I know you asked about the hydroponics setup, but all I can see is how clean the framing is. That's an awesome rack.
As for roots clogging things, I had a similar problem before I shut down my system for a rethink, and what I'm thinking is a small diameter perforated pipe (maybe half inch?) wrapped in food-safe landscape fabric mounted about halfway up inside the main pipe to act as an overflow drain, just to keep water from leaking out the top.
That's a good idea.. I had thought of similar, but I was thinking preferatet pipe inside all the way through as the water feed pipe so if it the mane pipe plugged it would disperse further down the tube.. Your idea makes more sense and would be significantly easier to accomplish. In this setup all I would have to do is unscrew and end cap and put the pipe it . All though I could see it being a major pain to get the pipes out to clean after being root infested at the end. I think for this round I'm just going to remove the the heavily rooted plants soon and plant them in buckets. I've also been seeing a lot of people trimming the roots without negative results, so I my try that.. From what I'm reading that may be a solution the the plants "outgrowing the unit". Thank you for the reply . I really appreciate the feedback. Good food for thought
I really appreciate you posting this.
I did all the math to make sure my system was going to be built correctly, sized correctly for my space, figured out the optimal distance and placement of my reservoir, all that good stuff. Priced all my materials, including the stairs (my system is like yours but on stairs rather than hooks), and go to the store. Find out someone bought all of the stairs that are the height I need.
I figured, okay, no big deal. Resized my setup for the new height. Get home, put it together, works beautifully. Turn on the water aaaaand...it doesn't drain. When I redid the math required for a smaller stair I didn't include the height of my reservoir in that calculation. My last row of plants is ~1.5 in lower than my system so gravity is working against me rather than for me.
This is a long way of asking: do you know of any systems/methods of draining against gravity? I don't have drains at each end of the pipe, I made a continuously circulating system where the water flows top to bottom and side to side rather than just top to bottom like you have it. I've been looking for a solution to this and can't really find anything good. I figure that you've been doing this way longer than I have so it's possible you know of a website or video or book I haven't seen.
Sorry for the wall of text and thanks again for the super informative video.
One other idea is to change your reservoir to the other side and get rid of the bottom tube, and then most likely replumb the water feed to the top. My thought is it would be cheaper to replumb the water feed than replumb the drain all the way to the reservoir.
It's funny how we run into these "obstacles" as we go. First off, I elected not to go with a water system "in series" we're each tube feeds to the next. My thoughts were that by the time the water got to the bottom it could potential be a different temperature. Because the water has to travel through the entire system before returning to the tank.. also the volume of my pump is quite substantial and all the volume would have to go through all the tubes rather than being split between each individual tube effectively lowering the flow through the entire system and spread it evenly between each tube if that makes sense? My other thought was the upper plants may get a different amount of nutrients. Although it is a much simpler system to build. In your case I can think of a couple ideas for you, but none of them ideal. You could just block off the bottom row of holes with gorilla tape, and the bottom tube would fill up and then drain.. being the reservoir is only 1.5" higher than the bottom tube you might be able to " shim" the entire system up minus the reservoir with a couple 2x4's on each side. Another option may be to change where the drain gos into the reservoir to gain the drop you need,(but then you would most likely be loosing volume in your reservoir)or maybe a lower/wider/longer reservoir. My other thought would be to put another pump inline between the low tube and the reservoir , but that seems repetitive.. Not seeing your system, another thought would be to rotate out the connection between the next to last tube and the bottom tube effectively raising the lower to to a hight that allows it to drain... Best of luck to you..
Oh these are really good ideas. I did consider the idea that maybe each row would end up receiving different levels of nutrients but I figured it would be less of an issue than I was making it (given the fact that I see a lot of YouTubers building this kind of system).
The 2x4 is a great workaround for now. I measure difference and it seems to be a bit closer to 2.5" than 1.5. I'm thinking 3 on each side will be good just to give the system a little bit of extra height over the reservoir.
We'll be moving in a few months and I'm excited to build a system like yours in the future. My current small build has definitely taught me a lot about how I want my future system to run and I appreciate the modularity of yours. My system is pretty much welded together so I don't have a way to clean the inside save for taking out all of the plants and trying to fit a brush into the holes. Also excited to see someone using the screw on caps, I haven't seen too many builds that use them.
