Apartment Farming

Battling Root Rot with a quick system change

2011-06-20T13:11:00.000-05:00

Since I started using organic nutrients the plants in my NFT (nutrient film technique) system have developed root rot. The NFT tubes are small and provide little support for my massive mature bell peppers plants. I switched to a deep water culture bucket system to try and save the plants so they continue to produce peppers for me. Heres the latest video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm8Cz2GWa-o

Sub-Irrigation Bucket Planters - Local Chicago

2011-06-03T13:33:00.000-05:00

I have for sale sub-irrigation bucket planters made from 5 gallon food-grade plastic buckets. I have modified popular web designs to help reduce the time between waterings.

HOW THEY WORK:

There are 2 buckets in each planter. The inside bucket holds the soil, the outside bucket holds about 1 gallon of water. At the bottom of the soil bucket, there is a net pot that hangs down into the water. As the soil in the bucket dries out, its naturally wicks up more water. Your plant roots remain moist and never drenched. Because the soil can only hold so much water, and excess water simple drips back down into the reservoir. The lid on top prevents water from evaporating requiring you to water less. Easily fill the reservoir with the PVC pipe and when it is full, water will exit through specially placed drainage holes SO IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO OVER-WATER!

THESE ARE PREFECT FOR:
Balconies
Porches
Decks
Patios
Small yards
Areas with contaminated soil
Or any other small space that makes gardening difficult!

1 for $15 --- 3 for $40 --- 5 for $65 --- 10 for $110

small charge for delivery $2 for northside, $3-$5 elsewhere in the city. Will deliver further for bulk orders. Email with questions, soil & plant not included. To receive an addition $5 off, send email with title "Blog Sale" to urban.farm.garden@gmail.com

NOTE: This sale is intended for the city of Chicago. If you would like to know about shipping to your area please send an email to urban.farm.garden@gmail.com

Quick Fruiting Update

2011-06-03T13:27:00.000-05:00

My peppers are finally beginning to ripe! These are chocolate beauty peppers so still have a few more days until they are completely ripe!

The pepper to the left has begun to turn orange. First time growing these, but I'm going to assume they will turn red then purple before completely ripe.

Several others still in their growth stage :)

Self-Pollinating, Pepper Updates, and New Fertilizer Solution

2011-05-07T16:35:00.004-05:00

Self-Pollinating

To self-pollinate your plants, all you need to do is take an old paintbrush, make-up brush, etc., and brush the inside of all flowers you want to pollinate. I usually go back and forth a few times to make sure I've transfered the pollen. Wait a few days, if you don't see anything start to grow inside the flower, you may want to do it again. Otherwise you did a great job! The peppers below are about 2 weeks old.

You can compare these to the post below for a change in size. I'm surprised they've grown so slowly over these two weeks, but ran out of nutrient solution and just finished finals yesterday. I was able to run to my local hydroponic shop, Brew and Grow to pick up some new fertilizers. I only mention the name of my local shop because I absolutely love the service. They carry many different brands and quickly recommend something that actually fits my needs. Too many times employees try to get you to buy the most expensive stuff.

Anyways I decided to go with an organic fertilizer instead of the usually synthetic fertilizer I have been using. The reason I went with the organic one is because it contains kelp, bat guano, molasses, etc. Basically everything you need plus some bonus compounds that are usually sold separately. Also picked up an organic additive to maximize product and give the peppers a sweeter, more bold and round taste. Both are made by Aurora Innovations based out of Oregon. I have been told they own their own bat caves and keep everything in house. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Be sure to check out my latest video: Update 3

Here Come the Peppers!

2011-04-27T20:45:00.000-05:00

Pollinated these a few days ago with an old make-up brush... I'd say it worked pretty well :) I have about 6 of these peppers growing on this plant, flowers on the other plants have just started to come up. I'll start to update more frequently now that they are producing.

Force Flowering

2011-04-23T10:39:00.000-05:00

Metal-Halide light

High-Pressure Sodium light

So I forced these plants into flowering by changing to my high-pressure sodium bulb and reducing the daylight time from 16 hours to 12 hours over a period of a few days. This gives that plant a different light spectrum more useful for flowering and producing fruit. One plant has flowered more vigorously than the others and has already been pollinated. Next update will have pictures on the peppers. Not sure how they will turn out since there is low humidity and I forced them into flowering, but theres only one way to find out.

