Since we've received quite a few questions on how to build and run this system, we created a FREE build guide on our website. Enjoy! www.simplegreenshydroponics.com
I've loved this vid for years & wanted to do this build the whole time but never actually have I've linked it to so many people too I just finally went to start everything today & saw your guide too, which is awesome But the item you use as the main piece, the fence sleeve thing.. gosh that is so hard to find in Australia, there isn't really much like it If you can buy those items in bulk cheap you could probably just get your own shop set up to sell everything needed in kits, tbh I probably would just do that if the price is reasonable with shipping considered Everything costs so much in Australia because of shipping but I had a good look for a few hours today to try find something similar & I can't. I will likely just buy from the US but it's something like $130 for me if I do that Are there any other good alternatives you can think of? I was hoping to stick to the 4x4x50 sizing since you have the spacing marked out in the guide for me to follow with ease
When I was doing hydroponics outdoors, I had a lot of algae growth too and i found out that grapeseed extract would bust the algae but not harm my other plants. It was a powder supplement i got from a fitness store
For adding nutrients, see "dosing pump". We use them a lot in aquariums to add nutrients. It should work fine in a system like this to deliver a prescribed dose of nutrient on a fixed schedule.
@Family van Rensburg power of a dosing pump doesn't really matter. It's just a rotating wheel that works a peristaltic pump to push liquid through a tube.
Nawl bra. This needs to be tome stamped. My Gooooood he talks so long and slow. Answers please we have lives to live. Do all that extra talking after you give relevant information. Explain the system then have fun
Great video and nice setup! That is a respectable yield from 10sqft! I’ve setup many systems very similar to yours and have been running numerous botanical and agricultural experiments for the last few years. I chuckled at the creative use of hair curlers...that is definitely the first time I have seen that lol. For a cost effective replacement of the curlers you can use either neoprene foam or a 2mil+ thick outdoor trash bag (thin black trash bags won’t block enough light, must be thick outdoor bags) cut into little squares, one bag easily creates several dozen little squares. Another thing I learned is that some plants simply do not grow well with others (mint, pepper, strawberries). The primary reason for this is the nutrient consumption and nutrient dependencies. Different plants will swing the PH wildly during morning and night and consume different nutrients at various rates, causing an unbalance. Frequent nutrient solution changes would assist in this scenario or alternatively low nutrient dosing. If you really want to boost your growth rate and yield add some Rhizoblast (or any chlorella algae product) starting from seedling in half the recommended dose, but be warned, this will greatly increase root density as well. Can’t wait to see the future yields, subscribed!
Actually, I have grown many plants, for decades, including cannabis in hydroponics stems, and the roots get very long, I have to cut most of the roots off to transplant them to coco-coir. I have had four-inch clones with 16-inch roots. It depends on genetics and nutrients.
I have consulted some information with a friend of mine and we concluded that it may would be a good idea to connect those PVC tubes in parallel as well, including a valve on each one, so you could periodically close the valve and disconnect that PVC tube, if necessary.
At 2 min 30 seconds you talk about the kale spreading out too much. However if you would harvest leaves consistently there would only be 4 to 6 leaves at the top and it would be less horizontal and more vertical. Hope that helps.
This is exciting. I’m in the process of setting up an aquaponics system with about 100 sq feet of space for plants built over a koi and tilapia pond. I’m building my system in the Andes Mountains directly on the equator at 2400 meters elevation, so a perpetual springlike climate where both cool weather plants like lettuce and chard thrive, but sub-tropical plants like avocados, custard apples, and citrus also thrive. My plan is to half cover the pond with a greenhouse, growing peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, etc… inside the greenhouse and lettuce, broccoli, fava beens, etc… in the exposed area.
Awesome system. I have been successful with the Kratky system with greens. The full spectrum adjustable led lights, a basic nutrient solution, and a little basic UA-camr knowledge and everyone can do this. What is becoming very expensive to buy at the grocery store can be offset with a compact space system. Just started experimenting with peppers with an air stone and a larger nutrient container and I had a few small peppers. Your system is the next step up. Happy green plants, you definitely got things right.
here is an idea that may have been posted already but I am not reading through 200 comments. to take up the space in your 2" cups cut up a heavy duty black garbage bag into 4" X 4" pieces with a hole in the centre big enough for you to squeeze the seed plugs into. (like a square donut with a round hole in the middle) this will act like un umbrella to cut off the light getting into your tubes causing algae blooms in your tubes and on your roots & also stopping extra evaporation from escaping. hope you find this useful ! these can also be used over and over again & they would be very easy to clean. hair curlers are not a food safe alternative.
The sound of your voice has a pallet of the fact on my frazzle nerves. The information is clear concise and red in an Oso something I’ve never seen before perhaps the American English I go out with?
Thank you for this video. I just set up a system and your video is extremely encouraging. I appreciate all of your information. Nothing like growing food for your family. Can’t wait to watch your other videos!
