I started with a simple aerogarden and then went crazy. Like all of my making and learning “All in” is the way. I did a small outdoor 5 dutch bucket hydroponic garden and it was gangbusters, so inside for the cooler months I went. Now almost three years in, I finally update the documentation.
First, I did a quick storage tote system based on B. A. Kratky’s work. His simple system can be in anyone’s budget, for lettuce. My first try was a Miller light Styrofoam cooler I found in my garage, which may have been from the 70’s. It worked, but needed a liner as the handles leaked where they pierced the walls, so I moved into a storage tote.
I suspect this is what the aerogarden is based off of, and the pump in the prefab unit is unnecessary for certain crops. The storage tote based system worked well. It led me to more research and it was on after that. I tried more types of systems. I ended up with three tents total. one 2’x2′ I use for sprouting and my small tote Kratky method plants, and a pair of 2’x4′ tents I use for the NFT and Ebb-N-Flow systems.
I use “grow tents” as the systems started in the living room and the grow lights attract the wrong kind of curiosity. They are also very bright and annoying while watching TV. Grow vegetables inside and everyone assumes you are growing medicinal herbs. I got serious enough that the spare bedroom upstairs was converted to house the tents, which led to shelving.
Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) hydroponics.
I started with a thin film hybrid Deep water culture (DWC) system based on the vinyl fence post systems instead of pipe. I’m a few seasons behind on updating the documentation, so this system recently got an update to improve the distance between the lights and the plants, so that taller vegetables could be grown. I did a hybrid as it allows for a bit longer growing season, so I can get more that lettuce and Pak Choi.
The original layout had the reservoir inside the tent which reduced the complexity and allowed the tent to sit on the floor. However since I put the tents on shelves it was wasted space. It also limited the plants I could choose. Often the growing plants were not the optimal distance from the lights and got “sunburned”.
The new setup puts the reservoir under the tent on the bottom shelf and I gained a whole 15 inches of clearance to grow taller plants. I have some leeks and Wan Shen in the sprouting tent as I write this update. The past Wan Shen was too close to the lights and did not grow optimally, but was tasty even if a bit tough. I had to prune it short however to reduce this toughening and premature bolting.
Ebb-N-Flow Hydroponics.
Before I updated the NFT system I also built an Ebb-N-Flow system to try and find a way to support larger plants inside. The advantage of having two tents.
Using Smart Pots with a soil-less mix in a flood table made a system that worked well for Calypso Hybrid cucumbers. The tomatoes grew well, but I am a terrible pollinator. The Curry tree did well too, but had issues with the humidity. I plan to update this design with a table cover to reduce the algae growth in the table.
While the yields did not match the outdoor dutch buckets I did get some nice cucumbers which I left of the vine a bit too long. I think I will have to revisit my pollination plan. Maybe I’ll have to try the electric toothbrush method.
White stem Pak Choi is very tasty grow in the NFT/DWC hybrid. It is always great to be able to go upstairs and grab some for dinner.
I hope to get more documentation done on system specifics and design challenges. I have some notes and costing data, so it is planned. I also have a rebuild of the outdoor dutch bucket for the spring planned to improve efficiency.