Flowering Has.... Begun?

2011-04-12T08:36:00.000-05:00

For those of you who haven't seen my latest YouTube video, here's the scoop:

FLOWERS!

MORE FLOWERS!

Two out of my 3 Chocolate Beauty Peppers have flowered. They were planted as seeds on February 19, 2011. So it's been between 7 and 8 weeks and they have already flowered.

I have 3 Orange King peppers that haven't even budded yet! (SHOWN BELOW)

Maybe it has to do with the fact that the Orange Kings are still a first generation, and the Chocolate Beauties (assumed to be pure bred still) are a second generation. These Chocolate Beauty seeds are from my hydroponic crop in 2009. Still not sure why they flowered so early, but I just noticed the flowers opened over night. I will have to do some research into this to figure out why, unless you know why, then you could just tell me :)

Well, thats all for now. Make sure to check out my YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/bluemist431

Hydroponics First Update

2011-04-07T09:21:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to add a few pictures to show you how fast my plants have grown in my hydroponic system. Daytime temp is around 80F, night-time around 68-70. 14 hours of light, but low humidity. This system is in my office in Chicago, and this time of year its dry. BUT spring is almost here and that should help.

You may notice some of the pepper plants have leaves that are curled downward. I think that it is due to the low humidity, but I have not been able to confirm this. There is no yellowing, no browning, nor any deficiencies that I know of. If you know, please let me know. Enjoy!

Bell Peppers - Can you see the leaf curl?

Do you think it is normal?

Beautiful Basil

Nutrient Deficiencies

2011-03-02T13:40:00.000-06:00

Mature cilantro

close up of deficient leaves

Close up of normal leaves at base of plant

As you can see from the top 2 pictures, the plant definitely has some nutrient deficiencies. I suspect they are a nitrogen deficiency, but am still unsure. I have done a small amount of research on it, but not enough to confirm this. If you know what it is, please leave a comment and help me out.

February Update

2011-02-28T12:46:00.000-06:00

Hey all, just wanted to keep you in the loop for how my system has been running lately. Everything is in balance, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels have stayed at or around 0ppm. This indicates that my plants are doing a fantastic job with their nutrient uptake.

I am utilizing 2 PVC tubes right now, one has been dedicated to some new seedlings, and the other has held 2 mature cilantro plants. In the cilantro tube, the plant closest to the water input has a much better growth rate than the plant behind it. But it seems that both plants are experiencing a nutrient deficiency. The most apparent deficiency has been nitrogen. Many of the top leaves are very thin and hardly resemble a typical cilantro leaf. It seems that the 11-12 inches of fish that I have is not enough. I have moving in 6 months, so instead of adding more fish, I have decided to work on a supplemental fertilizer program. This is proving to be very challenging as I must take into consideration toxicity levels of several compounds so my fish are not poisoned.

More recently, I have begun experiencing flow problems with my main pump. The flow-rate has greatly diminished (due to the force of gravity, possible organic buildup, and aging) and the water in not circulating as often as I'd like. I will be working on this problem in March, and it may include a small change in the physical set-up as I discover more efficient and productive ways for my system to run. I would like to run a flood and drain system, but the weight on the shelving unit is an issue. Once these problems have been properly addressed I will discuss them in a future post. Other than that, expect some pictures of the mature cilantro plants shortly.

How to Put Together Your Own System

2011-01-28T16:37:00.000-06:00

So I had a request to make a parts list for my system. I will list what I have in my system, but depending on how you decide to set yours up, you will probably need more/less than what I have. I want to focus on the PROCESS of building the system, which is something I struggled with for a few months but eventually figured it out.

First things first, if you have a fish tank and are wondering how you can use that water to grow plants, you need to ask yourself a few questions.

Do you have enough fish?
How big is your tank?
What type of hydroponic system do you want to use?

I'm not an expert, and I'm still experimenting myself. But what I do know I will share. Fish density is important. The more fish you have, the more nitrate you will have for your plants. You need to keep in mind that you need a LARGE bacterial population to convert ammonias and nitrites before they become toxic to your fish. Its important to have a good amount of substrate on the bottom of your tank for this reason.

