Which system for culinary herbs?

[KramE]

Hello all!

I've been a long time reader on the forums but I've always found answers to my questions without the need to ask further, but now I'm stuck in a good way. I'm going to upgrade my grow area from 18"x24" to 2'x4'.

I grow lettuce and culinary herbs indoors during the winter and I currently use the Kratky method for lettuce and dirt for the herbs. I want to move away from dirt, but I'm not sure which system to use. I will be growing basil, cilantro, thyme, and rosemary

My only requirement is for 8 sites and a system that I can add or remove plants individually. Some of the plants can survive for extended periods of time and they are harvested leaves at a time rather than all at once so I have to be able to add more nutrient solution - which is why I don't think Kratky will work.

Currently, I'm considering mini Dutch buckets or Recirculating DWC. Does anyone have any other suggestions? With these two methods, what size of containers do you think I'd need?

I know that this isn't for weed, but I've looked around and there aren't a ton of resources for culinary herbs that isn't just an ad for an aerogarden. So, here I am, with the real people of the field.

Thank you all!

 

[TorturedSoul]

Hempy works for cannabis and just about every other plant, if you don't mind hand-watering. It's passive hydroponics, so kind of in between soil and active hydroponics. Simple, cheap, and easy - whether you choose to grow in two-liter pop bottles (I recommend green ones), $1 5.8-quart black plastic wastebaskets from Dollar Tree, buckets, or some other container that you can cut/melt/gnaw a small hole in the side of.

DWC works for most plants, too (might be tricky for something like a potato plant, IDK). But that means either several reservoirs or fewer reservoirs with multiple plants sharing each. Other active methods would likely see multiple plants sharing the same system, so my suggestion is the "hempy" style of passive hydroponics. At least for round one .

 

[KramE]

That sounds like a really easy way to start off.

Thanks!

 

[Southerncough]

What about a simple lettuce raft? I did one with success a loooong time ago where I cut a sheet of Styrofoam to fit inside a tub, cut holes for net pots, and dropped in said net pots with seedlings in rockwool cubes/hydroton.
Filled the tub with mild nute solution and added an air stone. OR instead of nutes fill it with goldfish and have a little aquaponic setup!
BTW...that big orange hardware store sells a $12 plastic cement mixing tub that fits perfectly inside a 2x4 tent with a little room to spare!
You can also have some fun building an NFT system that hangs on the walls of your indoor garden leaving the floor footprint open for other stuff. You can use anything from 4-6" PVC pipe, rain gutters, or even square PVC fence posts, etc.

Or you could do both! Have a lettuce raft floating on top of the reservoir on the floor that pumps water up to the top of the NFT cascade system on the walls. Could probably build both systems for under $100!

I'm kicking around a fun little sustainable project idea to line a wall with used plastic bottles stacked over each other (say 10 rows of 10) and run a drip line to the top row and a collection line back to the res at the bottom row with a small pump and timer. Cut holes in the sides of bottles to fill with media and herbs/lettuces, etc.

Fortunately we only have two seasons; summer and diet summer so I can garden year round outdoors here, unfortunately the water temps stay too high for hydroponics and the system grows all kinds of slimy yuckies inside...and affordable sterilization supplies are hard to come by during Covid so I stick to coco instead of shelling out $$$ for a chiller.

Hope this helps?

 

[The Phantom]

The hydroponic totes you see people make for cloners would probably work well for herbs, both as a cloner for some of your year round herbs and for using as a growing tote with multiple spots to grow from without taking up much space. This is a great video for DIYing one.

People also use foggers inside over the sprayers.

There is also rain gutter gardens.

Just run a small amount of hydroponic fertilizer with the water and it will grow.

 

[KramE]

I have entertained NFT, but I'm concerned about a root blockage and flooding the table. My grow area is inside and I would need to build a box along the perimeter tall enough to catch the entire volume of the reservoir.

I like the cloning box idea...but I've heard horror stories about the sprayers clogging. Is that something that actually happens with regularly? How about build up from the nutrients?

 

[The Phantom]

I was able to run my cloner for 3 weeks straight with low dosed nutrient water and temperatures up to 90F at times, by the end of week 3 I had 2 sprayers clogged out of 12.

You can probably get away without the sprayers once your plants have roots in the water. Then maybe all you would need is 2 large air stones to keep the water agitated and aerated.

I don't think you would have to use much for nutrients as compared with marijuana. A water change once every week or 2 would probably work with a small dosage of nutrients is probably all you need.

 

[KramE]

Nice.

Going further down the rabbit hole, has anyone tried high pressure aeroponics with or without an accumulator tank?

 

[Southerncough]

A buddy of mine did...said he had crazy growth but a lot of sprayer maintenance

 

[KramE]

It's also a bit more expensive to buy in than the alternatives. And like NFT I'm concerned about power outages which are a thing where I live.

I'm not growing for business, so I don't think it'll matter much if my basil makes 5g or 8g of leaves.

I'm entertained by the challenge, but I have a fogger I've never used,so maybe I'll play with that.

 

[TorturedSoul]

If you do aeroponics, a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) seems it would be a very good idea. The gizmos probably don't use a lot of electricity, so a small one might suffice.

 

[Southerncough]

Recently while cleaning the garage I came across a forgotten project where i built a kratky style passive hydroponic bucket out of a shoebox size tub from the dollar store. So I started some basil seeds in rockwool, crammed them into some tiny net pots and am waiting and watching them go! Fingers crossed this works...drilled four 2" holes in the lid
Also, after a few days i added a few mL of foliage pro and silica to the water

 

[KramE]

Looking tasty!

 

[Southerncough]

Thanks! They've been growing like crazy as soon as the roots hit the water! Which is good because we use a lot of basil!

 

[leblanca]

I did a full HPA aeroponic grow, it was a success but there were some learning, i recommend you check out my journal.

 

[KramE]

Awesome. Will do!

 

[KramE]

Proof of concept fog box!

 

[Southerncough]

 

[Southerncough]

Proof of concept fog box!

seriously, that's cool as hell! What sorcery is going on in there??

 

[TorturedSoul]

Looks like the last party I threw.