Gutter Garden Galore / DIY Hydroponics

Hi MIke you great person and I almost watch about 50 videos of yours. Is this 4 or 6 inch PVC pipe.I really appreciate you could please tell me.Thank you and have awesome day 🙂

Where do you purchase your downspouts? Does anywhere seem to be a better bargain? Thank You!

hey there Mike did that pak choy got some growing question is how to keep them growing in the little box thanks for your help Gloria in Atl Ga.thanks again

That's awesome that you got them back.

I’m literally the least green fingered person you will ever come across – but you always make everything look fairly simple – inspires me to give it a go!

Did you experiment at all with an outpocket wicking buffer premise?
Just curious. It hasn't been long since the suggestion

Before your pump failure, how did the growth rate of NFT compare to the Kratky growth rate? I grow with deep water culture Kratky and adding air pumps and air stones to some of the containers. The growth rate is improved noticeably when you add the air to Kratky systems. So, I think it’s worth the trouble to add the air.

I’ve also compared the growth of the same plants in soil and hydroponics. The hydroponics growth is significantly faster and the plants grow larger.

A PPM meter is very cheap, only about $15 for a budget model, but some of the PPM meters cost a lot more. I use a $15 PPM meter and the PH testing drops. I also use RO water.

I use the Masterblend, calcium nitrate, epsome salt mix, which is the cheapest way to create the nutrient. I weigh the dry mix on a gram scale with 10 grams Masterblend, 10 grams calcium nitrate, and 5 grams epsome salt for greens. I use 12-12-6 grams for fruiting plants.

I put each part of the three part mix in separate plastic sandwich bags. Each batch produces 5 gallons of nutrient. The calcium nitrate dissolves better in a glass of hot water before pouring it into the 5 gallon container.

The PH of the mix is consistently at 5. So after mixing the nutrient, I use a pipet of PH up, which brings the 5 gallons of nutrient from a PH of 5 to 6.

I rarely periodically test the new nutrient PH and PPM levels, because they are so consistent. The PPM levels are about 600 for greens and just under 1,000 for fruiting plants.

The PPM does go down in the nutrient as the plants consume the nutrient. After a month or two, the nutrient level could be reduced by 25% to 75%. I replace the nutrient every month or two.

It would be easier to maintain if the nutrient was created in larger batches than five gallons, and there was a leakproof drain at the bottom of the containers to drain the old nutrient. The new nutrient could be replaced easier using a pump, instead of pouring it with 5 gallon buckets.

I find that the PH doesn’t change that much during the growth, especially when the nutrient is replaced every month or two. The old nutrient is used on the soil plants inside the house in the winters and outside the house in the summers.

It’s not expensive to periodically test your nutrient and PH levels. It’s easy to create RO water after you invest about $300 to $400 in the RO water filtering equipment.

Nice crop of VanDuzee boxes that you are growing there Mike! At what point lengthwise and crop wise should one shift between a 2 x 3 inch and a 3 x 4 inch downspout? Or is that a question for its own comparative video sequence? -Bob…

Blessings to you Mike VanDuzee for all your time and effort in teaching us how to grow our own food economically. Blessings to your wife for sharing you and supporting you in this time consuming endeavor. You are Greatly Appreciated!