In my opinion, there are 2 hydroponic systems that work well in aquaponics; nutrient film systems (NFT) and flood & drain systems. NFT is what I use because it is lighter and doesn't need wood or heavy steel supports. I also like having the grow tubes and its the system I learned to grow on. It's also very simple to expand or contract your system. Flood & drain is essentially a large bin filled with gravel or clay pebbles. these systems work well for small to large outdoor systems. I've seen a few in basements but not many. They are extremely heavy and until I have a house in the south, I won't be using this.

If you are using the NFT system, you will want at least one, if not 2 biological filters. Mine is a bucket with gravel. This holds more beneficial bacteria and helps keep solid organics out of the grow tubes. Unfortunately, they still make their way in there so I just slosh the water around to suspend them and they drain to the fish tank where my bamboo shrimp clean them up. I would like to add a second bio-filter with sand. If the water is pumped into the bottom of a bucket filled with sand, the sand will filter out and solid matter and hold it in.

Thats the basics. You run your fish tank water through grow tubes that have plants. START SLOW. and I recommend starting your plants with some kind of grow solution and when their tap root can reach the water, put them in. This will give them a great head start. Have fun!

Size Comparisons

2011-01-06T18:10:00.000-06:00

romaine

cilantro

Update

2011-01-06T18:07:00.000-06:00

My system is finally up and running rather smoothly. I recently received water test kits for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates and have been able to successfully cycle the tank. There are currently 3 mollies, 1 goldfish, 2 shrimp, and a chinese algae eater. All 3 parameters tested at 0ppm. I plan on adding more fish slowly, until I test nitrates at 5ppm. This is the lowest reading on the test kit and should indicate the system has moved just past it's equilibrium.

In equilibrium, the fish are producing as much waste as the plants can remove. The exact size of the biological filter is unknown, but it is known that it is large enough to convert all ammonia to nitrites and nitrates quickly enough so that the water does not become toxic. With such a dense community of fish, it is possible to see a very large spike in NH4 or NO2 if the biological filter were to be harmed in some way. Extreme care must be taken to not excessively disturb the biological filter (nitrifying bacteria, etc.) so this disaster can be avoided.

Baby Mollies learning crossword puzzles.

The number of plants and their growth stages also must be kept constant to avoid spikes in the nitrate level. In my system, there are 14 pods available. In order to maintain a smooth level of nitrates and to minimize impacts of spikes, 2 pods will be dedicated to cloning, while the remaining tubes are used for more mature plants. Plant growth will be staggered so that no pod is left empty for more than a few days.

More detailed information will follow soon. At the moment I am working on buffering the pH of the system so it remains between 6.8-7.3.

It's All About the Education...

2010-12-01T10:29:00.000-06:00

So I left town for 4 days over Thanksgiving and little did I know that the timer for my aquarium light was on the 24/7 setting instead of the timer setting. I had also purchased a cheap time-release food so that my fish wouldn't starve. Well.... when I got home my pleco and a tetra were dead, the other 5 tetras were deathly sick, and my goldfish had swollen, red gills. Over the course of the next few hours the rest of the tetras died. I have since gotten 4 new tetras, but the goldfish are still very sick. They have been spending a lot of time on the bottom of the tank and their fins are thinning really badly. I have just given them a salt bath so hopefully that will help. I have also added plants to my system (FINALLY!), and hopefully they will start removing nitrogen from the water.

Pics and Updates on Seeds

2010-11-17T14:41:00.000-06:00

Black Tetras, still only 5, I will add at least 1 more this weekend. I had to get rid of the Fantail goldfish because his tail was nipped at by the Tetras, causing visible damage. That's why I want to get one more Tetra so they keep away from my other goldfish.

Picture of my tank the long way to show clarity. Perhaps I should make up an eye chart to post on the far end as a method to measure clarity.

Here are my seedlings, the 2 that have sprouted are romaine lettuce. This is day 4 for them, and the first day I have used a light. They are all moisturized at least once daily with fish water.