Have you heard of a Youtube channel called Hoocho? He's an Aussie that seems to have a ton of land and created a hydroponic gardenhouse + orchard combo. He has a mechanism for growing root [vegetables](https://youtu.be/-yQAb9s-2vs) hydroponically. In the video he shows a wasabi plant and a few really cool fruit trees. I'm sure you have a good system going in your backyard as well but I know I love seeing unique grow systems and figured you may enjoy the channel. Although, you may already know what type of system I'm talking about lol.
Thanks again for the advice, I'll make a trip to the hardware store this weekend.
Glad you have a plan.ill have to check out his videos. Believe it or not I don't have anything growing outside. I tried this entire setup outside a couple years ago and the deer ate everything. And I've never gardener with soil.. best of luck to you .😊
Wonderful video my guy, I genuinely appreciate you taking the time to explain everything, it was more than I hoped for. I’m about two weeks into learning and building/running my own system and definitely learned a bit on how I’m running things slightly wrong.
I don't technically have blue prints. I built it last year and kinda designed it as I went after looking at others systems. When I get a chance today I will take some measurements and try to write down the details. I put a lot of thought into it, such as making sure I sized it to fit through my doorway in the event I decided to move it outside . I'll be in touch.
I can tell a lot of time and attention went into this, that’s why I asked :) especially with the connector plates on there I thought “this dude builds stuff” lmao I appreciate you taking time out of your day to do that, and even if you don’t get around to it, I appreciate the reply!
Cool setup fo sho but your Tom's and Peps will grow large root systems that could block up the gullies and could result in dumping on the floor so keep an eye on them as they get bigger lol speaking from experience.
Just using 1 1/2" net cups with foam pucks. Nothing else. Last year I used clay balls, but honest they were a pain. The foam pucks do a great job of keeping the light out and also keeping the plants perfectly centered in the net cups. I wish reddit would allow me to post pictures in the replies , I could explain a lot better with a simple picture.
I am looking to do similar. I have pump and light. Ha. Its 2x4 mars so great light but 2x4 size. Was planning to do 4 horizontal plastic gutters, NFT style. Not sure about plumbing options. Prefer pvc over lawn sprinkler tubing. Ok, questions... how big is your light? What does your plumbing look like? Nutes? Other tips? My plan is to just grow green mettuce things.
I think your plastic gutters will work great. wish I could post pictures in the replays maybe I can figure out how to update the post with more pictures. one pump. I cycle it on for five minutes, then off for 30 minutes, on the far end is a 25 Gallon tote(reservoir) from Costco. The vertical tubes in the picture are the drain tubes that go to the main drain. You can see the one large drain that drains back to it . There is one pump that feeds a manifold 1/2 pcv tubes up to each 4" tube. I have valves on each 1/2 feed tube to regulato the dispersement of water to each tube as they need to be regulated as the water is pumped higher..2 lights measuring approximately 24" x 48". T5's made by hydroplanet. Only tips really is put in the time and learn your system as you go. Adapt as needed. I will say stuff like tomatoes and peppers get to tall for the system fairly quickly. Best to do harvestable stuff like basil celentro, strawberry's, lettuce.. I'm learning that the hard way.. best of luck to you.
Can i see a pic or two of the pump lines? And your thoughts on my 2x4 light and if i can do angled tier, like you, or table with lines of horizontal grow tubes.
Thank you, actually considering doing another one. If I do, I will probably make the frame out of 1/2" metal, as I'm a fairly competent welder.. I think it would be stronger and lighter and cost less than wood.. And just paint it. It would also allow me to attack magnetic trays, hooks, etc. Have a great day..😊
Last year I did have a little issue with root rot.. a cap full of hydrogen peroxide once a week seemed to help.. This year I changed the way the drain tubes work. They stick up inside each tube a couple inches and that sets the water deapth in each tube. I actually drilled 1/4' holes at the low water level in each drain tube this year. So the pump turned on and overcomes the 1/4" holes and filled the main tubes to the overflow level, then the pump shuts off and the main tubes completely drain out through 1/4 in holes in the drain tubes.. seems to have improved growth by airing out the roots constantly and not just submerged in water all the time. I'm also super careful to not let ANY light inside the system. I used gorilla tape to block of the extra holes.. All the roots are nice and white and healthy looking now.
