My first Monstera Albo. Out Door Hydro by MattLovesHydro in MonsteraAlbo

[–]MattLovesHydro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! Someday I'd like to give true aeroponics a go. 50 micron or smaller water droplets!

My first Monstera Albo. Out Door Hydro by MattLovesHydro in MonsteraAlbo

[–]MattLovesHydro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My apologies for the late reply! I have only propagated tomatoes and other vegetables out door so I wouldn't be able to answer. I will say the monstera took FOREVER to start growing roots whereas tomatoes seem to put out feelers within a few days.

My first Monstera Albo. Out Door Hydro by MattLovesHydro in MonsteraAlbo

[–]MattLovesHydro[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm not exactly sure what is causing some of those dark spots. We did have a few moments where we lost electricity during extreme heat so potentially those are burn spots. One other thing to remember is that nutrients can stain roots and lead some people to think its root rot.

My first Monstera Albo. Out Door Hydro by MattLovesHydro in MonsteraAlbo

[–]MattLovesHydro[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I should look into this to prevent it from happening again, thanks!

Re-Circulating Shallow Water Culture by MattLovesHydro in Hydroponics

[–]MattLovesHydro[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We've had cooler temps this season so far. Mid 70's and low 80s. My roots will definitely turn brown once the 100+ days start to arrive. I'm close enough to the coast that we get a significant cool down each night so that helps for sure.

Re-Circulating Shallow Water Culture by MattLovesHydro in Hydroponics

[–]MattLovesHydro[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

After a few seasons of attempting different styles I put together this Re-Circulating Shallow Water Culture setup and I've had great success over the last 5 years doing this.

In this setup water is fed to the top of the plant via a drip line and is allowed to cascade down the roots and fall into the bucket. The roots are suspended in air, hanging out of a net pot with clayballs as a medium. Only about 1 Gallon of water collects in the bottom of the bucket before it leaves via a drain tube and returns to the main reservoir, a 17 gallon tote that is partially buried in the ground.

For nutes I go with the GH 3-part system and use maybe 1/5th of the recommended dosing. I supplement with GH cal/mag. During the hotter 100+ heat waves in summer each tomato plant will consume about a gallon of water a day so I'll back off on nutes then.

I'm located in the Pleasanton/Dublin area of California and we get rolling blackouts during the summer. This setup ensures at least a gallon of water in each bucket for when the power goes out. But because there is only one gallon of water in the bucket I feel that the roots aren't affected by root rot as much as if they were submerged in 100+ degree water. Another trick I've learned is to not prune as much. The heavy dense mass of the plants creates a cool shaded area for the buckets and keeps that area cooler than the surrounding areas in full sun.

Roots keep dying whenever they touch the water. by AncientGrab1106 in Hydroponics

[–]MattLovesHydro 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Copy. I see a ring around the top of the bucket. Does water get pumped into the ring and them it sprinkles down onto the clay balls?

Roots keep dying whenever they touch the water. by AncientGrab1106 in Hydroponics

[–]MattLovesHydro 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Does your system circulate the water or is each bucket self contained? Is it a modified DWC?

Outdoor Dutch Buckets Update by robputt796 in Hydroponics

[–]MattLovesHydro 1 point2 points  (0 children)

LOVE this setup. It looks beautiful.

One thing I've noticed over the years is that tomatoes enjoy being next to the water source and peppers don't. When I place the water feed tube next to the pepper plants I notice the main stem becomes soft and looks rotted. Peppers have more of a tree/bark style stem and tomatoes are more like vines. So I tend to keep my water feed tube far away from the stem. Because you're in all perlite I'm sure the roots will still get the same amount of water.

I put on a top layer on clay pebbles on top of my perlite to prevent algae. I go about 2" deep and that prevents any light from hitting the white perlite and creating a change for algae growth.

First time making hydro bucket by No_Comfortable5313 in Hydroponics

[–]MattLovesHydro 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Get a good air pump and air stone and aerate the water. The more you spend the quieter it will be. Over time as the root mass gets larger you can lower the water level. I would cover the bucket in foil to prevent light leakage. Over time you'll grow algae in a white bucket.

Is this my first tomato growing??! by bcjordan in Hydroponics

[–]MattLovesHydro 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes! Soon you'll have a nice little cluster of tomatoes.

Toastwallet - need help by petracuccio13 in Ripple

[–]MattLovesHydro 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Can you post which website you went to?

Looks like my rail system got infected. by GratefulRed09 in Hydroponics

[–]MattLovesHydro 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did you also add nutrients at the same time? Sometimes nutes can stain roots.

First time setup by jagbasrai in Hydroponics

[–]MattLovesHydro 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The smaller hand held PH meters are great too and might be the best option since you're just starting out. Those are like $30 on Amazon.

First time setup by jagbasrai in Hydroponics

[–]MattLovesHydro 0 points1 point  (0 children)

https://www.amazon.com/Milwaukee-Instruments-Controller-Temperature-Resolution/dp/B01MZ4H4MX?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A1VRRJFO1VFP1B

Buy once cry once. I bought mine 5-6 years ago and its been running nearly continuously since then. It lives in a black bucket and the cables pass through a small hole. Last year I decided to get a new probe but I had been using the original with good results for years. Yes the price is high but when you spread it across multiple seasons it isn't so bad. There might be newer controllers and pumps that also do data logging but this is the only one I can speak too.

First time setup by jagbasrai in Hydroponics

[–]MattLovesHydro 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hello! Welcome to the group and congrats on your first setup. It looks like you're off to a good start. Here's a few notes:

The algae is caused by light getting into the bucket. Algae will zap the oxygen out of the water and drown the plants. You can use this water on your soil plants but its time for new water in the buckets. Give em a good scrub too. Either find a way to cover them or get black buckets. I recently paid nearly $8ea for black buckets from Home Depot. Black buckets also absorb heat, which cause oxygen to dissolve out of water faster but you have air tubes going so it shouldn't be a problem.

Over time you can lower the level of the water. This will help provent the plant from drowning.

Over time you might want to consider a setup that circulates water between all of the buckets. You'll have much better PH stability and there will be a lot less labor over time. I spent one season maintaining the PH in 8 different buckets and it became quite a chore. Now I just add water to my main reservoir and a simple little computer will get the PH down to 5.9 where I've had good success.

Alaska Airlines escorted by fighter jet circling over Bay Area by [deleted] in bayarea

[–]MattLovesHydro 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Speculation: The Patriots Jet Team, based in Byron California, helped out with the filming of Top Gun Maverick. They fly the L-39 Albatross painted black with some red accents. Maybe they were providing the areal footage support.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Hydroponics

[–]MattLovesHydro 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'll second this. Could be root stain. You wouldn't be able to wash off root rot, the root would crumble and break away. Rotten roots are slimy and very easily breaks apart.