Great setup and yield! I had an issue with pests, so everyone should please be careful bringing in plants grown somewhere else, like a store bought plant to store on your micro green shelf. I’ve brought in a basil plant that ended up spreading aphids everywhere else… I had to start over :-( Love your system!
Maybe wrap new plant roots with plastic and dip in water or water with some vinegar. Fly sticky traps are great. They don't like pine Sol. Rub on the rim of the system. PS Pine sol kills cockroaches. If you use a fan, seams like it would keep bugs off the plants as well
That was an excellent overview! And amazing quality on the produce. I'm about to start this with a Kratky system next week. This was great to watch. Thanks for sharing!
Dude, I watched about 50 videos yesterday on this topic and most of them sucked. Yours is the best I have seen so far. I would give you multiple likes if it were possible. How far apart do you recommend for large lettuce? Thanks for taking the time to make this video.
This is exactly what I'm trying to have (provide constant supply of greens to my family) in our small space (and other challenges, mainly the heat because of our tropical climate)... But I'm using Kratky. Got inspired more because of your video
Skip the Kratky and just go straight to DWC. Air pumps use insignificant power for significant increase in yield. Kratky has its place, off-grid or far removed from a power source.
@@AyNay246 Yep this! Kratky got me started cause all it was a tote with a hole in it with some water, Hydronics mix, some clay pebbles and a net pot. That cost me like £30 in the end and I got the best cucumbers ever! It would have cost me more to have gotten a big pot and the soil to fill it and I probably would have had a worse yield too. This year I'm gonna try the same setup but with the addition of an air pump. I'm lucky that my patio is behind my garage so I can just run an air tube out the garage to the patio super easy.
I have an old but simple solution for changing the water level inside of the rails, just think of putting a brick inside of a toilet tank to raise the water level. Raise the level by filling a pvc pipe with sad, capping both ends and then installing in the main 4" pipe. The amount of rise in the water should be adjustable, the longer and heavier the pipe, the more the water level is raised.
The idea sounds neat for a fill and drain set up but a single small pump in your water reservoir should be efficient enough to move the water throughout the pipes.
All you need is a kiddie pool and some foam board. Cut the board to fit the surface area cut holes for the cups and install a circulation pump. way cheaper and a large amount of grow room. Can also be done with totes or any other water proof container.
I see folks commenting that there isn't instruction on building the support structure. Has that been incorporated into the training yet? Should sell the entire kit frankly. I'd buy it!!!
There's lots of different methods to give support to the system (custom built shelves, wire racks, old tables, etc) so at this point I haven't included a tutorial for this support structure.
I built this system exactly as directed here, right down to the seeds (cause I wanted someone else to blame if it didn't work). It works great. Haven't bought lettuce since the first head matured. Now it's time to clean the whole system, but that means I have to remove every plant in every stage of development so I can break the system down. Any tips on this? All I can think of is to build another pair of rails to "transplant" to.
We just finished building our system based upon the specs given on the website and are very happy with the result. Question: Does anyone else's system sound like a long, continual drag on a water bong? (sorry, there is no better way to describe it.) There's no air being pumped in with the water, it's seems to be the flow between the inlet and the exchanges between each rail that is causing the sound.
Unrelated to the sound issue, the only deviation we made in the design was to use a heavy duty metal rack from Sam's Club. We chose that because it was easier than building something, and with lumber prices right now it was cost effective ($90 for a 4 foot wide, 2 foot deep, 72" tall rack), and it has wheels so easy to move around for maintenance. The metal shelves were super easy to attach the lights to as well.
Pool noodles, my friend. Just cut them in 1 inch rounds and cut a little chunk out to put in the middle to hold the seedlings. Minimal light getting through and it's a lot cheaper. 2 noodles would probably full both of your trays
Just a small suggest for your video editing but at about 9:40 into your video when you start talking over yourself most video editing programs will allowed you to mute or turn down the background volume and then you can speak and add new audio overtop of it without them being at the same volume because it makes it very difficult to understand anything other than that great video and great hydroponics system thanks for sharing your work.🙂👍✌️
You have a beautiful set up I think. And the hair curler idea is brilliant. I literally have like a hundred of those things I don’t use at all and your creativity with them blew my mind lol
Great setup! As a total non grower, I wonder if anyone has calculated the potential of these systems in terms of calories produced? 10 heads per week is impressive! But I’m curious what portion of a persons diet they might be able to expect out of these small indoor systems?
It it’s lettuce and spinach, it’s essentially valueless from a caloric perspective. Lettuce has 5-8 calories per cup of shredded leaves. Even a huge salad would have 20-30 calories from the lettuce. This sort of set up is for tasty fresh veggies, not calories.
@@oregonNYC Shame all this effort 1000s of people have made building these systems with little to no subsistence value. They seem to have better subsistence value growing/selling micro greens with them and buying food with that.