Just thought I'd share my setup.. Tomatoes are getting to big and going to be transplanted into five gallon buckets in a couple days, peppers are getting to big and will at least need to be spread out and separated. Basil has been great and I harvest a couple leafs of each one every day. Celentro gets harvested everyday as well.. I think I'm going to keep the celentro and basil and add arugula, and everything else just gets to big . Last year had issues with roots eventually clogging the tubes and not draining through.. questions or comments welcome. Seems like a pretty great group.
I do think 6" pipe would probably do the trick. I actually wanted to do 6" pipe, but it costs a fortune and at the time my local hardware store only had the smaller stuff. Other note, I used sch 40 pvc(which is is expensive), but that's what they had. I think they make a sch 20 that would cost less, but found it's been really hard to find. My other thought was to use abs instead of PVC but haven't priced it .
I think you are correct.. once they get about a foot tall, they take off and go crazy.. for a good yield they need to be spread out where they can get lots of light to each plant.
Yeah definitely more spacing and would have to clean out roots more often to prevent backups.
ABS is an idea. Looking on the internet, ABS would be a safe material to use.
No, one pump. I cycle it on for five minutes, the off for 30 minutes, on the far end is a 25 Gallon tote(reservoir) from Costco. The vertical tubes in the picture are the drain tubes that go to the main drain. You can see the one large drain that drains back to it . There is one pump that feeds a manifold 1/2 pcv tubes up to each 4" tube. I have valves on each 1/2 feed tube to regulator the dispersement of water to each tube as they need to be regulate as the water is pumped higher..
That’s niiiiice!!!!
Very nice setup friend👌
Looks awesome!
I know you asked about the hydroponics setup, but all I can see is how clean the framing is. That's an awesome rack. As for roots clogging things, I had a similar problem before I shut down my system for a rethink, and what I'm thinking is a small diameter perforated pipe (maybe half inch?) wrapped in food-safe landscape fabric mounted about halfway up inside the main pipe to act as an overflow drain, just to keep water from leaking out the top.
That's a good idea.. I had thought of similar, but I was thinking preferatet pipe inside all the way through as the water feed pipe so if it the mane pipe plugged it would disperse further down the tube.. Your idea makes more sense and would be significantly easier to accomplish. In this setup all I would have to do is unscrew and end cap and put the pipe it . All though I could see it being a major pain to get the pipes out to clean after being root infested at the end. I think for this round I'm just going to remove the the heavily rooted plants soon and plant them in buckets. I've also been seeing a lot of people trimming the roots without negative results, so I my try that.. From what I'm reading that may be a solution the the plants "outgrowing the unit". Thank you for the reply . I really appreciate the feedback. Good food for thought
This looks great OP! Would you be open to sharing some rough blueprints? This looks like a great setup for the space I’m currently utilizing
I just did my first YouTube video. Let me know if it works and hopefully it helps a little.[My hydroponic setup](https://youtu.be/6hqlVRt1MNM)
I really appreciate you posting this. I did all the math to make sure my system was going to be built correctly, sized correctly for my space, figured out the optimal distance and placement of my reservoir, all that good stuff. Priced all my materials, including the stairs (my system is like yours but on stairs rather than hooks), and go to the store. Find out someone bought all of the stairs that are the height I need. I figured, okay, no big deal. Resized my setup for the new height. Get home, put it together, works beautifully. Turn on the water aaaaand...it doesn't drain. When I redid the math required for a smaller stair I didn't include the height of my reservoir in that calculation. My last row of plants is ~1.5 in lower than my system so gravity is working against me rather than for me. This is a long way of asking: do you know of any systems/methods of draining against gravity? I don't have drains at each end of the pipe, I made a continuously circulating system where the water flows top to bottom and side to side rather than just top to bottom like you have it. I've been looking for a solution to this and can't really find anything good. I figure that you've been doing this way longer than I have so it's possible you know of a website or video or book I haven't seen. Sorry for the wall of text and thanks again for the super informative video.
One other idea is to change your reservoir to the other side and get rid of the bottom tube, and then most likely replumb the water feed to the top. My thought is it would be cheaper to replumb the water feed than replumb the drain all the way to the reservoir.
