I hate it too but fact is that over 80% of people are watching on mobile devices and a lot of my gardening is going vertical. It fits better in the shots instead of a bunch of wasted space on the sides. I have to experiment with what works best for most of my viewers and not what I like.
I use a video editing software called Animoto that allows you to easily create multiple versions of a single video based on format with a click of a button. The same video can be horizontal, vertical or square fast and easy. I’m 60 so I prefer horizontal on my iPad Pro. This is one of my favorite channels and I started growing for the first time last year. I will watch these videos even with the big black sides. I’m sure there are other programs that do the same thing as Animoto. That one is very simple and user friendly. Thank you so much for all the great content!! : )) Keep On Growin Mike!!!!
@@KeepOnGrowin You can turn a mobile phone sideways and watch it just the same. I actually despise this format for anything other than short videos on my phone. Most phone plugs are on the bottom as well, so having your phone vertical while relaxing is often going to put the charging cable in an annoying place.
Mike, me and the kids finished building the salad wall out of milk bottles donated by Starbucks. We got 54 bottles ready to go, and some seedlings under our nursery grow light, to get ready for the warmer weather. (New England here). We will send you a video when we get it all planted.
I also live in Florida and I’m wondering where would be a good place (location) to keep my hydroponics plants. It gets really hot during the summer and I don’t have any space in my lanai.
I’m in Tallahassee just starting to set things up and I’m just thinking. You’re not too far from me so what will you do under a hurricane threat? That’s a lot to bring inside but possibly dangerous projectiles if left outside 🤔
I like your approach: growing what you need. I have a 36 sq ft balcony garden in zone 11. It's hard to grow just the right amount of lettuce, cucumber, and tomatoes for a single person. I have 4 gallon buckets in a DWG system. Grape determinate tomatoes in DWG grew much faster than tomatoes in potting mix, same kind of buckets. But DWG containers had bad root rot, I think from heat. Do you think throwing some ice in nutrient solution, or placing packs of frozen plastic containers will prevent root rot? It's not algae, It's dark brown root rot. Hydrogen peroxide 3% 50 ml for 2 days turned roots white again. What simple, cheap thing could I do to grow sufficient lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes in DWG system without root rot? Should I give up hydroponics and do soil only?
I'm not sure. I haven't used your system, but is it possible that the hydrogen peroxide worked because it gave the plants needed oxygen? If so, is there another way to give them oxygen? Are their air roots above the water level? Just ideas 😊
@@DutchAlaskagirl I'm sorry. I typed in DWC but this tablet kept on inputting DWG instead. DWC is a circulating system where you drop in an pump, like an aquarium pump. It's a constant flow of oxygen into the nutrient reservoir. I use DWC because I don't know the maximum volume of nutrients for the non-circulating method. My container holds 4 gallons. But Mike doesn't seem to have a problem with the amount of fluid in his vertical non-circulating system. I don't know if I really need the aquarium pump.
I went to firehouse subs and bought 5 buckets for $15. Then later in the day I went to Sams Club and they had 27 gallon tubs for $10. So, per gallon the tubs were cheaper, but the buckets are space savers as you can stack them. Each have their advantages. I am so excited to start this journey. Planting season in North Georgia starts mid April-early May. So, this next week my son and I are installing some trellis wires for tomatoes and cucumbers. I am going to go ahead and wash out all the buckets and barrels I have purchased and get the water and nutrients mixed up and filled up. Then the next week I will be ready to just go out and drop my plants into each bucket, barrel, or tote. All total, I think I have spent about $300. But I think I will have an endless supply of fresh veggies for the summer and plenty of salsa and salsa verde put up for the rest of the year. In the past, we have spent way more trying to amend the soil here and it just not possible with the money we have available. So, I think this is the way to go. And depending on how well it goes, I may convert my brother over. He is watching closely. He has a extra spicy pepper farm and he has to buy soil and amend his soil periodically. I think this is going to be a more efficient way of growing veggies with a lot less daily hands on care. I cant wait to report back and tell you how it is all working. I also cant wait to see how your bags work. Because if they work well, I think on a smaller scale I could do a small herb garden inside. I can picture one of those small wooden towel ladders with the bags on them growing different herbs out of them on the kitchen counter (if you have a sunny window). Thanks for keeping my mind working. Each time I see a container, I think of new stuff.
It's a brilliant idea to stabilize a tower of buckets by putting a stake into the ground, having passed it through the handles at the back of the buckets. I'll use your idea. Thanks.