@@ThisTall calories are cheap, lettuce is expensive. Many quality veggies are more expensive than some meats. This type of system isn’t for subsistence, it’s to supplement other calorie sources with a fun and tasty hobby. As far as selling the micro greens, the main cash crop from indoor grow lights is pot. Other herbs and greens could probably be sold too if that was desirable.
try led lights ,that are salt water fish tanks. the ones to grow coral. the copy the different sun rays from different parts of the day.even dark for night
Thanks. So you change the water weekly , adding new nutrients by powder or liquid into the water? Which pump do you use and where is the pump situated, and is it on a timing mechanism? Do you have blueprint plans for your setup? I’m new to this but keen to emulate your setup, many thanks !
Yes, and you may get slightly better results for a specific plant if you had a separate system for each, but our goal is to keep it simple and we've found a lot of different plants seem to grow well with a good nutrient mixture.
Use a 2 inch strip of polyester fiber. Very inexpensive and easy to get. Roll up the seed or small plant root in the fiber like a jelly roll and put it in the 2 inch cup. Snug fit and now NO algae problem. Roots grow through the fiber and out the cup. Fiber holds enough water for germination and growing the small plant as roots develop and grow.
Hey Caleb- I purchased your course. SO WORTH IT! BUT I wish there were a printable pdf or something also, since it’s so time consuming to search through your video course for specific info. Anything like that available please?? It should reaaallly come with the course.
That's helpful feedback! Are you thinking a pdf that gives an overview of info like lighting, nutrients, etc? There are pdfs of all the drilling locations, etc. (may be best to send me a message thru Udemy since comments can get lost)
That is so amazing if you literally bought the parts for that and stockpiled them up in your garage you could sell that that is just an amazing design if you could just fit all that into a plastic tub and ship it to someone's dore
Love the video, a lot of great information! A little constructive criticism, take some B roll footage and splice it in on top of your commentary, so that the voice doesn’t overlap(happens twice). Keep up the good work, definitely subscribing.
This is GREAT! I bought a butter lettuce a few years back and didn't plant it in the ground but it had seeds that flew around my yard and a few years in a row especially in the winter I would pull up a bunch, and take it inside and have a salad. I don't see them this time. I'll keep looking. It's kind of weird of how it did that though.
I've built a couple NFT rail systems that have a thin film of nutrient running down the rails. Unfortunately, a 2" netpot will not reach to the bottom of the rail and you either have to have substantial root growth already from a seedling in a netpot or put rockwool directly in to the rail to sit on the bottom in the flow. I like using netpots so that plants are easier to move from one system to another. This hydroponic rail setup, which is deep-water culture and not NFT but in the same form factor looks like it would be the perfect system to get seedlings started and get going for those first couple of weeks. Like you explain at the 12:00 mark, the reason would be that you can drill the drain bulkheads at any level on the side of the fence rail that you want the water level in the rail to stay at. I don't think you could have the water level in one rail higher or lower than the other, that'll take some thought.
To be totally honest - people are seriously helpful on cannabis forums. I can't grow that here but it's a crash course in hydro and what to do for other plants. It's full on info overload though!
Thanks for sharing. Kind of gives me a thumbs up for my ebb and flow system in the round pipe system. I guess hydroponics is up to the farmer how they want to set up.
Strawberry need more space. Separate them from lettuce and kale just give them more space and light, and they will be happy and produce more. Excellent work :)
Question: I'm using an old fish tank for a reservoir. Would it hurt to have a plecostomus sucker fish in the tank to control algae? Meaning, will the plant nutrients harm the fish? Thanks!
I am 2 weeks into using this system. My young lettuce are laying down flat on the oipe rather than standing tall and healthy and the tops of the Rapid Rooters are turning white. Is that mold already?
Hi Great video I keep watching it over and over! Just wondering does the PVC tubing have to be food grade or can you just buy the PVC tubing from any depot store?
You can buy them from any hardware store. I'm a very hardcore DIY'r (decks, rooms, plumbing, electrical, etc.) and when I put together my BOM and considered my time and all the perfect holes I needed to cut (with a hole saw of course) I decided to buy a simple system from Amazon for $120 Cnd.(90 US). Good luck with your build.
Very nicely explained. You made it sound very practical and realistic. I might give it a go. Will check out the tutorial as well. Thanks for taking the time.
Awesome..very nice..thanks for sharing..I grow electric lettuce..dwc for a few years now..but the price and availability of certain vegetables growing lettuce and other things ..(think the strawberries is grreat idea)..is becoming more and more desirable..thanks for sharing.
I got a crazy question! I live in my rv and I'm thinking of turning a 7x14 enclosed trailer into a hydroponic garden. If I have something like this about 12 feet long by 4 feet deep on each side of the trailer, ( so 2 total) Do you think that would be enough food for one person? I could invest a lot into solar and a mobile generator to keep the LED and pump running. Do you think it's possible?
Yeah that could give you a lot of produce! A solar generator may not keep up with the lighting but if you supplemented with another power source that may work. Sounds like a fun project!
