Vertical Hydroponics. Vertiponics?

ratatattooey

New Member
My wife thought it would be "neat" to build a vertical hydro system using mostly recycled products. We built this...
IMGP1030.JPG
well.. it's vertical in real life..

5 gallon bucket with a submersible pump. PVC pipe for stability. Inside the pvc pipe is the tubing the pump is pushing the water up to the top, then gravity brings the water back down into the bucket...

So.. guess what.. it didn't work. The weight of the hydroton squashed the milk jugs, and the water only drained down the pipe in the middle.

We kept the frame, and I came up with a better solution. Still recycled, we used old pots from plants we bought on clearance at the big blue home improvement store. They have holes in the bottom that should allow the water to drain "all over" the pot below.

In order to keep the weight of the hydroton from pulling the pots down, I bought some (well.. we always called it "donky %*#@" ) water pipe insulation and some hose clamps.

Now it works great... She's going to put some arugula and lettuce in it...
IMGP1112.JPG
IMGP1113.JPG
IMGP1092.JPG
IMGP1095.JPG
 
Re: Vertical Hydroponics.. vertiponics??

Nice. But... is each container only getting the runoff from the container above? If so, are you expecting to see less nutrients (and possibly, in a less useful ratio) on the bottom bucket than you see on the top? Or does each container get its own feed so that they each receive what you've mixed up without being affected by the ones on top?

Either way, +REPs for DiY and creativity!
 
Re: Vertical Hydroponics.. vertiponics??

Well... that was my exact question to my wife when she presented this idea to me. She didn't seem to think the nutrient drop off from top to bottom would be noticeable.. I kinda sorta did... so....

if necessary.. the plan is to add individual feeds from the tube on top down to each pot. At this point, it would be super easy to do that.

I think.. (no telling what she's thinkin'.. she's my wife... I have no idea what goes on in that pretty head of hers..) her idea was that lettuce and stuff won't need a lot of nutes. If this works... we'll learn from it, tweak it, and build a better version from what we learned.

Oh.. and thank you.. thank you.. thank you.. for the rep.. and the reply.

(I wanted so badly to say.. "Dude")
 
Re: Vertical Hydroponics.. vertiponics??

Hey since he posted my idea I thought I would come in and say something. lol

From all that i have read about doing a vertical grow most people were not worried about the nutes dropping to lower levels on the bottom container... Most of the people were just grown lettuce etc. and that's what I'm going to grow in the test model.

I want to put several of these out side next year with other veggies that will grow in the water...

But I think this could also be a way to grow other things and save some space.. What does it hurt to try.. Cost was minimal. The pump and pvc pipe cost the most in this project. If I'm lucky the next one I'll get the pumps for free. I just have to remind the guy or bribe him.. lol

So stay tuned and see how this thing works out for us.. :)
 
Re: Vertical Hydroponics.. vertiponics??

Lettuce grows well - and easily - in hydroponics. It doesn't require large amounts of nutrients, lighting, or time.

NFT setups - even simple homemade "gutter" types where solution is pumped from a reservoir to the high end of the gutter, flows downhill along it, and drains directly back into the reservoir - are pretty common. And since in NFT the solution pases across each plant's roots sequentially, I don't really see a problem with your setup. I was just curious as to whether you'd thought about it (and if so, what your thoughts were, lol).

Guess I need to REP you since it's your idea and not your husbands. So... REPs for DiY and creativity.
 
Re: Vertical Hydroponics.. vertiponics??

BtW, we now have an Off-topic (non-cannabis) gardening forum, so there is a place for you to post updates when you get your garden going. Would love to see how things go.
 
Re: Vertical Hydroponics.. vertiponics??

Lettuce grows well - and easily - in hydroponics. It doesn't require large amounts of nutrients, lighting, or time.

NFT setups - even simple homemade "gutter" types where solution is pumped from a reservoir to the high end of the gutter, flows downhill along it, and drains directly back into the reservoir - are pretty common. And since in NFT the solution pases across each plant's roots sequentially, I don't really see a problem with your setup. I was just curious as to whether you'd thought about it (and if so, what your thoughts were, lol).

Guess I need to REP you since it's your idea and not your husbands. So... REPs for DiY and creativity.

:thanks: for the REP..