Oh How Cute. People think you have a "farm". I was jealous of your old place with the porch railing! I started cutting holes in my first bucket but I need to figure out how to use my hole saw cuz it keeps coming loose when I try to turn it counter clockwise. Even though I tighten the chuck. Anybody got advice, I'm for it. As far as the target containers, considering I grew successufully in a clear water bottle, I think anything will be successful after that! LOL Thanks for featuring those. I have wanted squarish containers and can only find weak rectanguluar shoe boxes. I thought I recognized those mylar bags. That's very smart! i like the idea of an insulating later tween the bag and the bucket. It's like those double walled cups they market for drinks. I like the idea of a nursery tray. My nursery tray fed me all winter. Having pavers for the containers to sit on is a neat idea. I don't have proper grass so that will help keep things tidy and level. Is your Front Yard fenced in or open? Do you have to contend with 4-legged critters like deer? OMG, talk about recycling! Amazon bags? Kudos, man! My poor friend heard me talking about buckets and came to me one day excited that he found some buckets, but they were previously used for construction and concrete. I thanked him cuz I didn't want to tell him I couldn't use them for the plant growing. but I'll have to break it to him later. This is not his area of interest and he thought he was being helpful. I guess, though, I could use them if I lined them with the Mylar bags you showed here today. So there may be a happy ending? Ha!
mylar bags to line them. If your hole saw has the black screw in insert, i have to really hand tighten that or it spins out when i go to reverse. I you are never gonna change out the hole saw size, lock tite the hole saw cup to the insert.
The 5 gal mylar bag in the bucket does not seem like a good idea because the top will collapse over time and drown out the air roots. Maybe add some bamboo skewers to make sure the plant does not drop below the top of the bucket. Love the channel. Keep on going!
This is what I was thinking too. Those bags remind me of the kids drinks capri sun. As you drink the liquid in those (in this case the plant would be drinking it) they close up because there's no air coming in to replace that liquid. So how will the plant develop air roots in that environment? Will you have to open them and "inflate" them?
I too prefer the wider screen shots instead of the narrow screen shots. Just my preference. I am just blown away from all your experiments. I think that is so smart of you to do. And then to share what you are learning is a great service to mankind. You are a better source of information than many college courses. You really are. My son has a Masters Degree in Agronomy and he is totally in awe by what you are doing. So glad you gave us the whole tour of your place so that we can be motivated to start small ourselves in our own backyards. And front yards! Glad you mentioned the mosquitos and how to avoid them. I was just wondering if that was a problem especially since you are down there in Florida. I think you are such a natural presenter in your videos. Pleasant voice and lots of enthusiasm. I keep going back and watching all your old videos. So much information. Thanks for going into so much detail for us older folks that might be a little slower in getting what you are doing.
Thank you Clark, that means a lot to me! Sometimes I might get thousands of views but still wonder if I am getting through. Are people watching for entertainment because it looks cool, or am I making an impact? Reassurance like this is nice and keeps me going ( and growin').
Mike, this is PHENOMENAL, as I think it's just what I needed!!! I want to use the Kratky method outdoors, although I really need something light weight and easy to clean up (& dispose of) in the fall, and I think the idea of using Mylar (&/or recycling sturdy type shipping) 'bags' is potentially perfect. I also love the 'terracotta towers' look and would like to see some in a 'tan-beige' colored clay look as well, (for those who have 'tan-beige' colored siding, etc.). I'm looking forward to seeing 'step by step how to' videoS ASAP PLEASE!!!
I like watching these videos. I live in the country, but some of these things might be good to keep in mind in case we need it later. But my daughter is going to be married soon, and she'll be living in an apartment. So I'm very interested in the hydroponics. Thank you!
Thank you for all your informational videos. We started a week ago and are excited. True Leaf Market seed came a couple days ago, so we started those yesterday. Keep teaching Mr. Mike. Thanks!
Hey Mike, the Mylar bags are very interesting. It would be great if it works out. I’ll be waiting for the results. I’ve started the Kratky and I’m loving it. I listen to you . Im growing different lettus and Im so amazed i have fresh salads every day . My family wants to learn also . The lettus has excellent flavor . Say hi to your beautiful wife plus I really like the terra cotta on the buckets . Brilliant idea ! I’m an artist too and many thanks and blessing to you . 😊✝️
Experimenting is the way to finding out what works for your situation..I love all your ideas. It has inspired me to think outside the box for starting my peas in different vessels. ❤️
You refer to Pok Choy a lot. Can you maybe do some cooking vids to give us ides on how to use it? Not trying to earn "brownie points" , but you are My Favorite Hydroponic Grower💞💞💞💞 As for heat tollerance, I really like the ideas you have, it gets HOT in Texas!
A lot of people use it in stir fry. From my personal experience, in recipes, where you can use spinach, you can use the leaves off of it and where you can use celery, you can substitute and use the stems. Hopefully this helps.