@@SimpleGreensHydroponics Hey thanks for replying. I'm still onboard with doing it but I think I might go vertical too. I can attach an inverter to my rv alternator for added power. That way i have solar and my vehicle charging some deep cycle batteries. Pretty crazy idea, and even if it cuts my grocery bill in half I'd be happy I did it.
@@kylewindjack6876 I 3d modeled an idea and found you're just too limited by the produce. It's pretty darn hard to grow beans and potatoes too, or foods high in carbs and protein. It's just not worth the effort in my opinion. Leave it to the farmers and do this just for fun.
Do you add any aeration to the system? I have a similar half a-frame setup and am wondering if I need to add a water stone to the reservoir or will the flow/exposed roots be enough oxygen?
at 46 seconds into your video you talk about how you love the taste of your lettuce..."Especially THIS variety". But you didn't tell us the name of the THIS variety. Is there any chance you'd post what variety THIS is please I'd like to give it a try. Thanks in advance.
Tank you for the whole video, very useful. One question though since here you were just beginning to experiment with LEDs... Red and blue lights or more of a white flat spectrum for the leafy growth phase of lettuce? I have begun using blue and red but it seems on lettuce it induces growth of the stem..
Seems like you could use circular paper cut with a hole in the center and slits radiating from the center to block the light like they do on some of the commercial systems.
Hi Caleb, I am going to do your online coarse but need to know the depth required for a similar system. shown in your video. Can you please tell me the width, heigh and depth of your garden. Is there a minimum depth and height needed in order to do this. Thanks for your help!
Didn't get through the vid just yet but when you "harvest" I'd really like to see how/where you cut the plants (lettuce) and I'd really appreciate to see what you left so it can continue to grow. How many other "harvests" can you get out of a head of lettuce; - for example.
Thank you! I am starting with a Krafty system, and while I grow my first crop of salad greens want to try and build your square pipe system. If I am growing within a heated section of our home do I need to purchase a grow tent? Again, thank you.
Since we've received quite a few questions on how to build and run this system, we created a FREE build guide on our website. Enjoy!
www.simplegreenshydroponics.com
I've loved this vid for years & wanted to do this build the whole time but never actually have
I've linked it to so many people too
I just finally went to start everything today & saw your guide too, which is awesome
But the item you use as the main piece, the fence sleeve thing.. gosh that is so hard to find in Australia, there isn't really much like it
If you can buy those items in bulk cheap you could probably just get your own shop set up to sell everything needed in kits, tbh I probably would just do that if the price is reasonable with shipping considered
Everything costs so much in Australia because of shipping
but I had a good look for a few hours today to try find something similar & I can't. I will likely just buy from the US but it's something like $130 for me if I do that
Are there any other good alternatives you can think of? I was hoping to stick to the 4x4x50 sizing since you have the spacing marked out in the guide for me to follow with ease
When I was doing hydroponics outdoors, I had a lot of algae growth too and i found out that grapeseed extract would bust the algae but not harm my other plants. It was a powder supplement i got from a fitness store
You put the grapeseed extract directly into the nutrient solution? How much per gallon?
I have been considering doing hydroponics for a couple of years and this set up is perfect, exactly what I was looking for.
You could start with a basic Kratky system grown in a cup. No need for expensive equipment. The principles stay the same and it’s a stepping stone.
For adding nutrients, see "dosing pump". We use them a lot in aquariums to add nutrients. It should work fine in a system like this to deliver a prescribed dose of nutrient on a fixed schedule.
@Family van Rensburg power of a dosing pump doesn't really matter. It's just a rotating wheel that works a peristaltic pump to push liquid through a tube.
6:03 time stamp is when he talked about the system.
God among men. Thank you
omg thank you
Mark BSB is a true hero
🙏
This video is oddly comforting
Nawl bra. This needs to be tome stamped. My Gooooood he talks so long and slow. Answers please we have lives to live. Do all that extra talking after you give relevant information. Explain the system then have fun
@@SevenFromTheSins watch on 1.75 speed and quityergriping
Dude was triggered lol
Is all the green.
Lol
You really changed alot for me and my friends, we learned alot how to make a difference with very little effort and alot of fun. Thx!
Great video and nice setup! That is a respectable yield from 10sqft! I’ve setup many systems very similar to yours and have been running numerous botanical and agricultural experiments for the last few years. I chuckled at the creative use of hair curlers...that is definitely the first time I have seen that lol. For a cost effective replacement of the curlers you can use either neoprene foam or a 2mil+ thick outdoor trash bag (thin black trash bags won’t block enough light, must be thick outdoor bags) cut into little squares, one bag easily creates several dozen little squares. Another thing I learned is that some plants simply do not grow well with others (mint, pepper, strawberries). The primary reason for this is the nutrient consumption and nutrient dependencies. Different plants will swing the PH wildly during morning and night and consume different nutrients at various rates, causing an unbalance. Frequent nutrient solution changes would assist in this scenario or alternatively low nutrient dosing. If you really want to boost your growth rate and yield add some Rhizoblast (or any chlorella algae product) starting from seedling in half the recommended dose, but be warned, this will greatly increase root density as well. Can’t wait to see the future yields, subscribed!