Fish Tank update

2010-11-15T18:24:00.000-06:00

I recently added 5 Black Tetras and a common pleco to my aquarium. Everything seems to be going fine except that the black tetras are nibbling on the Fantail Goldfish's tail. The Fantail seems to be slightly sick and is very inactive because of it. Tank temperature is at about 71F right now, I let it rise slightly for the tetras who like warmer water than goldfish. Changed some water today and seeds were planted almost 24 hours ago.

Operation Jackpot

2010-11-13T21:13:00.000-06:00

Here's my new aquaponics system. After toying with many different ideas and designs, I figured the bookshelf design would be the most practical, as it seems to be the most compact and physically aesthetic of other small homemade aquaponics systems I've seen in apartments and small balconies.

Water gets pumped from the fish tank up to the white bucker (inside pictured below). Water should create a swirl pattern and drain in the top 3 holes to the 3 grow beds. Grow beds will then drain back to the fish tank.

The hose running up to this sump bucket has an inline filter as well as a flow control valve to keep water in the bucket when the filter is not running, such as during feeding times. The black drain in the sump bucket has a small piece of 1 1/4" PVC to try and catch some of the solids that make it past the in-line filter. If the in-line filter needs to be cleaned more than 3x a week, I will remove it and let all solids collect in the bottom of the sump.

The water is a little cloudy because I have not been filtering the water. Bought a filter today, 2 aqua ferns, and 1 peacock fern to help oxygenate the water for the roots of the plants above. The water is being oxygenated from plants, airstone in the middle, and water returning from the filter on the right. It will be interesting to see how fast the plants in the grow tubes grow with all the oxygen.

Operation System Failure

2010-11-11T12:09:00.000-06:00

I've been having some physical system failures that have prevented me from starting germination and properly running the system through the bio-filter to establish a large population of bacteria. The plastic tubs I have been using for the fish tank and the bio-filter have bowed out in the lower portion of all 4 sides. This not only makes me extremely nervous about catastrophic failure, but also changes the upper dimensions of the tub. The drainage filter I made does not work in these changing conditions. Note: as more water fills the fish tank, the upper portion of the tube loses vertical height and gains horizontal height. This increases the volume of water that is held below the drain, thus the drain does not return water flow equal to the in-flow. Result? water is added, and added, and added until it would (1) overflow or (2) break causing the entire tank to flow onto the floor == catastrophic failure.

Many of the problems I have been experiencing are due to lack of preparation and design. Unfortunately, I believe a major overhaul is due.

I PVC support system I built a few months ago was designed to simply hold the light and provide structure support for various reflexive materials. This was the ideal setup when the plan was to run 2 separate DWC systems. DWC, or Deep Water Culture, consists of 6 plants sitting in the lid of a plastic tub, and 5 micro sprayers that spray nutrient water on the roots. Everything is contained inside the plastic tub which makes it an ideal system for small spaces. The problem was that these systems were not designed to sit under an artificial light and the temperature inside the system reached 80F-81F. This quickly generates bad bacteria that induce disease to plants.

From there I decided to go back to my NFT system so I could separate the nutrient reservoir from the plants harvesting light energy. Problem? I used the old PVC support system to hold NFT tubes. The NFT tubes (right) were not draining properly. Since the support system was not designed on a slant so gravity would pull water to the drain and back to the tank, they quickly over-flowed and couldn't run 24/7 like they need to. Also, some small leaks appeared where the drain tubes met the main PVC pipe, just another headache that took a few days of gluing to fix.
The other downside to this hydroponic system is that a water change is needed approx. every 2 weeks. This gets rid of any bad bacteria and replenishes clean water for the plants. I have a reverse osmosis system in my apartment I use, but the water pressure is so low it takes about 35-40 min. to fill 1 gal of water.

This is the point I decided it would be more beneficial in the long run to have an aquaponics system. Now I am in the midst of designing a system for just that. I have a feeling the PVC support system (right) will not work with the NFT system because it is too large to hold the NFT tubes and just wasn't designed to hold them. One slipped last night and crashed into the fish tank, I can only imagine what would happen if the system crashed and I wasn't home.

I have a few ideas of what I want to do, but don't know how to support it quite yet. If anyone has an idea please leave it as a comment. I have spent too much money to really go out and keep buying new items, I really would like to use what I have. I am picking up a 38 gallon fish tank tomorrow to use.