You could drive an Everbilt metal fence stake from Home Depot into the ground to secure the buckets in a high tower. They only cost about $10. It also has notches to latch wire fencing onto, so you could tie the bucket handles tightly to the post with a little wire.
Hello,. Crazy question, is it possible to grow mini roses from the buckets?? Also, I bought a "living"lettuce at my grocery store and once it was gone I put the roots in some water,( without fertilizer for now) hoping it'll grow. Keep the videos coming, I love you and your wife's ideas!! Love and respect from Texas!!
Interesting concept. I'm curious to see how it handles the heat, I'm in Florida, too. The heat + humidity is wicked, the pool gets up to 90 on its own.
I went to finally make my first batch of nutrients and realized i cut holes in every single bucket. Haaaa I called 2 costcos and 2 firehouse subs no buckets. Boo. That's OK. Try again later. I love your channel. Love your ingenuity. One gal I follow said to plant 1/4 the number of your pool noodle holes every 2 weeks to have a continuous daily harvest. I had to chuckle when you showed the Amazon bag. Hysterical. Hope it works. That'd be awesome. Thanks for all your work making these videos.
I did something similar with mylar bags last year except I grew the plant out of the ziplock opening. It worked ok, although I think your pool noodle would work better. I think if you hung a sheet of fabric or mesh you could hang the bags off of that with hooks made of paperclips. Small holes in the bags would let you have the bags removable.
Bury the blue buckets to just below the rim. That will keep your roots cool. Wider screen shots are better for people like me who have vision difficulties.
Hey Mike, I don't know if you've tried it, but how about experimenting with tetrapak containers? They already have a hole cut out, they're similar to the mylar bags in the sense that they're waterproof and keep the light out. And the bonus is they're recycled. What do you think?
Ok, had no idea what those were called. I think it's a great idea. They probably work better than the cardboard milk cartons that I use. I will experiment. Thanks!
You are amazing! We're still getting snowing days, but hoping soon for that 24hr sunshine. These methods will be excellent and once season is over and the cold comes we'll be able to cut it down to small indoor setup with grow lights. Greens are VERY expensive up here. No Tagets and our Walmart doesn't carry these containers but we can order online (wish we had your pricing) but all's possible if you try!!! thank you for all you do ❤
Just wanted to say, thanks for making these amazing videos. Before I came across your channel, I was dead set on making a hydroponic tower out of PVC pipe and a more complicated setup. When you made bucket tower setup, I couldn't believe how simple it was! I had come across a huge collection of empty buckets for storing food, but after I moved, I didn't have space for them in the house... so they sat outside, empty without a purpose. The setup you proposed seems like a perfect use for them (and saves me the PVC pipe I have). I am curious as well, could spray painting your buckets a light or dark color do something for temperature control? Say, you've got a cheap greenhouse and plants in those buckets you're trying to overwinter... could a dark bucket maintain a warm enough temperature to keep the greenhouse at a survivable level to overwinter them? Likewise, would lighter colored buckets be a better idea for hotter climates so the plants don't overheat? Just a thought! Thanks for the videos! Edit: Also, something I noticed when buying seeds lately. Most places selling seeds are really expensive for some reason... but Dollar Tree sells packets for dirt cheap right now. Seeds keep if stored right, so just something I wanted to pass along to anyone interested =)
You do amazing work! I appreciate it! FYI I did want to let you know some people can develop Oxalic acid poisoning from too much intake of Kale and spinach. It can cause severe joint pain and fatigue. God bless you!
Hi. Redlands Fla. I’m at th stage to place my plants into buckets The sun is at 83 here and by 11-12n my plants are starting to droop. Have to plenty of nutrients. I have shade cloth up-50%. Would that give protection. Help. Suggestions please😊
Have a question pertaining to the tomatoes. I've done hydro in Apts that we lived and wonder what are your thoughts on hydro grown vs. Soil grown as far as taste is concerned. I'm going to grow both ways with the same type of plants to do a real comparison. Thanks for bringing back that part of growing that I enjoyed but forgot about because we bought a home with a little land in an HOA...lol
Speaking of keeping the nutrient solution cool, I want to grow in an enclosed porch but am concerned about heat build up. How hot would bectoo hot for ambient temperature.
Does the water need to be changed out often so bacteria doesn't grow in the water? Also, do you think the plants absorb toxins from the plastic pool noodles, or not? Thanks!
Mike, thanks for the tip on buying downspout caps from HydroLeaves, I was in time to buy a few. Before I get started building my own; I wondered... what's your favorite length of downspout, and why?
I have a concern about wet feet and yellowing. I started my journey last month and have decent lettuce, but the pak choy and red kale have 'yellowed'...in your experience is this from too much root in water? My nutrients are on point...concerned in NE Fla...(love what you're doing for ppl!)
