5Gallon DWC with circulation and resivoure bucket

[campingcorgis]

You certainly had a long run and a good deal of veggies too! 

[Sher]

If I were you, I would be very proud of myself.

Awesome job, and amazing harvest! 

[Shawn]

Oct 9, 2021 20:04:15 GMT -5 Sher said:

If I were you, I would be very proud of myself.

Awesome job, and amazing harvest! 

I agree!

[airscapes]

Thanks for all the kind remarks!  I learned a lot this year, and the main thing is I have not been feeding my inground tomatoes enough in past years and the Mushroom soil I augmented with was not up to the standard I am used to.  So lucky for me I was learning about hydroponics and had lots of different types of water soluble fertilizer, magnesium and calcium which I used to keep the inground plants as healthy as the hydroponic.  The fruit at the end of the season on all plants is almost as large as in the begging, which was never ever the case.  I now realize that I had been starving the plant in the past.  

I will post pictures of the plants before I remove them and of the  root ball if I can even extract it from the bucket.. 

 

[campingcorgis]

Nice!  Can't wait to see the pictures!

[airscapes]

This was a highly successful experiment that lets me know I can still grow my wife's favorite tomato no matter the soil condition.. if I wish to put forth that extra cost and effort!  The plant produced as well if not better than the soil grown and the taste was on par with it's soil counterparts.  The fruit as I have said more than once was larger than the soil grown but that  just tells me I need to feed my soil grown plant more than what I have been.  Also a 5 gallon grow bucket is too small for a full sized plant.. Water will eventually stop flowing through the root ball.














Bottom of roots where larger air stone with weight was located, just below the Y pipe.




After cutting off the AG cage and removing the large plastic 3d Printer snap ring that held the cage in the bucket .

[Shawn]

Yikes, look at those roots.

[airscapes]

Oct 25, 2021 13:24:14 GMT -5 Shawn said:

Yikes, look at those roots.

Big plant needs big roots!  But I should have had a much bigger Grow bucket.

[Sher]

Those roots are humongous!

And your garden looks so tidy. Can't wait to see it next year!

[lynnee]

What a lot of work! The photos of the project are wonderful to look at.

[airscapes]

Update on the bucket system.  I have it set up inside, in the grow tent and there was a small leak in the 1 1/2" Uniseals.. well both of  them.  They were leaking around the bucket to seal fit , not the pipe.  I tried to take it apart to wrap the outside of the uniseal with Teflon tape, but the bucket cracked .. I had cut the holes on the seam of the bucket and it cracked right along that area.   So rebuilding with new buckets and seals, this time going with 1" return so the hole in the bucket wall is smaller (1 3/4" rather than 2 1/2,  to hopefully prevent leaks but may have more root clogging issues with smaller pipe.. Will update the grow tent thread soon, seeds arriving Friday!

[campingcorgis]

Oh, dear!  Leaks are never a good thing.  Glad you found it and can fix it too!  I'm guessing tomatoes again?  What seeds come Friday?  

Looking forward to new posts!  

[airscapes]

Jan 6, 2022 11:20:04 GMT -5 campingcorgis said:

Oh, dear!  Leaks are never a good thing.  Glad you found it and can fix it too!  I'm guessing tomatoes again?  What seeds come Friday?  

Looking forward to new posts!  

I  listed the ones I bought here.. but will only grow 3 of them at this time

aerogardenaddicts.com/post/48829/thread

[lynnee]

Can’t wait for more grow tent posts!

[airscapes]

Friday came and went, Sat came and went.. no seeds. .. Got the buckets built.. leak testing over night.. not  a drop so far!

[campingcorgis]

Jan 8, 2022 23:11:19 GMT -5 airscapes said:

Friday came and went, Sat came and went.. no seeds. .. Got the buckets built.. leak testing over night.. not  a drop so far!

I hate when that happens!  Did you get a tracking number from the vendor?  There are some weather related delays now, on top of the pandemic related slow down.  Sigh.  

[airscapes]

rebuilt the buckets no leaks, drained and move them to where they will live in the tent, filled them and now it leaks.. and leaks worse than before.. should have made the holes smaller than the instructions say..  Have them all gobbed with Lexel.. will have to wait an entire week for it to finish curing before I test it.  I just know it is going to leak.. grrrrrrrrrrr 
Guess I am planting the seeds in the small DIY bounty and moving them later, did not want to do that but I guess it does not matter in the end, the shock just slows them down for a few days... 
I had planed and told myself, "No tomatoes in the winter"  This is punishment for not obeying myself!~