Anyone have a parts list for this setup. I like fact that the width isn't very wide and could work in the kitchen area well.
I'm just so amazed by the fact the plants can get so luscious in with such small roots 😍
Roots develope larger in nutrient poor soil
Actually, I have grown many plants, for decades, including cannabis in hydroponics stems, and the roots get very long, I have to cut most of the roots off to transplant them to coco-coir. I have had four-inch clones with 16-inch roots. It depends on genetics and nutrients.
I have consulted some information with a friend of mine and we concluded that it may would be a good idea to connect those PVC tubes in parallel as well, including a valve on each one, so you could periodically close the valve and disconnect that PVC tube, if necessary.
At 2 min 30 seconds you talk about the kale spreading out too much. However if you would harvest leaves consistently there would only be 4 to 6 leaves at the top and it would be less horizontal and more vertical. Hope that helps.
This is exciting. I’m in the process of setting up an aquaponics system with about 100 sq feet of space for plants built over a koi and tilapia pond. I’m building my system in the Andes Mountains directly on the equator at 2400 meters elevation, so a perpetual springlike climate where both cool weather plants like lettuce and chard thrive, but sub-tropical plants like avocados, custard apples, and citrus also thrive. My plan is to half cover the pond with a greenhouse, growing peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, etc… inside the greenhouse and lettuce, broccoli, fava beens, etc… in the exposed area.
Awesome system. I have been successful with the Kratky system with greens. The full spectrum adjustable led lights, a basic nutrient solution, and a little basic UA-camr knowledge and everyone can do this. What is becoming very expensive to buy at the grocery store can be offset with a compact space system. Just started experimenting with peppers with an air stone and a larger nutrient container and I had a few small peppers. Your system is the next step up. Happy green plants, you definitely got things right.
Congratulations! This is something many people wish for but simply keep dreaming.
here is an idea that may have been posted already but I am not reading through 200 comments.
to take up the space in your 2" cups cut up a heavy duty black garbage bag into 4" X 4" pieces with a hole in the centre big enough for you to squeeze the seed plugs into. (like a square donut with a round hole in the middle)
this will act like un umbrella to cut off the light getting into your tubes causing algae blooms in your tubes and on your roots & also stopping extra evaporation from escaping.
hope you find this useful !
these can also be used over and over again & they would be very easy to clean. hair curlers are not a food safe alternative.
If you force some heavy duty garbage into the hole it's gonna rock. Just shake it about, non-stop. You'll thank me later.
or just tape the exposed edges from inside... then add the rock wool with the seedling. seems that should work as well
Those plants look super green and healthy. Very nice and clean system as well.
Thank you. Excellent, excellent presentation (minus the little dual sound problem).
I caught that to. I thought i had another tab open.
Yeah sorry about that... we made a mistake with our editing program.
Great Job!!!! Just subscribed... You should be proud of yourself, you just gave a family food independence!
This video is really high-quality! I learned a lot from the hydroponics guide at 10:45. Thank you for sharing such great knowledge!
The sound of your voice has a pallet of the fact on my frazzle nerves. The information is clear concise and red in an Oso something I’ve never seen before perhaps the American English I go out with?
Can’t thank you enough for sharing this, it’s enlightening and inspiring!! Your web site is very helpful, too!
Thank you for this video. I just set up a system and your video is extremely encouraging. I appreciate all of your information. Nothing like growing food for your family. Can’t wait to watch your other videos!
Thanks. Living in ND and have considered this. I've got most of what i need to get started now.
Great work. What are the dimentions of your system? How many stories? What is the gap between the shelves?
No dig gardner here; you hydroponics folks are MONSTERS! Joking aside, impressive setup. Looks good
Great setup and yield!
I had an issue with pests, so everyone should please be careful bringing in plants grown somewhere else, like a store bought plant to store on your micro green shelf.
I’ve brought in a basil plant that ended up spreading aphids everywhere else… I had to start over :-(
Love your system!
Yes! I've had the same problem in the past, great tip.
Spray soap and water and something else cant remember
Maybe wrap new plant roots with plastic and dip in water or water with some vinegar. Fly sticky traps are great. They don't like pine Sol. Rub on the rim of the system. PS Pine sol kills cockroaches. If you use a fan, seams like it would keep bugs off the plants as well
Your doing good work son. Keep up the good work.
your plants look super healthy
This is amazing! I have a 60-pod and 9-pod system but would love to eventually get your level. Good job!
The hair curler killed me😂. I was like is that what I think it is??? Yes, it is
That was an excellent overview! And amazing quality on the produce. I'm about to start this with a Kratky system next week. This was great to watch. Thanks for sharing!