I plan on trying the stacking Buckets on an apartment patio. I don't have much room but I'm going to try growing tomatoes and peppers. Thanks for the info and hopefully it goes well.
Excited to follow along and see how all the experiments work out 🤞🏻😁 I really like the terracotta look on the buckets! For my buckets this year I'm going with a rose gold-copper color 🤗 I got really excited at the thought of customizing colors (can't exactly do anything like that with my cinder block raised bed)
Geothermal energy can be a thought… bury a cast iron pipe loop down below the frost depth and pump water through it at a slow rate The earth will remove the heat… you have to pump something but running on a small panel might work during the day:
Thanks! LOVE the creativity !!! Odd question but here goes. Is there a way to "make" nutrients from like chicken poo or whatever in a SHTF kind of situation? Like when the "virus" hit, shelves were empty of a lot of things.
Thank you very much Tammy. You can try. Almost all natural nutrients break down and start to smell funky really quick. For survival, I think anything is possible and not off the table.
Have you tried using geothermal and burying some of the containers to keep them cooler? I'm even thinking you could mulch around the outside of the container to keep the soil around the container cooler too 🤔
Hi. I’m still new to your channel. I love everything you do! I’m just looking at all of your different areas, and I’m thinking: he must not live in an earthquake prone area😂 Plus we get A LOT of winds. For beginners with hydroponics: is there a playlist? Dirt is expensive, wood is expensive, so I like the idea. Just not sure if it’s going to work in Alaska. Very short growing season. And I can’t grow anything indoors. But I’m always willing to learn. I really like the terra-cotta painted buckets. A totem pole would be great. Thanks for taking us along
Here's a good one for beginners: ua-cam.com/play/PLk4IGbDM3vfq2M2nx8_SkExMP0rRgBHLg.html Look around the channel, I don't know much about earthquakes but most of what I do can be adapted.
Love the content, hate the vertical format.
I hate it too but fact is that over 80% of people are watching on mobile devices and a lot of my gardening is going vertical. It fits better in the shots instead of a bunch of wasted space on the sides. I have to experiment with what works best for most of my viewers and not what I like.
I use a video editing software called Animoto that allows you to easily create multiple versions of a single video based on format with a click of a button. The same video can be horizontal, vertical or square fast and easy. I’m 60 so I prefer horizontal on my iPad Pro. This is one of my favorite channels and I started growing for the first time last year. I will watch these videos even with the big black sides. I’m sure there are other programs that do the same thing as Animoto. That one is very simple and user friendly. Thank you so much for all the great content!! : )) Keep On Growin Mike!!!!
@@KeepOnGrowin You can turn a mobile phone sideways and watch it just the same. I actually despise this format for anything other than short videos on my phone. Most phone plugs are on the bottom as well, so having your phone vertical while relaxing is often going to put the charging cable in an annoying place.
Mike, me and the kids finished building the salad wall out of milk bottles donated by Starbucks. We got 54 bottles ready to go, and some seedlings under our nursery grow light, to get ready for the warmer weather. (New England here). We will send you a video when we get it all planted.
That's awesome!!!!
Would love to see pictures!👍
@@karenhuedepohl1705 will try and upload a video of the build later tonight. I think some of our seedlings are ready to plant soon.
Really brilliant technique... need some help to grow hydro ...
I think you have great ideas, especially for small area gardening. Thanks for sharing. I'm gonna binge watch some of your videos.😊
I also live in Florida and I’m wondering where would be a good place (location) to keep my hydroponics plants. It gets really hot during the summer and I don’t have any space in my lanai.
I’m in Tallahassee just starting to set things up and I’m just thinking. You’re not too far from me so what will you do under a hurricane threat? That’s a lot to bring inside but possibly dangerous projectiles if left outside 🤔
I don't usually grow this much at once, people were asking for a lot of different things so we are experimenting. Everything moves easily.
@@KeepOnGrowin Well, let's both just manifest a quit and safe 2023 hurricane season!
I like your approach: growing what you need. I have a 36 sq ft balcony garden in zone 11. It's hard to grow just the right amount of lettuce, cucumber, and tomatoes for a single person.
I have 4 gallon buckets in a DWG system. Grape determinate tomatoes in DWG grew much faster than tomatoes in potting mix, same kind of buckets. But DWG containers had bad root rot, I think from heat. Do you think throwing some ice in nutrient solution, or placing packs of frozen plastic containers will prevent root rot? It's not algae, It's dark brown root rot. Hydrogen peroxide 3% 50 ml for 2 days turned roots white again. What simple, cheap thing could I do to grow sufficient lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes in DWG system without root rot? Should I give up hydroponics and do soil only?