I think that once we have some cuttings off our current grow then I can test the vertical hydro system out.. Since I'm impatient I started lettuce seeds Saturday.. ::))

So now I'm collecting things as containers for the next one. lol.. I'm becoming a junk lady..
 
Re: Vertical Hydroponics.. vertiponics??

Thanks TS. We did just plant some tom's and other seeds. I love making salsa and pico, but can't stand the crappy stuff from the store we get in the winter. So, maybe this year we'll have some decent indoor home growns during the winter.
 
Re: Vertical Hydroponics.. vertiponics??

One mod I would make is to place a couple PVC 90s at the top of your feed line and remove the kink in your tubing. I've found that the less expensive vinyl tubing is prone to pinching itself off. I replaced all of the soft vinyl hose in my system with either PVC or the reinforced heavier gauge hose.
 
Re: Vertical Hydroponics.. vertiponics??

Thanks TS. We did just plant some tom's and other seeds. I love making salsa and pico, but can't stand the crappy stuff from the store we get in the winter. So, maybe this year we'll have some decent indoor home growns during the winter.

Peppers seem to work well indoors, even in small pots. The plants can be smaller and still produce something (I've got one in crappy soil in a plastic cup, lol and I keep meaning to stick it in an actual pot but it continues to flower and give me a few peppers now and then so it's sort of become an informal experiment). Not to mention that a little effort at trimming/training and you can create an excellent "bonsai tree" type plant. They can actually take on the general look of a very old tree and still bear fruit. There's one ornamental variety that produces lots of different-colored peppers that I'll have to pick up one of these days just for the colors. I've seen pictures that looked like a miniature tree with a rainbow canopy. Hopefully they'll taste as good as they look. If not, maybe they'll cross with a habenero or one of the other types that I enjoy.
 
Re: Vertical Hydroponics.. vertiponics??

Peppers seem to work well indoors, even in small pots. The plants can be smaller and still produce something (I've got one in crappy soil in a plastic cup, lol and I keep meaning to stick it in an actual pot but it continues to flower and give me a few peppers now and then so it's sort of become an informal experiment). Not to mention that a little effort at trimming/training and you can create an excellent "bonsai tree" type plant. They can actually take on the general look of a very old tree and still bear fruit. There's one ornamental variety that produces lots of different-colored peppers that I'll have to pick up one of these days just for the colors. I've seen pictures that looked like a miniature tree with a rainbow canopy. Hopefully they'll taste as good as they look. If not, maybe they'll cross with a habenero or one of the other types that I enjoy.

I've grown those before outdoors. They do look great, the taste is... not so good. There is a reason they call them ornamentals. The big blue home improvement store had 20-30 of those plants left this past weekend, and had clearance priced them at 10cents each plant. I didn't pick any up though. I'd really like to try some habanero's inside. I love them in my salsa!!
 
Re: Vertical Hydroponics.. vertiponics??

One mod I would make is to place a couple PVC 90s at the top of your feed line and remove the kink in your tubing. I've found that the less expensive vinyl tubing is prone to pinching itself off. I replaced all of the soft vinyl hose in my system with either PVC or the reinforced heavier gauge hose.

Hmm.. not a bad idea!! The slight crimp in the tubing did help regulate the water pressure coming out though. Maybe on the next one, I'll go ahead an run individual lines to each pot, and then put sprayers on the ends?
 
Re: Vertical Hydroponics.. vertiponics?

het rat, them gals come in pretty handy, huh? always got that noggin' workin'.

yeah.. always thinkin' up stuff for me to do.. but with her "supervising".. lol
 
Re: Vertical Hydroponics.. vertiponics?

LMAO! LOL! yeah, question, do u come home from work to face "THE LIST", u know, the list of things u're too dumb to remember to do?
 
Re: Vertical Hydroponics.. vertiponics?

LMAO! LOL! yeah, question, do u come home from work to face "THE LIST", u know, the list of things u're too dumb to remember to do?

well... she used to try that, now not so much. We both gave up trying to tell the other what to do. Thankfully.. after 20 years.
 
Re: Vertical Hydroponics.. vertiponics?

LMAO! LOL! yeah, question, do u come home from work to face "THE LIST", u know, the list of things u're too dumb to remember to do?

I have to put the list on google calendar and set it up to remind him or he forgets.. He also looses his lists. LOL But I guess for the most part I'll keep him a bit longer, takes too much work to train a new one... lol
 
Back
Top Bottom