Dude, I watched about 50 videos yesterday on this topic and most of them sucked. Yours is the best I have seen so far. I would give you multiple likes if it were possible. How far apart do you recommend for large lettuce? Thanks for taking the time to make this video.
Thanks! 8" is the spacing I use for mature lettuce.
This is exactly what I'm trying to have (provide constant supply of greens to my family) in our small space (and other challenges, mainly the heat because of our tropical climate)... But I'm using Kratky. Got inspired more because of your video
Skip the Kratky and just go straight to DWC. Air pumps use insignificant power for significant increase in yield.
Kratky has its place, off-grid or far removed from a power source.
@@kaydog890 Kratky method has more benefits than just less power -- simplicity is more accessible to many people than DWC is.
@@AyNay246 Yep this! Kratky got me started cause all it was a tote with a hole in it with some water, Hydronics mix, some clay pebbles and a net pot. That cost me like £30 in the end and I got the best cucumbers ever! It would have cost me more to have gotten a big pot and the soil to fill it and I probably would have had a worse yield too. This year I'm gonna try the same setup but with the addition of an air pump. I'm lucky that my patio is behind my garage so I can just run an air tube out the garage to the patio super easy.
Kratky is perfect for lettuce/leafy greens. DWC for flowering/fruiting plants.
@@hokie0072 gonna grow my daffodils in DWC now >:)
I have an old but simple solution for changing the water level inside of the rails, just think of putting a brick inside of a toilet tank to raise the water level. Raise the level by filling a pvc pipe with sad, capping both ends and then installing in the main 4" pipe. The amount of rise in the water should be adjustable, the longer and heavier the pipe, the more the water level is raised.
The idea sounds neat for a fill and drain set up but a single small pump in your water reservoir should be efficient enough to move the water throughout the pipes.
Great attitude and beautiful plants. Thanks for the encouragement. Your plants look great!!!
All you need is a kiddie pool and some foam board. Cut the board to fit the surface area cut holes for the cups and install a circulation pump. way cheaper and a large amount of grow room. Can also be done with totes or any other water proof container.
Good idea
I see folks commenting that there isn't instruction on building the support structure. Has that been incorporated into the training yet? Should sell the entire kit frankly. I'd buy it!!!
There's lots of different methods to give support to the system (custom built shelves, wire racks, old tables, etc) so at this point I haven't included a tutorial for this support structure.
Nice website, checked it out. Making my list to see if i have enough funds to build it. Good thing is i already have some LED lights.
They need to be grow lights, not regular lights
@@EvertGuzman I want
Amazing content! I learned so much from watching this.
I built this system exactly as directed here, right down to the seeds (cause I wanted someone else to blame if it didn't work). It works great. Haven't bought lettuce since the first head matured. Now it's time to clean the whole system, but that means I have to remove every plant in every stage of development so I can break the system down. Any tips on this? All I can think of is to build another pair of rails to "transplant" to.
This is the best set up for my house
With strawberries you may want to have them in their own system. They like a 19-19-19 NPK which is a bit strong for lettuces and the like
Nice set up
We just finished building our system based upon the specs given on the website and are very happy with the result. Question: Does anyone else's system sound like a long, continual drag on a water bong? (sorry, there is no better way to describe it.) There's no air being pumped in with the water, it's seems to be the flow between the inlet and the exchanges between each rail that is causing the sound.
Unrelated to the sound issue, the only deviation we made in the design was to use a heavy duty metal rack from Sam's Club. We chose that because it was easier than building something, and with lumber prices right now it was cost effective ($90 for a 4 foot wide, 2 foot deep, 72" tall rack), and it has wheels so easy to move around for maintenance. The metal shelves were super easy to attach the lights to as well.
super nice greens there, and is it easy and can you grow them in high rise apartments using LED lights
Pool noodles, my friend. Just cut them in 1 inch rounds and cut a little chunk out to put in the middle to hold the seedlings. Minimal light getting through and it's a lot cheaper. 2 noodles would probably full both of your trays
Just a small suggest for your video editing but at about 9:40 into your video when you start talking over yourself most video editing programs will allowed you to mute or turn down the background volume and then you can speak and add new audio overtop of it without them being at the same volume because it makes it very difficult to understand anything other than that great video and great hydroponics system thanks for sharing your work.🙂👍✌️
I really think hydroponics is the future of all farming
You have a beautiful set up I think. And the hair curler idea is brilliant. I literally have like a hundred of those things I don’t use at all and your creativity with them blew my mind lol
Someone else in the replies also suggested the use of slices of pool noodle, which I thought was brilliant :D
Great setup!
As a total non grower, I wonder if anyone has calculated the potential of these systems in terms of calories produced?
10 heads per week is impressive! But I’m curious what portion of a persons diet they might be able to expect out of these small indoor systems?
It it’s lettuce and spinach, it’s essentially valueless from a caloric perspective. Lettuce has 5-8 calories per cup of shredded leaves. Even a huge salad would have 20-30 calories from the lettuce. This sort of set up is for tasty fresh veggies, not calories.