I'm not sure. I haven't used your system, but is it possible that the hydrogen peroxide worked because it gave the plants needed oxygen? If so, is there another way to give them oxygen? Are their air roots above the water level? Just ideas 😊
Newby here: what’s a DWG system?
@@DutchAlaskagirl I'm sorry. I typed in DWC but this tablet kept on inputting DWG instead. DWC is a circulating system where you drop in an pump, like an aquarium pump. It's a constant flow of oxygen into the nutrient reservoir.
I use DWC because I don't know the maximum volume of nutrients for the non-circulating method. My container holds 4 gallons.
But Mike doesn't seem to have a problem with the amount of fluid in his vertical non-circulating
system.
I don't know if I really need the aquarium pump.
@@Sara-dr6iu There are air roots and water roots. The oxygen is through the air stone. It's like growing plants where the roots are in an aquarium.
@@heyyou4023 thanks for the explanation ☺️, because I wouldn’t have known what DWC is either🤣
I went to firehouse subs and bought 5 buckets for $15. Then later in the day I went to Sams Club and they had 27 gallon tubs for $10. So, per gallon the tubs were cheaper, but the buckets are space savers as you can stack them. Each have their advantages. I am so excited to start this journey. Planting season in North Georgia starts mid April-early May. So, this next week my son and I are installing some trellis wires for tomatoes and cucumbers. I am going to go ahead and wash out all the buckets and barrels I have purchased and get the water and nutrients mixed up and filled up. Then the next week I will be ready to just go out and drop my plants into each bucket, barrel, or tote. All total, I think I have spent about $300. But I think I will have an endless supply of fresh veggies for the summer and plenty of salsa and salsa verde put up for the rest of the year. In the past, we have spent way more trying to amend the soil here and it just not possible with the money we have available. So, I think this is the way to go. And depending on how well it goes, I may convert my brother over. He is watching closely. He has a extra spicy pepper farm and he has to buy soil and amend his soil periodically. I think this is going to be a more efficient way of growing veggies with a lot less daily hands on care. I cant wait to report back and tell you how it is all working.
I also cant wait to see how your bags work. Because if they work well, I think on a smaller scale I could do a small herb garden inside. I can picture one of those small wooden towel ladders with the bags on them growing different herbs out of them on the kitchen counter (if you have a sunny window). Thanks for keeping my mind working. Each time I see a container, I think of new stuff.
It's a brilliant idea to stabilize a tower of buckets by putting a stake into the ground, having passed it through the handles at the back of the buckets. I'll use your idea. Thanks.
Oh How Cute. People think you have a "farm". I was jealous of your old place with the porch railing!
I started cutting holes in my first bucket but I need to figure out how to use my hole saw cuz it keeps coming loose when I try to turn it counter clockwise. Even though I tighten the chuck. Anybody got advice, I'm for it.
As far as the target containers, considering I grew successufully in a clear water bottle, I think anything will be successful after that! LOL Thanks for featuring those. I have wanted squarish containers and can only find weak rectanguluar shoe boxes.
I thought I recognized those mylar bags. That's very smart! i like the idea of an insulating later tween the bag and the bucket. It's like those double walled cups they market for drinks.
I like the idea of a nursery tray. My nursery tray fed me all winter.
Having pavers for the containers to sit on is a neat idea. I don't have proper grass so that will help keep things tidy and level.
Is your Front Yard fenced in or open? Do you have to contend with 4-legged critters like deer?
OMG, talk about recycling! Amazon bags? Kudos, man!
My poor friend heard me talking about buckets and came to me one day excited that he found some buckets, but they were previously used for construction and concrete. I thanked him cuz I didn't want to tell him I couldn't use them for the plant growing. but I'll have to break it to him later. This is not his area of interest and he thought he was being helpful. I guess, though, I could use them if I lined them with the Mylar bags you showed here today. So there may be a happy ending? Ha!
mylar bags to line them. If your hole saw has the black screw in insert, i have to really hand tighten that or it spins out when i go to reverse. I you are never gonna change out the hole saw size, lock tite the hole saw cup to the insert.
Thank you you have opened up a world of possibilities for my limited grow space.
I love the terracotta look... much more "hoa friendly" for some of us out here that has to deal with nosey neighbors!
The 5 gal mylar bag in the bucket does not seem like a good idea because the top will collapse over time and drown out the air roots. Maybe add some bamboo skewers to make sure the plant does not drop below the top of the bucket. Love the channel. Keep on going!
This is what I was thinking too. Those bags remind me of the kids drinks capri sun. As you drink the liquid in those (in this case the plant would be drinking it) they close up because there's no air coming in to replace that liquid. So how will the plant develop air roots in that environment? Will you have to open them and "inflate" them?
Hi and thanks for what you are doing. It's great. Will the air roots have problems in the bags?