~Frustrated~

Aquaponics Part 1 - The Fish Tank

2010-11-05T09:45:00.000-05:00

Here's some pictures from my fish tank I put together last night. There are 6 baby goldfish, 2 medium spotted goldfish, and I other goldfish I adopted for free from the pet store.

Below is the chubby orphan I adopted :)

I put the PVC bars there to support a garden trough that I want to use to support a larger bacteria population. See the link to the video on the right to learn more.

Aquaponics > Hydroponics

2010-11-04T13:17:00.000-05:00

So Ive figured it out. The Grim Reaper of my hydro system is commonly known at pythium, a common plant disease in hydroponics that I believe affects roots and kills plants. It is very prevelant is systems where the water temperature is near 80F (mine falls in this category). After the tragic Monday I turned off the grow light and the pumps. I figured if 2/6 plants are affected the rest are soon to follow. I cleaned the entire system with diluted H2O2 and re-filled it with reverse osmosis water. For the past 3 days the plants have received no nutrients and no light.

To my amazement they are still alive and are living off the moisture present in the grow tubes. I was having trouble leveling out the grow tubes so they would drain properly so I have kept the system off until I remedy a solution.

As I researched ways to improve my set-up I started learning about aquaponics, system in which both fish and plants grow together. The single advantage that lured me in was that no water changes are necessary and they use less water than hydroponics. Needless to say I am converting my NFT hydroponic system to a NFT aquaponics system. Basically the only addition I need to add to my current setup is a biofilter that will filter the waste that the fish generate. After combing the web and YouTube for 2 days I have designed a solution that I beleive will work very well (pics &/or videos to follow).

The biofilter is essentially a small bin/tub/jug that holds a very high surface area medium for beneficial bacteria to grow on. These bacteria will turn ammonia to nitrates and nitrites that are taken up by the plants.

Fish waste = bacteria food
bacteria waste = plant food
plant "waste" = fresh water for the fish.

This is really a basic replication of natural processes. How cool is that?!

A Visit From the Grim Reaper

2010-11-01T08:12:00.000-05:00

So everything was fine when I left at 3:30pm on Halloween to go to a party. When I came back at 10:30 that night one of my Cilantro plants had wilted over, still green but could not support itself. My first (and only) guess is that it suffers from root rot. The only root, it's tap root, is completely brown. I quickly measured the pH and temp. Water temp was slightly over 78.5F and pH was below 5.7. I added 4 mL of pH up solution which brought it to 7.6. Then added 4 ice cubes to lower the temp. Each cube has slightly less than 5mL of grow solution + distilled water. When I came to check on the plants the next morning, no change. I have 5 plants in the same NFT system and the other 4 look healthy. Could it be? A visit from the grim reaper on Halloween? We will find out once I get home this afternoon to see if Mr. Sunshine has any remedies for what will be now known as "Cranky Cilantro".

~Happy Monday, pics to come before nightfall ;)

~ChiTownHydro~

Aeroponics experiment

2010-10-28T12:17:00.000-05:00

Cilantro

Cilantro, to show height

The smaller reservoir on the left is my herb tank, cilantro, basil, thyme. The reservoir on the right is for my bell peppers. The herbs were transplanted from their starter tray to the reservoir about 6 days ago. The peppers were transplanted 2 days ago. Originally, I thought that aeroponics would be easier to run and maintain. I have also read numerous articles describing how aeroponics is better than hydroponics. In my experience I have to disagree, although individual experiences are bound to vary. I have noticed that the water temperature in my reservoirs tops 80F during the day, and drops to 70F - 75F during the night. Ideally, we would want the temperature of the water to maintain a lower range of 65F - 75F. The higher temperature I am experiencing is caused by light heating up the actual rubbermaid, which heats up the water. As the water heats up, the rubbermaid heats up, and it is a viscous cycle, much like global warming. The other downside to my system here is that each reservoir can only support a limited number of plants. If I want to add more herbs, say rosemary, I would have to either kill off something I have to make room, or get a new tank.

The good thing about this type of setup is that it is very compact, mobile, and would work well on a porch, or in a greenhouse where direct artificial light is not necessary. SO, in response to the extreme environment my plants are experiencing, I am going to convert this aeroponic system to my original hydroponic system pictured below.

