172 lines
7.5 KiB
Plaintext
172 lines
7.5 KiB
Plaintext
From: burchell@cats.ucsc.edu (Jeff Burchell)
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Newsgroups: alt.drugs
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Subject: Hydroponic Garden Plans.
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Date: 21 May 1994 02:20:13 GMT
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Message-ID: <2rjr4t$2ad@darkstar.UCSC.EDU>
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I wrote this one up last night... someone wanna stick it in the archives?
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- How to Build Your Own Nomadic, Hydroponic Garden -
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- On a Limited Budget -
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Written, Maintained and posted occasionally to rec.gardens and alt.hemp
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by Jeff Burchell (burchell@cats.ucsc.edu)
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Introduction:
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These are plans to make a fairly portable, and very inexpensive
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water culture (advanced hydroponic) system. These plans only
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explain how to make the garden itself, and do _not_ explain how
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to use/maintain it. If you plan on using this garden, you should
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get yourself a good book on hydroponics, and look it over
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(especially the parts about what nutrient solutions to use, your
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garden vareity Miracle-Gro won't do the trick).
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Disclaimer:
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I am intentionally leaving out those parts about plant
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nutrition, light cycles, etc. so as not to appear to be writing
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a guidebook for growing marijuana. It is also to make you seek
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out _another_ source of information so your knowlege of
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hydroponics comes from more than just this file. I do not grow
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marijuana, and never have. I'm just a high-tech home gardener
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with information to share. If you are caught growing marijuana
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while using the system described herein, don't even think of
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running to me, I didn't tell you to grow marijuana. In fact,
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I'd suggest planting a crop of cherry tomatoes, which can be
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fooled into producing fruit indoors year round, and is a very
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easy plant to start hydroponics with.
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Materials:
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1 5-10 gallon bucket
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2 Pieces of PVC or ABS pipe, 8-10" long, 5" or greater diameter.
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4 Caps for PVC/APS pipe ends.
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1 waterpump capable of about 50 Gallons Per Hour (you will need
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a bigger pump if you choose to make this a larger system)
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4' of hose that will fit the waterpump (often 3/8")
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1 TEE joint (or Y-splitter) that fits the water hose
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4 clamps for the water hose (one for pump to hose, and 3 for
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hoses to TEE fitting.)
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1 Airpump, airstone, and some airline from a fish tank.
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1 Can White epoxy based spray paint
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1 Can Black Epoxy based spray paint
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1. Everything must be made light tight. Paint all hoses, the
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bucket, the PVC/ABS (which will be called PVC from now on)
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and the lid of the bucket with a layer of black paint. Let
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it dry overnight, and then cover it with a layer of white
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paint (to make it reflective, and reduce the temperature of
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the nutrient solution).
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2. Take each of PVC pieces and drill a 1" hole in the side,
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about one inch from the end. Then epoxy the caps onto the
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ends of the PVC.
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3. Drill the inlet/outlet holes (these should be located on the
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caps of the PVC), See diagram
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+------ 1" hole
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V here
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------------------------------ ----
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Outlet ---> | |
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hole | |
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| | <-- inlet
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------------------------------------ hole
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The inlet hole should be as low as possible (as close to the
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wall of the PVC), and the outlet hole should be as high as
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possible)
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4. Now cut two 5" holes in the sides of the bucket (close to the
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top), and epoxy the PVC in place, so about 2" of pipe (and
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the outlet hole) are inside the bucket, and the 1" hole is
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facing straight up.
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_ _____|_ _|_____ _
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(_________ _________) <- inlet hole
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| | <-Bucket
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|======|
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5. Place the airstone in the bottom of the bucket, and find a
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place for the airpump. If you are planning an indoor garden,
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with enriched CO2 in the air, then the pump should be OUTSIDE
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of your enclosure. The idea of the pump is to dissolve
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oxygen into the nutrient solution, and not to dissolve CO2.
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CO2 can kill rootsystems. If you are growing outside, or not
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enriching CO2, then the pump can sit anywhere.
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6. Place the waterpump in the bottom of the bucket (assuming it
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is a submersible one) and attach a hose to it. long enough to
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reach the top of the bucket. Cut a hole in the lid of the
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bucket for this hose to go through. Then attach the TEE
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fitting to the hose. Now attach hoses to the free ends of
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the TEE, and run them to the inlet holes on the end of the
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PVC pipes. Use clamps on the TEE fitting and on the pump
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itself, but use epoxy to attach the hoses to the PVC. This
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seal must be completely water tight. Let them dry for 24
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hours.
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7. Put some water in the bucket and turn on the pump. What
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should happen is the PVC pieces will fill with water, and
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then when they are full, they should begin to continuously
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drain out the outlet holes, and back into the bucket. If you
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are getting leaks anywhere, fix them immedately. If water is
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coming out of the 1" hole on the top of the pipe, then either
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your pump is too strong, or your outlet hole is too small.
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Fix one or the other.
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8. Empty the system (hint, remove the hose from the pump to
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drain the arms), and replace the water with some form of
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hydroponic nutrient solution (look in a hydroponics book for
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details on what exactly to use, or visit a gardening store,
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and ask)
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9. Place your plants into the system. The best way I have
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found to do this is to take a 1 1/8" garden hose and cut a
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1" tube off of one end. Then slit the tube down one side.
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Wrap the stem of your plant (just above the roots) with
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polyester fluff (available at aquarium stores, for stuffing
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into external water filters) and then wrap the garden hose
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around the fluff. Then force the hose into the hole at the
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top of the PVC arm. People also have used rubber stoppers.
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10. Turn on the air/water pumps, and let your garden grow.
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Comments:
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This is obviously just a small setup, but these plans can
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easily be modified for much larger systems, using longer pieces
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of PVC, or more than one pair of arms, and a larger bucket to
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hold the nutrients (I've seen one made with a 55 gallon drum,
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and 8 seperate arms, each holding 4 plants)
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I personally use this setup indoors (under a skylight in my
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apartment) to grow 2 cherry tomato plants. What you do with
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your own garden is your own business, and Obviously I can't be
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held responsible if you choose to grow anything illegal.
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Starting Seeds:
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This system is not for seeds. Either purchase small plants, or
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start your seeds in a pan of vermiculite, flooded with 1/2
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strength hydroponic nutrient fluid. When they are about 4-6
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inches tall, they are ready to be moved to the system. Remove
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them gently from the vermiculite, using clean water to get
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every last chunk off of the roots. Then wrap the stems in
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polyester fluff and garden hose (see above)
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--
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Jeff Burchell burchell@cats.ucsc.edu toxic@phantom.com
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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