Don't know yet, this is a first.
I too prefer the wider screen shots instead of the narrow screen shots. Just my preference. I am just blown away from all your experiments. I think that is so smart of you to do. And then to share what you are learning is a great service to mankind. You are a better source of information than many college courses. You really are. My son has a Masters Degree in Agronomy and he is totally in awe by what you are doing. So glad you gave us the whole tour of your place so that we can be motivated to start small ourselves in our own backyards. And front yards! Glad you mentioned the mosquitos and how to avoid them. I was just wondering if that was a problem especially since you are down there in Florida. I think you are such a natural presenter in your videos. Pleasant voice and lots of enthusiasm. I keep going back and watching all your old videos. So much information. Thanks for going into so much detail for us older folks that might be a little slower in getting what you are doing.
Thank you Clark, that means a lot to me! Sometimes I might get thousands of views but still wonder if I am getting through. Are people watching for entertainment because it looks cool, or am I making an impact? Reassurance like this is nice and keeps me going ( and growin').
I love your videos. The bags to grow in, seem very smart to me. Especially much easier to cut a planting hole into.
Mike, this is PHENOMENAL, as I think it's just what I needed!!! I want to use the Kratky method outdoors, although I really need something light weight and easy to clean up (& dispose of) in the fall, and I think the idea of using Mylar (&/or recycling sturdy type shipping) 'bags' is potentially perfect. I also love the 'terracotta towers' look and would like to see some in a 'tan-beige' colored clay look as well, (for those who have 'tan-beige' colored siding, etc.). I'm looking forward to seeing 'step by step how to' videoS ASAP PLEASE!!!
I like watching these videos. I live in the country, but some of these things might be good to keep in mind in case we need it later. But my daughter is going to be married soon, and she'll be living in an apartment. So I'm very interested in the hydroponics. Thank you!
Thank you for all your informational videos. We started a week ago and are excited. True Leaf Market seed came a couple days ago, so we started those yesterday. Keep teaching Mr. Mike. Thanks!
The bags look like a great idea. I'm gonna give those a try. Great video as always.
Hey Mike, the Mylar bags are very interesting. It would be great if it works out. I’ll be waiting for the results. I’ve started the Kratky and I’m loving it. I listen to you . Im growing different lettus and Im so amazed i have fresh salads every day . My family wants to learn also . The lettus has excellent flavor .
Say hi to your beautiful wife plus I really like the terra cotta on the buckets . Brilliant idea ! I’m an artist too and many thanks and blessing to you . 😊✝️
Experimenting is the way to finding out what works for your situation..I love all your ideas. It has inspired me to think outside the box for starting my peas in different vessels. ❤️
You refer to Pok Choy a lot. Can you maybe do some cooking vids to give us ides on how to use it?
Not trying to earn "brownie points" , but you are My Favorite Hydroponic Grower💞💞💞💞
As for heat tollerance, I really like the ideas you have, it gets HOT in Texas!
A lot of people use it in stir fry. From my personal experience, in recipes, where you can use spinach, you can use the leaves off of it and where you can use celery, you can substitute and use the stems. Hopefully this helps.
You could drive an Everbilt metal fence stake from Home Depot into the ground to secure the buckets in a high tower. They only cost about $10. It also has notches to latch wire fencing onto, so you could tie the bucket handles tightly to the post with a little wire.
Good thinking, I think I have an extra 6' one from the privacy screen we are putting up now.
Hello,. Crazy question, is it possible to grow mini roses from the buckets?? Also, I bought a "living"lettuce at my grocery store and once it was gone I put the roots in some water,( without fertilizer for now) hoping it'll grow. Keep the videos coming, I love you and your wife's ideas!! Love and respect from Texas!!
Interesting concept. I'm curious to see how it handles the heat, I'm in Florida, too. The heat + humidity is wicked, the pool gets up to 90 on its own.
I went to finally make my first batch of nutrients and realized i cut holes in every single bucket. Haaaa I called 2 costcos and 2 firehouse subs no buckets. Boo. That's OK. Try again later. I love your channel. Love your ingenuity. One gal I follow said to plant 1/4 the number of your pool noodle holes every 2 weeks to have a continuous daily harvest.
I had to chuckle when you showed the Amazon bag. Hysterical. Hope it works. That'd be awesome.
Thanks for all your work making these videos.
I did something similar with mylar bags last year except I grew the plant out of the ziplock opening. It worked ok, although I think your pool noodle would work better. I think if you hung a sheet of fabric or mesh you could hang the bags off of that with hooks made of paperclips. Small holes in the bags would let you have the bags removable.
That's a great idea! I may try that next! Great job!
