Hydroponic vs soil grown?

[Ricky Shaw]

Lots of good info in those two sentences and I agree zipcode.

[SteveP]

The guy on the other forum said he uses packing peanuts as a growing medium. Hydro growing doesn't appeal to me, but I could see how it would be beneficial if there were major soil concerns.

[RayR]

Originally Posted by Shrinkrap

Can you say more about that? Is it because the soil is mearly supporting the plants at some point, and the roots are in water? Is that on a predicable timeline?

Obviously the plant need some support whether its a substrate for the roots or even roots dangling in air like aeroponics. Fundamentally whatever system is used the plant need water, air and nutrients.
There are so many ways to accomplish this in either an active or passive hydroponics system. An active system requires electrical pumps to move water and nutrients, a passive system typically uses just capillary action.
What works better is really a matter of the growers skills.

Originally Posted by Shrinkrap

I have several "sub irrigation planters" and I have been increasingly aware of the amount of time the roots spend in the water. I have some garlic that I stashed in a rather shallow one last fall, noticed most of the roots were in the reservoir, moved out some of the cloves into pots, but the ones that stayed in the self watering planter are doing quite a bit better.

Any thoughts about the info on this link?

http://albopepper.com/sips.php://

Especially this part;

"The water reservoir is placed directly below the soil container, merging it into a self-contained system. You water the reservoir (sub-irrigation) then the soil or a piece of fabric "wicks" up the water (self-watering) as needed. An air pocket separates the soil and water, allowing the roots to receive oxygen. It might seem complex, but trust me, this is easy gardening! "

I'd like to understand the "air pocket" part better. Is there a volume of air that is required?

Your link to that site was broken. This is it... http://albopepper.com/sips.php
I agree, he didn't explain in any detail how the water wicks up from the reservoir through the air pocket into the soil. I assume he's uses cloth or something as a wicking interface. ???
Raybo's Earthtainer design uses a 5" net pot to regulate water movement from the reservoir to the soil. A overflow home prevent the water in the reservoir from getting too high and blocking out air.
The EarthTainer III TM “Convertible” Edition

[Shrinkrap]

Thank you RayR. So I have built a few "two bucket" SIP's using net pots, and I am looking for some clarity on choosing the size of the net pot, and the size of the airpocket. I still have some larger "net pots", (well actually they are planters from water gardening,) and wonder what the con's would be.

[RayR]

Originally Posted by Shrinkrap

Thank you RayR. So I have built a few "two bucket" SIP's using net pots, and I am looking for some clarity on choosing the size of the net pot, and the size of the airpocket. I still have some larger "net pots", (well actually they are planters from water gardening,) and wonder what the con's would be.

Net pots, aquatic plant baskets...same thing.
I never designed a SIP, so I don't know what size would be best to regulate wicking for whatever medium you are using. Experiment!

[Shrinkrap]

So I'm still learning about the science of sub-irrigation systems, particularly balancing the size of the plant, the size of the roots, the size of the airspace, and the size of the reservoir. I will be experimenting, as suggested, but would love to use input from those who have already tried and scceeded.

Last year I think the aquatic plant baskets I used as wicks kept the soil too wet, and the reservoir water got a bit funky.

I found this when trying to figure out if I needed a pump when using a relatively large reservoir, and relatively small small rootball.

http://scienceinhydroponics.com/2010...-possible.html

"Passive hydroponics without any electricity can be done for large or small plants given that the following conditions are met :

Enough space for roots is available
Enough nutrient solution is available for all the crop's life (or it is replenished)
Enough oxygen is available for the plant's roots
If this three conditions are met you will be able to build a passive hydroponic growing system that needs NO air or water pumps to give a good yield. How can you make such a system ? The systems that have given the best results up until now are those that follow a very simple design scheme. The plant is put in an absorbent nutrient media and placed to float or stand just above the initial nutrient solution level. The level of nutrient solution slowly falls down in the beginning (due to evaporation) and then quickly as the plants start to absorb water and nutrients. As the level of nutrient solution lowers the plant roots become exposed to layers of air from which they can absorb oxygen, allowing them to effectively absorb nutrients from the below stagnant solution without those roots dying."

http://scienceinhydroponics.com/2010...ge-plants.html

[Cole_Robbie]

That link is talking about the Kratky method:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Krat...g-hydroponics/

I've seen nice greens grown that way, at least in pics, but it is not something I would try with tomatoes.

[Shrinkrap]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

That link is talking about the Kratky method:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Krat...g-hydroponics/

I've seen nice greens grown that way, at least in pics, but it is not something I would try with tomatoes.

That's what I was thinking, but am wondering if I can make it work with Chinenses peppers. I added a second link about larger plants, and was just reading it. At the bottom is a picture from that link.


There's a guy Khang Starr seems to be doing it. Here he is on Pepper Lovers.

https://plus.google.com/118382364204...ts/99uPm8VnPN7

He also does peppers with two 5 gallon buckets and a three inch mesh cup filled with soil as a wick, and that's probably what I'll do, but wanted to see if I could use one bucket and my aquatic plant baskets. That would mean a lot less soil. Here is a picture from the link in the previous post.