Last season I started to grow some tomatoes in large pots outside.
They were regularly watered and fertilized and I had a few tomatoes on the plants. Then we started to get high daily temperatures reaching into the mid 40's! Even with the plants sheltered with shade cloth..they all died.
This was the second time that it had happened..the first being at another location. I decided I wouldn't try again, and besides at my age it was becoming impracticable to do any further gardening.
Then one day I happened to come across an article about growing tomatoes all year round indoors! This perked up my interest again. I discovered that one could grow tomatoes indoors in a hydroponic system!
I liked the idea because you didn't have to worry about bugs and insects getting at your plants..and the containers were at bench top height, so no bending, no watering and you can have tomatoes all year round.
I've always imagined that hydroponics was just for growing Weed, with all sorts pumps and bubblers with lights everywhere and using lots of electricity. What I discovered is that with simple systems you can grow all sorts of herbs, vegetables and flowers.
There is a system called the Kratky method. It's basically having a container with liquid fertilizer and putting a seedling suspended in the liquid. That's it! No pumps or bubblers or expensive lighting.
Looking at you tube video's I found people were even using ice cream containers and large coffee jars to grow tomatoes in. Some used what they call in the US Mason jars. The more sophisticated ones used plastic tanks and grew several plants in them.
I decided to give it a try. The best place I found was in the laundry. It's out of the way and I found that the space between the washing machine and the cupboard was ideal.
Steps
Step 1
At the moment the tomato plants are just sitting in water
The instructions on the fertilizer packet suggest leaving them in plain water for 1 week..Then for the next 2 or 3 weeks they will sit in a water solution with 50% addition of fertilizer..
Then at the beginning of the fourth week a full strength water / fertilizer mix can be put into the tank.
Stage 1
Step 2
The tomato plants are now in the 50% nutrient solution and are coming along nicely.
It's time to move the plants into a larger container.
Stage 2
Step 3
I've now transplanted the plants in to larger containers..Bunnings of course. Ideal for the job.
Evidently tomato need a lot of nutrient constantly to keep up with their growing needs.
Stage 3
Step 4
The tomatoes are now showing some upward growth.
These tomatoes are called an indeterminate type and can grow up to 1.8M. tall.
Stage 4
Step 5
In the meantime I've started to grow some capsicums.
They are initially started under red / blue LED grow lights.
These plants took a long time to grow, so I won't be showing any further updates.
Stage 5
Step 6
Next on the list are some cucumbers.
Stage 6
As you can see from the photo..the seeds can be propagated in just some cotton wool.
For the other plants I used Rockwool cubes placed in a small humid crib type container.
Step 7
Stage 7
Cucumbers are also prolific consumers of nutrient and can go through 5L.of nutrient in 7 days.!
I had always imagined that with hydroponics you just filled the containers put in the plants and just sat back waiting for the plant to produce the food. NOT SO. There is quite a bit of constant upkeep needed.
Step 8
The next stage of the vegetable production was to grow some lettuce.
Stage 8
The containers to the left and right are the Mason jars..They are glass jars..normally with wide mouths and screw-on lids.
They are clear glass ( the reason for the al-foil covering) which would normally allow light to enter into the roots.
This would then cause the roots to go brown and eventually die.
The container in the centre is a cut down plastic coke bottle. It does the same job and is a lot cheaper.
This is just some of the basic steps for growing hydroponic vegetables.
If you are interested to know any further information about the process..just let me know.
Prof