You're a true Blessing... Thank you 🥰
Menards has 3 gal buckets
Really great ideas. In East Central Florida 90s this week. Thanks for sharing 🙏 😎 🏖 🏝
Thank you for all of the Awesome info. I'm just starting out. I'm greatful. I wish I could attorney to join. 🤞 Maybe soon
HELP! it looks like rodents are eating my large tomatoes. I've tried onions, coffee, Irish soap and an owl statue. I'll send pics on fb
With the sealed mylar bags, is there going to be a problem with the plant getting enough oxygen from the air-roots?
I will have a tutorial, I did not fill it all the way up.
@@KeepOnGrowin what I meant is...if the bag is sealed, will it not eventually run out of oxygen in the air-root zone?
Bury the blue buckets to just below the rim. That will keep your roots cool. Wider screen shots are better for people like me who have vision difficulties.
Looking good Mike! Love your brilliant ideas!!
I love you yard. I am happy you are just a regular family with a regular yard❤
Hey Mike, I don't know if you've tried it, but how about experimenting with tetrapak containers? They already have a hole cut out, they're similar to the mylar bags in the sense that they're waterproof and keep the light out. And the bonus is they're recycled. What do you think?
I will have to look that up. Thanks, never heard of it.
Ok, had no idea what those were called. I think it's a great idea. They probably work better than the cardboard milk cartons that I use. I will experiment. Thanks!
You are amazing! We're still getting snowing days, but hoping soon for that 24hr sunshine. These methods will be excellent and once season is over and the cold comes we'll be able to cut it down to small indoor setup with grow lights. Greens are VERY expensive up here. No Tagets and our Walmart doesn't carry these containers but we can order online (wish we had your pricing) but all's possible if you try!!! thank you for all you do ❤
You sound like another Alaskan 😂
Wow your resourcefulness continues to impress me. I'm excited to learn from you!
Just wanted to say, thanks for making these amazing videos. Before I came across your channel, I was dead set on making a hydroponic tower out of PVC pipe and a more complicated setup. When you made bucket tower setup, I couldn't believe how simple it was! I had come across a huge collection of empty buckets for storing food, but after I moved, I didn't have space for them in the house... so they sat outside, empty without a purpose. The setup you proposed seems like a perfect use for them (and saves me the PVC pipe I have).
I am curious as well, could spray painting your buckets a light or dark color do something for temperature control? Say, you've got a cheap greenhouse and plants in those buckets you're trying to overwinter... could a dark bucket maintain a warm enough temperature to keep the greenhouse at a survivable level to overwinter them? Likewise, would lighter colored buckets be a better idea for hotter climates so the plants don't overheat? Just a thought! Thanks for the videos!
Edit: Also, something I noticed when buying seeds lately. Most places selling seeds are really expensive for some reason... but Dollar Tree sells packets for dirt cheap right now. Seeds keep if stored right, so just something I wanted to pass along to anyone interested =)
You do amazing work!
I appreciate it!
FYI
I did want to let you know some people can develop Oxalic acid poisoning from too much intake of Kale and spinach. It can cause severe joint pain and fatigue.
God bless you!
i am really amze everytime i see your ideas sir. been trying but i can grow A decent lettuce but still gonna try
Hi. Redlands Fla. I’m at th stage to place my plants into buckets
The sun is at 83 here and by 11-12n my plants are starting to droop. Have to plenty of nutrients. I have shade cloth up-50%. Would that give protection. Help. Suggestions please😊
You will have to experiment. I grow some of mine under shade cloth.
Have a question pertaining to the tomatoes. I've done hydro in Apts that we lived and wonder what are your thoughts on hydro grown vs. Soil grown as far as taste is concerned. I'm going to grow both ways with the same type of plants to do a real comparison. Thanks for bringing back that part of growing that I enjoyed but forgot about because we bought a home with a little land in an HOA...lol
Mine all taste good or I would not be still doing it after 10 years
The Mylar bags looks like a great idea👍! Keep us posted!
Can you get a drone shot to show us the space you have to grow in?
To be clear, when you top off the water level in the buckets, you are not adding more Nutrients? Why is that?
I am adding more.
I'm wondering if you heated a knife to seal end, cut the mylar bags in half to double growing space would work?
You can try but I want at least this much available to the plants. First attempt, we will see.
Love this mylar idea going to try that out
Speaking of keeping the nutrient solution cool, I want to grow in an enclosed porch but am concerned about heat build up. How hot would bectoo hot for ambient temperature.
Different plants have different needs. You will have to Google whatever you are growing.
Mike , Mylar use is brilliant because it blocks UV rays keeping roots cool.
I cant wait to get my baby plants outside into the sun!
i have been finding square 5 gallon buckets have you used square ones and how do they work out?
Lots of people have. They do fine. The Target containers you see in the video are 4 gallons, pretty close.