@@oregonNYC Shame all this effort 1000s of people have made building these systems with little to no subsistence value.
They seem to have better subsistence value growing/selling micro greens with them and buying food with that.
@@ThisTall calories are cheap, lettuce is expensive. Many quality veggies are more expensive than some meats. This type of system isn’t for subsistence, it’s to supplement other calorie sources with a fun and tasty hobby. As far as selling the micro greens, the main cash crop from indoor grow lights is pot. Other herbs and greens could probably be sold too if that was desirable.
Make some pesto with your basil. How exciting. Nice set-up and video!
try led lights ,that are salt water fish tanks. the ones to grow coral. the copy the different sun rays from different parts of the day.even dark for night
Thanks. So you change the water weekly , adding new nutrients by powder or liquid into the water? Which pump do you use and where is the pump situated, and is it on a timing mechanism?
Do you have blueprint plans for your setup? I’m new to this but keen to emulate your setup, many thanks !
Do you have to use coco coir in hydroponics? Or can you use other things like straw etc?
You can use just about anything that you can germinate a seed in and that can hold the plant upright.
Consider the health benefits from eating more greens as well as the savings in health care costs, trips to the doctor, cost of medications, etc.
Love how you specify what types of lettuce you are growing….
How do you grow different produce in one system? Don't they have different nutrient requirements?
Yes, and you may get slightly better results for a specific plant if you had a separate system for each, but our goal is to keep it simple and we've found a lot of different plants seem to grow well with a good nutrient mixture.
Use a 2 inch strip of polyester fiber. Very inexpensive and easy to get. Roll up the seed or small plant root in the fiber like a jelly roll and put it in the 2 inch cup. Snug fit and now NO algae problem. Roots grow through the fiber and out the cup. Fiber holds enough water for germination and growing the small plant as roots develop and grow.
I like the part of the video where he starts talking over himself
Hey Caleb- I purchased your course. SO WORTH IT! BUT I wish there were a printable pdf or something also, since it’s so time consuming to search through your video course for specific info. Anything like that available please?? It should reaaallly come with the course.
That's helpful feedback! Are you thinking a pdf that gives an overview of info like lighting, nutrients, etc? There are pdfs of all the drilling locations, etc. (may be best to send me a message thru Udemy since comments can get lost)
That is so amazing if you literally bought the parts for that and stockpiled them up in your garage you could sell that that is just an amazing design if you could just fit all that into a plastic tub and ship it to someone's dore
THIS ...is an AweSome setup
What an amazing setup!! Thank you for sharing!
Great job guy .... you are marvelous with that hydroponic mini garden ... 100 thumbs up bro !
How to you pick them? Once you pick does it grow back? Or do you have to start over?
This is the first video I watch on hydroponic farming, I can’t wait to set one up in the future !!
I'm really digging this set up. Great stuff!
Love the video, a lot of great information! A little constructive criticism, take some B roll footage and splice it in on top of your commentary, so that the voice doesn’t overlap(happens twice). Keep up the good work, definitely subscribing.
Thanks! Yeah that was an awkward editing glitch, I've gotten a little better at editing since I made this video :)
This is GREAT! I bought a butter lettuce a few years back and didn't plant it in the ground but it had seeds that flew around my yard and a few years in a row especially in the winter I would pull up a bunch, and take it inside and have a salad. I don't see them this time. I'll keep looking. It's kind of weird of how it did that though.
That's very normal! Small seeds get blown in the wind. You probably havent seen any more because you pulled them all up before they went to seed again
I've built a couple NFT rail systems that have a thin film of nutrient running down the rails. Unfortunately, a 2" netpot will not reach to the bottom of the rail and you either have to have substantial root growth already from a seedling in a netpot or put rockwool directly in to the rail to sit on the bottom in the flow. I like using netpots so that plants are easier to move from one system to another. This hydroponic rail setup, which is deep-water culture and not NFT but in the same form factor looks like it would be the perfect system to get seedlings started and get going for those first couple of weeks. Like you explain at the 12:00 mark, the reason would be that you can drill the drain bulkheads at any level on the side of the fence rail that you want the water level in the rail to stay at. I don't think you could have the water level in one rail higher or lower than the other, that'll take some thought.
That's a really cool system. Very inspirational.
Do you maybe have a video where you explain what you use to feed them? Thank you!
To be totally honest - people are seriously helpful on cannabis forums.
I can't grow that here but it's a crash course in hydro and what to do for other plants.
It's full on info overload though!
The fruits are looking fresh
Thanks for sharing. Kind of gives me a thumbs up for my ebb and flow system in the round pipe system. I guess hydroponics is up to the farmer how they want to set up.
Strawberry need more space. Separate them from lettuce and kale just give them more space and light, and they will be happy and produce more. Excellent work :)
could this be competitive with traditional agriculture?
