This is a Series of posts related to starting a new Hydroponic System.
[Posts filed in order - not on the specific day however due to time constraints]
DAY 1
Thursday November 26, 2009
Introduction
I am new to hydroponic growing. So colour me a newbie. I am however been lucky enough to be included in a real world testing of an exciting new product that I believe will change the face of hydroponics.
The Installation
I was fortunate to receive some very experienced assistance with the setup of my new hydroponic recirculatory system. My new system included a very special item currently in developement. This new hydroponic dosing unit from Solar Selection called the Hydro-engine™ Mk I.
11am – After a quick catchup and a cappuccino on the Julliette balcony, we arranged the parts and set about putting the system together.
As a very temporary measure, I used a triton router table as one ends support, the other end was solved by using a taller container to act as my reservoir. I had already setup a temporary workbench and had all the tools I could think of on the middle balcony, so we could hit the ground running (and save multiple trips to the garage to retrieve tools!).
We fashioned a mounting plate for the Hydro-engine™ Mk 1 and the A + B Fertiliser tubes, notching out an area to accommodate the hand rail return.
One of the pipes were already pre-drilled, so my mate set about hooking up the various tubes and spaghetti, drilling the necessary holes in the main pipes.
Pump connected, sensors connected and electronics all assembled, the system was up and running and fertiliser solution dosing with 1 pipe complete before lunch. We enjoyed some ofmy wife Janine’s gourmet sandwich magic before setting off to Bunnings to purchase some plants.
For this initial install we selected the basics – chives, a variety of lettuce and a few herbs (oregano, thyme and basil)
We also dropped into the local hydroponics store for research, pricing some pipes and looking for fittings to extend the length of the fertiliser tubes. I enquired as to whether there was some sort of dosing device available to automate hydroponics system in the marketplace, to which a staff member replied, ‘…yeah, but its complicated and is around $3000 – $3500!…’
I found it quite odd (and remarked to that effect later on) that I would expect a dedicated shop would be preaching the inherent benefits of the technology, not discouraging enquiries! There seemed to be a general overtone that hydroponics is difficult and fiddly, mixing chemicals and painful monitoring EC levels. This made me feel quite special that I was getting the opportunity to trial the Hydro-engine™ Mk 1.
2:00 pm – We had returned from our outing to start preparing the plants. I watched this process closely as the plant were separated the soil from the root system of the plants. Additional soil was intentionally left some soil on the plants he explained ‘… as to provide some buffer between going from direct soil to a hydroponic setup. To wash and remove all the material could jeopardise the plants transition to a recirculatory hydroponic system…’
This was expected to produce some clogging issues as the solution flow would dislodge this material depositing into the system, but only as a temporary issue was considered better for the plants.
The Hydro-engine™ went about its business, initially giving us a high reading for most of the afternoon. I was assured this was not a problem and we achieved a ‘correct’ reading at about 7pm that same night. We were experiencing some flow issues as anticipated. We needed to clear the line by blowing air down the tubes which fixed the problem.
The system was allowed to run uninterrupted through the night and did not present any issues. This was all very interesting and new to me – I started to get a real sense of how valuable the Hydro-engine™ Mk 1 unit was, and how it automated the system. It really was no fuss, although I couldn’t help but check the progress intermittently, mostly through curiosity then necessity….
related posts;
Posted by Hydroponics 101 – Day 2 « Hydroponicfan’s Blog on November 29, 2009 at 9:06 am
[...] Hydroponics 101 – Day 2 2009 November 29 tags: flow issues, high temp reading, line blockages, problem solving by hydroponicfan This is a series of posts about my experiences with Hydroponic systems – see the first post in this series here [...]