bdollarbill

Hello all I've been away from the boards for a while life kinda distracts you from Hobbies sometimes. I am Nursing along about 95% of my banana's indoors in containers, some are doing better than others with = watering & identical lighting (1000 watt halogen Lamps) I am in the process of setting up my mad scientist hydroponic systems. I plan to set up the following:

1-10 gallon homemade Rubbermaid Mister system with about 20 spray nozzles

1-8 gallon aeroponics set up with just a large air pump & air stone.

1-10 gallon fogger set up with a 4" square tubing cut for about 10 3" net cups.

My discovery's will be posted on site as to what banana's do well under what conditions, my theory is the Fogger set up will be the one that gives the best result as it gives 100% humidty to the root system and runs 24/7.

I will be using rapid rooter cubes & Hydroton pebbles for medium. I am using some banana pup's to start & may try some seeds while I am at it.

Has anyone here ventured on a path such as this yet that may save me some time researching & trial & error.

If anyone is interested I can send some photo's of the set-ups when I am done building them, I have studied several different commercial set ups & do not see any reason my homemade contraptions won't do the same job & they would be to my spec's etc.

Thanks,
Bill

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chong

Thank you. I would be interested in viewing your photos.

Chong

nullzero

Im interested in photos.

john_ny

I'd like to see the pix, also. Maybe you could just post them here.

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John

CookieCows

No but you're going to be saving me the trial and error time!! I'm so excited that you're doing this! I would love to see your pictures also.

Deb

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lt_eggbeater

The Epcot center at disneyworld has some huge banana trees grown from hydroponics.

Richard

For bananas in hydroponics:

1. Start the plants on water-soluble "Urea Free 15-5-15 Cal-Mag Plus", 100ppm constant feeding (1/4 teaspoon per gallon of water in the system once per week).
2. When the plants are about 3 feet (1 meter) high -- i.e., about 1 year from flowering: also use "Urea Free 5-11-26", 100ppm constant feeding.

Both of these are manufactured under the Scotts brand and others, in 25 lb bags.

For ideas on your homemade system, browse through the online Hydrofarm catalog.

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Lagniappe

Thanks, Richard! Do you know a good place to get these products? I'm having a tough time finding info on Scotts Urea Free 15-5-15 Cal-Mag Plus.
This should make up a lot of nutrient solution.

Richard

It is sold by agricultural supply firms in 25 lb bags. Note that this is for hydroponics -- the Cal-Mag plus is not a good idea for most soil applications.

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Lagniappe

Thanks, I've been using CNS17 up until now and I've been looking for a more cost-effective means.

Richard

Oh you are definitely going to save money over that product. Don't go too cheap, some of the 15-5-15 Ca-Mg+ manufacturers do not include micronutrients.

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Lagniappe

That was the reason behind my choosing this product. It's marketed as a one part product with a growth and a bloom formula.
I was trying to put a DIY product together which contained all of the micro nutrients but had a tough time finding Calcium nitrate for the mix. Even if I had, it may have been more expensive than the Scotts solution.
On a completely different note, my plants which are nourished by my aquarium affluent water seem to be the healthiest I've ever grown.

Richard

Here's the marketing pitch for CNS17:
It does not live up to any of this.

1. CNS17 is not concentrated, it is very weak at 3% N, 2% P, and 4% K.
2. At $24 per gallon retail it is not affordable. You can buy 1 gallon of better products for 1/2 the price or less.
3. It is certainly not economical at $60 per net lb N, and $45 per net lb K.
4. It is not a product for any experienced professional grower, since they are accustomed to paying $10 to $20 per net lb of nutrients in products with a much better array of micronutrients and non-nutrient ingredients.

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bdollarbill

Just uploadedfirst set of pictures, will be working this weekend on this project. I am stil waiting on some more pieces to arrive before I can finish all of these but I started last night on small aeroponic units.

If anyone wants to power buy some of the components to build one of these yourself let me know, I bought small qty's just to start out, could save big money buying large lots of pots etc. I can also make someone a cutter if they want one for cheap or if your not looking to build but 1 I'd hook you up for cost of container & shipping to cut you out a couple. Not looking to make a profit helping out fellow Naner's.

If someone needs detailed info just drop me an email or PM I'll keep my post in here simple.

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bdollarbill

As far as the nutrients go here is what I plan to use to start:

Quickgro
15.8 Nitrogen
5% phosphate
13% potassium Oxide (potash)
4% calcium
3% magnesium
7% sulfur
1% iron

I don't have any information on brand name or part #'s as its a "custom Mix" ?? I doubt it but we'll see how well it does.

I got 2# bag for $15 so its cheap enough to start, results will dictate if I buy larger qty to save some dough!

Intruction state 1/2 teaspoon per gallon of water.

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bdollarbill

First small aeroponic unit is up & running. I used some small Alocasia babies to start system up I will sub out some banana pups after I confirm nutrients aren't too strong, I have lots of these Gaceania's so if I lose a few it won't hurt as bad as losing any nana's. PM me if you want any extra info on this kit, pretty cheap set up, about $20 total You could not use the velcro but I wanted to be able to remove air stone to clean unit when it gets dirty every so often, most peole I have seen making these usually silico0ne the stone to the bottom, the velcro will make keeping the stone where you want it easier too.

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Lagniappe

Looks good.
What are you using to keep the light out of the container?

bdollarbill

If I find algae growth is a problem I'll just rough up the outside of the resevoir & shoot it with some flat black paint, I may do that anyways. For now being able to see root growth easyily is reason for leaving transparent.

Bill

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Ueberwinden

Bill,

I would be interested in hearing what bananas you are using in your hydro experiment. I have a water farm I'm going to set up this spring, I think I am going to try a Dwarf Brazilian in the drip system. Last year I had a Brugmansia in it. I had incredible growth by this method. I like to use natural fertilizers, so I was using liquid fish. I think that's what I am going do again this time, which is why I'm waiting until Spring and it can be outside. Liquid fish is quite smelly indoors in a hydro system, and you really can't mask the smell. I like to use Neem Oil, you can mask the smell of that with scented laundry detergent or scented liquid hand soap. Fish just can't be masked.

Michael

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Richard

There are many water-soluble mineral formulas that are all natural, including the 20-5-30 urea-free formula that includes kelp meal for micronutrients. Alternately, you can pay 10 times as much per net pound of nutrients for liquid fish which also contains traces of machine oil.

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