Hydopronic Bananas
 

About 3 months ago I grew a bunch of ensete ventricosums from seed. After having right around 56 germinate a few interesting characters from the hydpronic plant shop near my house talked me into trying to grow them hydroponically. After showing me how to make my own bubbler and me buying some nutrients that are high in potash I tried it on 3 of my EV's. So far the results have been really great and the plants have been growing fast. I wanted to post some pics and share with you guys. I also made a bubble bucket for a super dwarf cavendish that I have and I bought a drip bucket from the hydroponic shop here for a basjoo.

The plant on the left in the cup germinated a little over a week before the ones in the bubbler.


Same pic as before different angle


Roots have grown pretty vigorously in this system. Same plants from last 2 pics


Decided to expand a little and made a 6 system bubbler and threw 6 more young seedlings that had 2 leaves on them. One died after a week so I'm down to 5 on this one. The plant on the right is a super dwarf cavendish in a bubble bucket which is the same concept.


Inside the reservoie of the 6 plant system I built.


This is a basjoo I have in a drip system. Its growing about as fast as my potted basjoo but hopefully that will change when I up the nutrients.


Anyway just wanted to share what I've been doing with my little guys. I was surprised at how cheap and easy it is to make these little bubble systems. The drip system was a little costly but its working really well. At a minimun although I've never smoked a dooby in my life if congress ever legalizes pot hopefully I'll have the skills to the pay bills :). A special thanks to the pot heads at the hydroponic shop.

Re: Hydopronic Bananas
 

Thats really kewl.
are u gonna keep them the whole time in the hydro system or will they get too big?
Nice job.

Re: Hydopronic Bananas
 

You know fergus I'm really not sure. The basjoo is in a decent sized container and I figured I'd probably keep him there for a little while as well as the SDC. The ventricosums I think I'm gonna leave til the end of summer and replant one or 2 of them to see how they react to being removed from such a high nutrient environment to a pot. I'll keep you posted.

Re: Hydopronic Bananas
 

Nice to see someone one doing Hydro. Thumbs up. Did you have a problem with algae in the clear tub..........LOL.

What nutes are you using Mat?

What are you keeping the PH at?


P.S. I thought Cannabis was semi-legal in Denver?

Re: Hydopronic Bananas
 

When doing my research on how to do hydroponics I read about the possibility of algae in clear containers so I spray painted the one black. I decided to keep the second one clear just to see what would happen and so I could watch the roots. So far I havent had any problems with algae and its been well over a month. I do have to change the nutes in it around once a week cuz they're sucking up the water so fast.

I'm using Maxigro 10-5-14 for all of them now with the PH between 6.5 and 7.

Re: Hydopronic Bananas
 

Always good to have a diverse skill set. You never know the economy or an SOB boss might cause you to do in order to keep food on the table.

LOL

The people at the hydro shops make me nervous. I'm always thinking like, "If the police raid this place am I going to have a good explanation for why I'm here for my wife, mom, and boss?"

Re: Hydopronic Bananas
 

That's a great choice!

If you do see problems, here are some choices:
1. one drop of Physan-20 per 5 gallons of water, or
2. one drop of Naccosan per 5 gallons of water, or
3. one teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide per 5 gallons of water, or
4. one tablespoon of all-natural Grow More Pond Clear per 5 gallons.

Re: Hydopronic Bananas
 

[quote=

I'm using Maxigro 10-5-14 for all of them now with the PH between 6.5 and 7.[/QUOTE]

Try a lower pH of around 5.8-6.0.

Re: Hydopronic Bananas
 

The best nutes I've found for Hydro is General Hydroponics 3 part. I know it is Old School, but it has been tried and proven for years IMHO. I don't know what your using as a PH meter, but the best tool is a Tri-meter.....PH, Temp, and TDS. Keep the water temp between 68-72 and the ph from 5.6 to 6.0. Once you add your acid(PH down) to 5.6 it will drift up. This is good because at different levels of PH the plant will absorb different levels of nutes. Top off with PHed water when low and change out nutes every two weeks since you have a static system. Just my.02

Re: Hydopronic Bananas
 

I don't believe there is a "best" fertilizer for hydroponics. Instead, there are optimum fertilizers for each of the different plant types you would grow hydroponically. For example, if you feed lettuce the formula for cut flowers, the lettuce will start blooming within two weeks.

Re: Hydopronic Bananas
 

That's why it is broke down into 3 parts.

Re: Hydopronic Bananas
 

It is very low concentration and thus very expensive. Also, there are many types of edible plants for which you could not form a satisfactory combination of the three. Looks great though for some plants.

Re: Hydopronic Bananas
 

Soil nutrients and Hydro nutrients are different like night and day. Just like the PH ranges. I have been doing hydroponic gardening since 1983.

Re: Hydopronic Bananas
 

Great!!

I consult for large hydroponic concerns here in southern California.

Re: Hydopronic Bananas
 

What Matt is doing is different than a Commercial Hydroponic setup.

Re: Hydopronic Bananas
 

i think ohiosbest is merely trying to say what has worked for him - this is how hydroponic growers learn from others.

General Hydroponics makes good stuff, also try House and Gardens hydroponic nutrients.

I just got some melons growing in a hydro bucking. i sprouted them in rockwool and am using House and Garden Aquaflakes. They look good so far.

Peace.

Re: Hydopronic Bananas
 

i meant hydro bucket, not bucking.

Re: Hydopronic Bananas
 

Suppose you are going to grow green leaf veggies hydroponically. For $10 you can get a 2-lb bottle of General Hydroponics 5-0-1, or you can get a 5-lb bag of water-soluble concentrate designed for hydroponic green veggies, made from natural minerals and kelp. Not only do you get more quantity, but the water-soluble is more concentrated and hence you use less of it each application. In total, the water-soluble lasts 10 times as long, or conversely the General Hydroponics costs 10 times as much.

Re: Hydopronic Bananas
 

Looks great!
I understood that roots were photophobic and this is why we don't see roots all over the ground.
You may find root production to be higher in a light-tight system.

Re: Hydopronic Bananas
 

They have the Maxi Series in a dry concentrated formula if that works for you.