Difficult. Since the power from the sun is free
What is the name of the lettuce you love? I missed it?
Question: I'm using an old fish tank for a reservoir. Would it hurt to have a plecostomus sucker fish in the tank to control algae? Meaning, will the plant nutrients harm the fish? Thanks!
How much did the set up cost? What about the first set of rails and lights alone?
Спасибо мужик это выглядит интересно и просто :) Надо попробовать сделать нечто подобное!
I am 2 weeks into using this system. My young lettuce are laying down flat on the oipe rather than standing tall and healthy and the tops of the Rapid Rooters are turning white. Is that mold already?
Do we get enough minerals from what we get it from the soil?
Need to add liquid minerals to water
@Magic liquid organic fertilizer?
Hi Great video I keep watching it over and over! Just wondering does the PVC tubing have to be food grade or can you just buy the PVC tubing from any depot store?
You can buy them from any hardware store. I'm a very hardcore DIY'r (decks, rooms, plumbing, electrical, etc.) and when I put together my BOM and considered my time and all the perfect holes I needed to cut (with a hole saw of course) I decided to buy a simple system from Amazon for $120 Cnd.(90 US). Good luck with your build.
@@mikeclarke952 can you provide a link to the amazon one? I'm also in Canada...
Would it be a valid concern with all the plastic, pvc and cement?
Growing berries indoors? How do you pollinate the flowers?
Very nicely explained. You made it sound very practical and realistic. I might give it a go. Will check out the tutorial as well. Thanks for taking the time.
I used to run an NFT but switched to dutch bucket indoors, although I've debated setting up another strawberry tower in NFT.
Awesome..very nice..thanks for sharing..I grow electric lettuce..dwc for a few years now..but the price and availability of certain vegetables growing lettuce and other things ..(think the strawberries is grreat idea)..is becoming more and more desirable..thanks for sharing.
is it worth buying all the stuff and growing them i mean do you save money as compared to buying them
Dirt? Plants grow in soil or in your case water. Great video!!!
I got a crazy question! I live in my rv and I'm thinking of turning a 7x14 enclosed trailer into a hydroponic garden. If I have something like this about 12 feet long by 4 feet deep on each side of the trailer, ( so 2 total) Do you think that would be enough food for one person? I could invest a lot into solar and a mobile generator to keep the LED and pump running. Do you think it's possible?
Yeah that could give you a lot of produce! A solar generator may not keep up with the lighting but if you supplemented with another power source that may work. Sounds like a fun project!
@@SimpleGreensHydroponics Hey thanks for replying. I'm still onboard with doing it but I think I might go vertical too. I can attach an inverter to my rv alternator for added power. That way i have solar and my vehicle charging some deep cycle batteries. Pretty crazy idea, and even if it cuts my grocery bill in half I'd be happy I did it.
Did you end up doing this? I was considering doing something similar
@@kylewindjack6876 I 3d modeled an idea and found you're just too limited by the produce. It's pretty darn hard to grow beans and potatoes too, or foods high in carbs and protein. It's just not worth the effort in my opinion. Leave it to the farmers and do this just for fun.
its great, n in how much time you gained 200 pounds of lettuce ?
Do you add any aeration to the system? I have a similar half a-frame setup and am wondering if I need to add a water stone to the reservoir or will the flow/exposed roots be enough oxygen?
Yes I have an air pump and 4 bubble stones which I would recommend.
@@SimpleGreensHydroponics awesome, thanks for the reply
at 46 seconds into your video you talk about how you love the taste of your lettuce..."Especially THIS variety". But you didn't tell us the name of the THIS variety. Is there any chance you'd post what variety THIS is please I'd like to give it a try. Thanks in advance.
Yes Muir it is!
@Jude Doyle thank you
Tank you for the whole video, very useful. One question though since here you were just beginning to experiment with LEDs... Red and blue lights or more of a white flat spectrum for the leafy growth phase of lettuce? I have begun using blue and red but it seems on lettuce it induces growth of the stem..
Seems like you could use circular paper cut with a hole in the center and slits radiating from the center to block the light like they do on some of the commercial systems.
Hi Caleb, I am going to do your online coarse but need to know the depth required for a similar system. shown in your video. Can you please tell me the width, heigh and depth of your garden. Is there a minimum depth and height needed in order to do this. Thanks for your help!
Didn't get through the vid just yet but when you "harvest" I'd really like to see how/where you cut the plants (lettuce) and I'd really appreciate to see what you left so it can continue to grow. How many other "harvests" can you get out of a head of lettuce; - for example.
With lettuce, I usually harvest the whole head since the new plants grow so fast. Kale and spinach are good for clipping leaves.
Hi how much time it take to get back your invesment with vegetable ? ? how much electricity per month ?
Thank you! I am starting with a Krafty system, and while I grow my first crop of salad greens want to try and build your square pipe system. If I am growing within a heated section of our home do I need to purchase a grow tent?
Again, thank you.