Such a cool guy! Ty for being the change
Very interested in the mylar bag setup
Very inspirational!
Does the water need to be changed out often so bacteria doesn't grow in the water? Also, do you think the plants absorb toxins from the plastic pool noodles, or not? Thanks!
I never change
ua-cam.com/video/VPG6dbbn6FU/v-deo.html
Your video s are exciting 🎉
How do you deal with high winds?
Mike you are a practical creative genius!!
Is this garden outside with the elements or covered in a green house?
outdoors
Mike, thanks for the tip on buying downspout caps from HydroLeaves, I was in time to buy a few. Before I get started building my own; I wondered... what's your favorite length of downspout, and why?
30", because I could get 4 out of a 10' downspout and they fit nicely on a 36" wire rack.
@@KeepOnGrowin Cool, thanks Mike!
How did you make the X home for the noodle spout?
video is coming
I have a concern about wet feet and yellowing. I started my journey last month and have decent lettuce, but the pak choy and red kale have 'yellowed'...in your experience is this from too much root in water? My nutrients are on point...concerned in NE Fla...(love what you're doing for ppl!)
Awesome!
g'day Mike, can i make my own hydro nutrients? how to please.cheers from down under.
Check out @hydroponicsbybrianbullock2488 , he is in Perth.
@@KeepOnGrowin thanks Mike👍
@KeepOnGrowin yesterday I start 3 tier tower & 5 Milk bottle hydro set ups.
Fingers crossed.
I've been watching awhile. I have a very small patio but gardening anyway. Thanks for inspiration.
I plan on trying the stacking Buckets on an apartment patio. I don't have much room but I'm going to try growing tomatoes and peppers. Thanks for the info and hopefully it goes well.
Great video! The downside I see with the 5 gallon bucket and mylar is stacking. I'd rather go up than out in a small area.
I bought a bunch of 5 gallon buckets to do the towers you did. But I really like the Mylar bag idea! Thanks for another great video!
Excited to follow along and see how all the experiments work out 🤞🏻😁 I really like the terracotta look on the buckets! For my buckets this year I'm going with a rose gold-copper color 🤗 I got really excited at the thought of customizing colors (can't exactly do anything like that with my cinder block raised bed)
Geothermal energy can be a thought… bury a cast iron pipe loop down below the frost depth and pump water through it at a slow rate
The earth will remove the heat… you have to pump something but running on a small panel might work during the day:
Mylar bags, I can't wait to see how this comes out. Won't let in light, so great thinking!
Thanks.
Thanks! LOVE the creativity !!! Odd question but here goes. Is there a way to "make" nutrients from like chicken poo or whatever in a SHTF kind of situation? Like when the "virus" hit, shelves were empty of a lot of things.
Thank you very much Tammy. You can try. Almost all natural nutrients break down and start to smell funky really quick. For survival, I think anything is possible and not off the table.
O my God. I have three bags in the garage for years!now I finally can get it to used !
Nice!!
Have you tried using geothermal and burying some of the containers to keep them cooler? I'm even thinking you could mulch around the outside of the container to keep the soil around the container cooler too 🤔
I have wanted to but I rent and can't dig a lot of holes. Maybe one day or someone out there might try and share with us.
Any suggestions when it's "ok" to set out basil microgreens? Cool Temps wise?
They like it warm. I would wait until the average temps are at least over 40F at night.
got some cool ideas there. thanks. 😊😊
Amazing staples hold them!!!
Hi. I’m still new to your channel. I love everything you do! I’m just looking at all of your different areas, and I’m thinking: he must not live in an earthquake prone area😂
Plus we get A LOT of winds.
For beginners with hydroponics: is there a playlist?
Dirt is expensive, wood is expensive, so I like the idea. Just not sure if it’s going to work in Alaska. Very short growing season. And I can’t grow anything indoors. But I’m always willing to learn.
I really like the terra-cotta painted buckets. A totem pole would be great.
Thanks for taking us along
Here's a good one for beginners: ua-cam.com/play/PLk4IGbDM3vfq2M2nx8_SkExMP0rRgBHLg.html
Look around the channel, I don't know much about earthquakes but most of what I do can be adapted.
@@KeepOnGrowin thank you so much, that’s just what I was looking for
Awesome. I love the Mylar idea.
Hey I love it Gloria all of it😊😊😊😊
I live in central Texas it gets pretty hot here my question is will the heat hurt the solution and the roots even in the shade water gets hot.
Yes, don't let it get too hot.
Do you make "tea" from your compost and use that for nutrients ?
No, it gets smelly in about a week.
You rock!
But can you teach the world 🌎 to sing 🎶 in perfect harmony?
That's next.
Has anyone grown reefer in these systems? If so how was the yeld?