch irrigation tube (or half inch garden hose which is often easier to bend etc) to connect multiple rain gutters together so you only need a single float valve (Hoocho hasn't learned this yet). Install a filter before the float valve so it does not clog up with algae or any undissolved nutrient. Hoocho uses a net cup (or wicking rope) which hangs into the rain gutter for wicking, but I prefer using a microfibre cleaning cloth. Make sure it is polyester/polyamide as this does not rot like cotton does. I push the centre of the cloth through the hole in the bottom of the pot, spreading the ends out along the inside bottom surface of the pot. This helps to prevent roots getting into the rain gutter. The polyester cloths last for many years. Just pull the roots off between grows (or put them in the washing machine). You can test the wicking ability of various cloths by pegging one end onto the lip of a bucket & carefully adding 2 inches of water in the bucket. Observe how far the water wicks up the cloth an hour later. I've bought the polyester wicking rope from Hydroland (Hoocho) & most microfibre cloths beat it hands down. Big plusses are that you no longer need to adjust the pH of the nutrient as the grow goes on & no more emptying out the nutrient reservoir every couple of weeks. Another plus is that the acids the plant roots secrete creates a mico-environment that suits the roots without any recirculated nutrient washing them away. This is one of the main reasons why wicking rain gutter grow systems work so well. Just remember that wicking only works to 400mm max, so no point in having your aggregate any higher than that.
Will stringing the peppers prevent them from growing towards the sun? My plants tends to always grow towards the sun. The left side of my balcony gets the morning sun and the right side the evening sun, so they "lean" towards those sides. Maybe I should just try stringing them up when I pot them up to their final pot size 🤔Anyways, hope your tomatoes snap back and end up looking like last year 🤞
@@stuffmydadknows Aha. Thanks for the information. I guess I'll skip stringing them and hope the wind I get on the balcony will give them a sturdy enough trunk, and then just keep rotating the pots to prevent the from only growing towards the sun 🤔
Hi Patrice. I like your laid back style of making videos. Perhaps consider (instead of Kratky, DWC & flood & drain) trying the rain gutter grow system using hydroponic nutrient. No need to recirculate, no need for air pumps & (provided you keep the roots out of the rain gutter) no need to adjust the pH. Use your downspouts instead of an open rain gutter, use a float valve to set the nutrient level in the downspout & use geotech fabric to prevent the roots getting into the channel. Use coco coir with perlite as your aggregate. You can even use standard potting mix instead if you want (use with hydroponic nutrient for maximum yield). I don't think you will go back to any of the above systems after you have tried the RGGS.
I have seen this on Hoocho, I'll giv eit a go! Thanks
@@stuffmydadknows Thanks for your reply. You can put the float in one of your kitty litter containers, then just adjust the height of the kitty container up or down to match the level you want in your rain gutters. This is easier than installing the float in the end of the rain gutter itself. Use half inch irrigation tube (or half inch garden hose which is often easier to bend etc) to connect multiple rain gutters together so you only need a single float valve (Hoocho hasn't learned this yet). Install a filter before the float valve so it does not clog up with algae or any undissolved nutrient.
Hoocho uses a net cup (or wicking rope) which hangs into the rain gutter for wicking, but I prefer using a microfibre cleaning cloth. Make sure it is polyester/polyamide as this does not rot like cotton does. I push the centre of the cloth through the hole in the bottom of the pot, spreading the ends out along the inside bottom surface of the pot. This helps to prevent roots getting into the rain gutter. The polyester cloths last for many years. Just pull the roots off between grows (or put them in the washing machine).
You can test the wicking ability of various cloths by pegging one end onto the lip of a bucket & carefully adding 2 inches of water in the bucket. Observe how far the water wicks up the cloth an hour later.
I've bought the polyester wicking rope from Hydroland (Hoocho) & most microfibre cloths beat it hands down.
Big plusses are that you no longer need to adjust the pH of the nutrient as the grow goes on & no more emptying out the nutrient reservoir every couple of weeks. Another plus is that the acids the plant roots secrete creates a mico-environment that suits the roots without any recirculated nutrient washing them away. This is one of the main reasons why wicking rain gutter grow systems work so well. Just remember that wicking only works to 400mm max, so no point in having your aggregate any higher than that.
Will stringing the peppers prevent them from growing towards the sun? My plants tends to always grow towards the sun. The left side of my balcony gets the morning sun and the right side the evening sun, so they "lean" towards those sides. Maybe I should just try stringing them up when I pot them up to their final pot size 🤔Anyways, hope your tomatoes snap back and end up looking like last year 🤞
They need to build up a main trunk that will be strong enough for the peppers they'll bare. The leaves will still lean toward the sun!
@@stuffmydadknows Aha. Thanks for the information. I guess I'll skip stringing them and hope the wind I get on the balcony will give them a sturdy enough trunk, and then just keep rotating the pots to prevent the from only growing towards the sun 🤔