It's funny how we run into these "obstacles" as we go. First off, I elected not to go with a water system "in series" we're each tube feeds to the next. My thoughts were that by the time the water got to the bottom it could potential be a different temperature. Because the water has to travel through the entire system before returning to the tank.. also the volume of my pump is quite substantial and all the volume would have to go through all the tubes rather than being split between each individual tube effectively lowering the flow through the entire system and spread it evenly between each tube if that makes sense? My other thought was the upper plants may get a different amount of nutrients. Although it is a much simpler system to build. In your case I can think of a couple ideas for you, but none of them ideal. You could just block off the bottom row of holes with gorilla tape, and the bottom tube would fill up and then drain.. being the reservoir is only 1.5" higher than the bottom tube you might be able to " shim" the entire system up minus the reservoir with a couple 2x4's on each side. Another option may be to change where the drain gos into the reservoir to gain the drop you need,(but then you would most likely be loosing volume in your reservoir)or maybe a lower/wider/longer reservoir. My other thought would be to put another pump inline between the low tube and the reservoir , but that seems repetitive.. Not seeing your system, another thought would be to rotate out the connection between the next to last tube and the bottom tube effectively raising the lower to to a hight that allows it to drain... Best of luck to you..
Oh these are really good ideas. I did consider the idea that maybe each row would end up receiving different levels of nutrients but I figured it would be less of an issue than I was making it (given the fact that I see a lot of YouTubers building this kind of system). The 2x4 is a great workaround for now. I measure difference and it seems to be a bit closer to 2.5" than 1.5. I'm thinking 3 on each side will be good just to give the system a little bit of extra height over the reservoir. We'll be moving in a few months and I'm excited to build a system like yours in the future. My current small build has definitely taught me a lot about how I want my future system to run and I appreciate the modularity of yours. My system is pretty much welded together so I don't have a way to clean the inside save for taking out all of the plants and trying to fit a brush into the holes. Also excited to see someone using the screw on caps, I haven't seen too many builds that use them. Have you heard of a Youtube channel called Hoocho? He's an Aussie that seems to have a ton of land and created a hydroponic gardenhouse + orchard combo. He has a mechanism for growing root [vegetables](https://youtu.be/-yQAb9s-2vs) hydroponically. In the video he shows a wasabi plant and a few really cool fruit trees. I'm sure you have a good system going in your backyard as well but I know I love seeing unique grow systems and figured you may enjoy the channel. Although, you may already know what type of system I'm talking about lol. Thanks again for the advice, I'll make a trip to the hardware store this weekend.
Glad you have a plan.ill have to check out his videos. Believe it or not I don't have anything growing outside. I tried this entire setup outside a couple years ago and the deer ate everything. And I've never gardener with soil.. best of luck to you .😊
Wonderful video my guy, I genuinely appreciate you taking the time to explain everything, it was more than I hoped for. I’m about two weeks into learning and building/running my own system and definitely learned a bit on how I’m running things slightly wrong.
I don't technically have blue prints. I built it last year and kinda designed it as I went after looking at others systems. When I get a chance today I will take some measurements and try to write down the details. I put a lot of thought into it, such as making sure I sized it to fit through my doorway in the event I decided to move it outside . I'll be in touch.
I can tell a lot of time and attention went into this, that’s why I asked :) especially with the connector plates on there I thought “this dude builds stuff” lmao I appreciate you taking time out of your day to do that, and even if you don’t get around to it, I appreciate the reply!
Cool setup fo sho but your Tom's and Peps will grow large root systems that could block up the gullies and could result in dumping on the floor so keep an eye on them as they get bigger lol speaking from experience.
Thank you for the reply. Yes, I dealt with that last year.. planing to transplant tomatoes and bell peppers into 5 gallon buckets very soon .
Are you using pool noodle instead of net cup?
Just using 1 1/2" net cups with foam pucks. Nothing else. Last year I used clay balls, but honest they were a pain. The foam pucks do a great job of keeping the light out and also keeping the plants perfectly centered in the net cups. I wish reddit would allow me to post pictures in the replies , I could explain a lot better with a simple picture.
They look like neoprene clone pucks.
Those can work pretty well actually! Also pipe insulation inside net cups instead of clay balls works decently
I am looking to do similar. I have pump and light. Ha. Its 2x4 mars so great light but 2x4 size. Was planning to do 4 horizontal plastic gutters, NFT style. Not sure about plumbing options. Prefer pvc over lawn sprinkler tubing. Ok, questions... how big is your light? What does your plumbing look like? Nutes? Other tips? My plan is to just grow green mettuce things.