This type of hydroponic system is called Nutrient Film Technique (NFT). In this type of system, nutrient-rich water is pumped from the reservoir to one end of the PVC, it flows down through all the roots, and drains back into the reservoir. The reason I enjoy working with this type of system is because I can separate the reservoir from the plants so that water temperature can more easily be maintained. The other advantage for home-growers is that NFT can easily be expanded to accommodate more plants.

In the picture above, both of these PVCs are connected to a single reservoir (not pictured). The only thing preventing me from expanding to 3, 4 or 5 rows is the power of my water pump.

For those of you not familiar with hydroponics and aeroponics, I will leave you with a short discussion their differences. Aeroponics is essentially a system in which roots are suspended in the air, and a mist of nutrient-rich solution is sprayed on the roots. This system is also entirely enclosed to keep a high level of humidity which prevents the roots from drying out. A hydroponic system allows the roots to be submerged in the nutrient-rich solution which usually has an air stone to provide fresh oxygen to the roots. So the main difference is the availability of oxygen to the roots. Aeroponics has greater availability of oxygen than hydroponics.

For my next post in just a few days, I will discuss things I am doing to increase the availability of oxygen to the roots in my upcoming hydroponics system. Please leave questions and comments below

~Cheers~

NEW Hydroponic System Pics Are In!

2010-10-06T12:59:00.000-05:00

So here are a few pics from my new hydroponic system I built for the office in my apartment. The whole system (light stand and all) takes up about 12 sq. ft on the floor and is about 5.5' tall. I customized it from various plans to fit the space we had available. The reservoir on the left is 21 gal. and the one on the right is 35 gal.. The small reservoir will be home to basil, cilantro, thyme, and rosemary. The large reservoir will be dedicated to a strain of bell peppers called Chocolate Beauty, it is supposed to be dark red & brown on the outside brick red on the inside.

They both have 5 microsprayers on a 1/2" PVC pipe to spray water on the roots as they hang down. The tips of the roots will eventually hang down into the nutrient-rich broth, which will also supply a fresh supply of oxygen thanks to the blue airstone on the bottom.

I'm working on publishing a video showing you how to build this kind of system, so check back soon!

If you have questions or comments please leave them, they are greatly appreciated!

Welcome to New Age Farming!

2010-08-05T17:16:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone and thanks for reading my blog. The reason I have started this blog is because I am a firm believer in "you are what you eat". If you are too, then subscribe now. I will share with you what I am doing to eat as best as I can, without going broke. If money were not an issue, I'm sure most of us would eat everything organic, unfortunately money IS an issue and not everyone can afford the "luxury"' of organic.

I recently graduated from college (University of Iowa, go Hawkeyes!) and yet have decided to go back to school for a second bachelors (we will get into that later). I WANT to eat organic ALL THE TIME, but I can't because it is usually much more expensive than what 'traditional' agriculture produces. So I decided it was time I started to grow my own food. As many college students do, I was living in an apartment and did not have space or time to set up a nice vegetable garden, so I started to look into hydroponics.

Hydroponics is what this blog is all about because it can be simple, easy, and grows extremely fast. It also allows you to have complete control over how healthy your plants are and how big of a harvest you will receive for your effort. Throughout this blog I will share videos, news articles, and even other blogs that are relevant to Apartment Farming. I currently live in an apartment in the city of Chicago and will be setting up several different hydroponic systems in September when I move. I will have at least 3 different systems that I will make and I will walk you through how to make them yourself.

First, I will make a system to grow herbs (basil, rosemary, cilantro, parsley, etc.) Second, I will make a system for strawberries, and finally I will make a system for lettuce. Herbs can be expensive and many times (not always) you have to buy way more than you would end up using. Lettuce is the same way (at least for me). They make you buy a package with 3 stalks of romaine lettuce, you m i g h t get to the second one, but if you are like me and only have 2 people in your apartment, that is a rare occasion. Strawberries, well, they just go bad quickly and are very fun to grow!

Thank you for reading my intro, if you would like to see what I have done in the past please visit www.youtube.com/bluemist431 for some of my videos. Blog with you soon.

~ChiTownHydro~