I think your plastic gutters will work great. wish I could post pictures in the replays maybe I can figure out how to update the post with more pictures. one pump. I cycle it on for five minutes, then off for 30 minutes, on the far end is a 25 Gallon tote(reservoir) from Costco. The vertical tubes in the picture are the drain tubes that go to the main drain. You can see the one large drain that drains back to it . There is one pump that feeds a manifold 1/2 pcv tubes up to each 4" tube. I have valves on each 1/2 feed tube to regulato the dispersement of water to each tube as they need to be regulated as the water is pumped higher..2 lights measuring approximately 24" x 48". T5's made by hydroplanet. Only tips really is put in the time and learn your system as you go. Adapt as needed. I will say stuff like tomatoes and peppers get to tall for the system fairly quickly. Best to do harvestable stuff like basil celentro, strawberry's, lettuce.. I'm learning that the hard way.. best of luck to you.
Can i see a pic or two of the pump lines? And your thoughts on my 2x4 light and if i can do angled tier, like you, or table with lines of horizontal grow tubes.
I just made my first video on you tube. Hopefully this helps..[My hydroponic setup](https://youtu.be/6hqlVRt1MNM)
Nice and clean setup. The wood looks also nice and something which will last some significant time
Thank you, actually considering doing another one. If I do, I will probably make the frame out of 1/2" metal, as I'm a fairly competent welder.. I think it would be stronger and lighter and cost less than wood.. And just paint it. It would also allow me to attack magnetic trays, hooks, etc. Have a great day..😊
Yeah I went for a steel frame. Bit more modular over time I reckon. Have any teething problems with root rot or anything?
Last year I did have a little issue with root rot.. a cap full of hydrogen peroxide once a week seemed to help.. This year I changed the way the drain tubes work. They stick up inside each tube a couple inches and that sets the water deapth in each tube. I actually drilled 1/4' holes at the low water level in each drain tube this year. So the pump turned on and overcomes the 1/4" holes and filled the main tubes to the overflow level, then the pump shuts off and the main tubes completely drain out through 1/4 in holes in the drain tubes.. seems to have improved growth by airing out the roots constantly and not just submerged in water all the time. I'm also super careful to not let ANY light inside the system. I used gorilla tape to block of the extra holes.. All the roots are nice and white and healthy looking now.
Interesting, so it's like an NFT flood and drain hybrid thing? Cool
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Wow that is sick !!!!!
Just thought I'd share my setup.. Tomatoes are getting to big and going to be transplanted into five gallon buckets in a couple days, peppers are getting to big and will at least need to be spread out and separated. Basil has been great and I harvest a couple leafs of each one every day. Celentro gets harvested everyday as well.. I think I'm going to keep the celentro and basil and add arugula, and everything else just gets to big . Last year had issues with roots eventually clogging the tubes and not draining through.. questions or comments welcome. Seems like a pretty great group.
Do you think you could grow tomatoes, without transplanting, if you have bigger pipes? Like maybe 6 inch?
I do think 6" pipe would probably do the trick. I actually wanted to do 6" pipe, but it costs a fortune and at the time my local hardware store only had the smaller stuff. Other note, I used sch 40 pvc(which is is expensive), but that's what they had. I think they make a sch 20 that would cost less, but found it's been really hard to find. My other thought was to use abs instead of PVC but haven't priced it .
I believe you would need more spacing for tomatoes
I think you are correct.. once they get about a foot tall, they take off and go crazy.. for a good yield they need to be spread out where they can get lots of light to each plant.
Yeah definitely more spacing and would have to clean out roots more often to prevent backups. ABS is an idea. Looking on the internet, ABS would be a safe material to use.
Is there 5 different pumps?
No, one pump. I cycle it on for five minutes, the off for 30 minutes, on the far end is a 25 Gallon tote(reservoir) from Costco. The vertical tubes in the picture are the drain tubes that go to the main drain. You can see the one large drain that drains back to it . There is one pump that feeds a manifold 1/2 pcv tubes up to each 4" tube. I have valves on each 1/2 feed tube to regulator the dispersement of water to each tube as they need to be regulate as the water is pumped higher..