the way you are able to make a video with so much leaning by doing while cutting in timelapses.. just wow. Amazing production and the skills that must require. Great job hooch.
You could fit the float valve into an upside down 150mm pot and place that into the container. That should stop stray roots from interfering with its function.
The old float valves that you had problems with are differential valves and require a minimum pressure to work properly about 0.5 bar. this means that the bottom of you IBC tank must be at least 5 meters above the ground. They will not break down slowly like a ball valve. They just stop working resulting in all your nutrient being emptied or no nutrient getting to your plants. Ball valves are the more reliable in a hydroponics system and 100 gallons of nutrient being dumped into the environment could land you in a lot of trouble if it gets into a river.
Hey, I've purchased those same style cylindrical floats .... They have a minimum pressure requirement! I bet your gravity feed just does not provide enough pressure to allow them to turn on and off properly
Success you got fruit. Also I gotta say all of the time-lapse you do is awesome, and gives such detailed insight on the growth of the plants. Thank you for the incredible vids. Keep up the good work.
alright so my idea is an inline electronic valve set up to a timer. that way they will only fill up once or twice a day or something. and it might help to set the float valve lower leaving more room for oxygen roots.
Gooday from Canada brother. Another great upload. Today I'm opening up my greenhouse for the season and I'm going to make some space for an infinite Kratky for sure. Now I just have to decide which seedling will be the winner.
Helpful! I was thinking that an overflow hole, drilled just above the float valve shut off level, would mitigate risk from equipment failure, by creating an escape route for too high water level were the valve to fail? Wonder if a little cage of some kind around the 2nd style float could protect it from rogue root pressure? I like the idea of auto-fill to maintain established air to water root balance & their separate functions in a hands off way. I appreciate your testing & showing some challenges that could happen along the way. Doing this indoors might need a reservoir of some kind to catch runoff if a valve did fail, (yikes!) Thanks for your hard work and for showing things to consider on front end. 👍😊👍
Another awesome video Hoocho! It would be awesome for you to show how you save seed from hydroponics crops, considering the timeline, and your thoughts on what types of seed is conducive for seed saving practices. As you know, heritage seed is so important and needs to be perpetuated. Thank you for all you share Sir.
I just had the float valve issue with 5 gallon buckets, I had drilled in the side and the roots kept getting too large and keeping the float valve down, I used a piece of pvc like you did in the first setup but with a bulb float valve on the end so the float comes straight down from the netpot lid, always a project around here lol. Great video Mitchell thanks mate!
Always cool music and grow ideas. Complicated and very interesting tunes. Makes me miss playing drums. I planted okra, beans, cucumbers, moringa, jicama, amaranth, a fig tree, squash, sun chokes, New Zealand spinach, and all sorts of stuff around my yard the last few days. Got a lot more to try. Moved here last August so I`m testing to see what will grow. Blackberries everywhere. Gonna make some delicious high octane wine.
I found my Tiny Tim cherry tomato seeds this evening. Gonna set up a 5 gallon bucket outside under the eve of my camper roof with a 6 inch grow basket in it with tomatoes and see how it goes. I may put a grow light on it too to boost growth. Wanted to test one bucket before investing in more. I`m considering trying yellow squash indoors in Winter in it or some other crazy experiment.
I see you have started using the water plant pots as net cups.... I have been using them for about 3 yrs now, at $1 when I bought mine, you couldn't beat it. I trialled a late summer rockmelon in a Kratky system this year, I't really didn't have enough time and it was pretty hot... It wasn't a huge success but once I move into a place where I can actually have a proper setup I will go all out.
Interesting. I just started my butternut squash kratky a few weeks ago. In a styrofoam box (i layered with plastic). Compared to the one planted in soil, hydroponic is slower. I think its due to the plant focusing on root growth Next time, dont let water level drop that low then topup drastically. Plants will suffer. Unless its near harvest. Then its better to cut off water source. Just like how farmers dont water their watermelons near harvest so the fruit taste more concentrated Also, if the ground level is the same for each bucket, using 1 float valve would be enough. Place it on the first bucket. For the rest, just simply connect a tube (drilled from the side) that is lower level. Never higher than the water level for the first bucket with the float valve. Too low, there is a risk for the water to drain too much in case there is a leak at/along the tube
Interesting ideas! I was thinking it would be a fun experiment to do a side by side with ground planted and kratky planted stuff too! I am curious how they will compare at harvest time.
Question for you. I really like the through the top install you did with the original float. It works wellbwithbmybaetupnof 5 gallon buckets close into each other. Before I buy the new floats you recommend I was wondering if you could tell me do you think the new ones would work from the top down for an install like you did with the first one though the lids?
In my limited experience pumpkins either grow completely out of control and cover the whole yard with fruit or they are riddled with disease and slowly die without producing a single fruit.
Great project! Why not to use single float valve for all buckets and level them? That way you will have less chance of failure and less equipment to control.
@@Hoocho the only thing you will need to make hole in the container below water level and make it watertight. But you can circumvent it if you will put wick (rope) inside the tube feeding the container. Then you can put it over the top of container.
And run the single float in a container with no roots! If the containers were all connected at the beginning of the grow the nutrient level would fall evenly. Add the float 1/4 way down from the full nutrient level (it will be fully submerged) at the beginning of the grow so that no roots later die due to being flooded. Use 6mm (not 4mm) tubing with top hat grommets that are designed for it.
Great video as always. For people who want to use this infinite system, but don't have a res with a higher elevation, have you thought of a way to connect an aquarium pump to refill the buckets instead of gravity fed? I am trying to do that for my system, but am having issues finding something to prevent a "dead head condition" when the pump is running, but the float valves are closed (full bucket) and the pressure would build up.
Municipalities run water pumps to fill water towers. Gravity is much easier and more reliable than forcing a pump to provide contant pressure. You could do something similar by connecting a pump in your res to a timer and sending the output into a bucket on a stool. To prevent any overflow, a second tube could take any excess liquid back to the initial reservoir.
why don't you put a vertical pvc tube connected to the reservoir on the outside of the bucket to house the float valve? it would prevent the root system from messing with it. seems like the most simple and cheap fix to me.
interested to know, do you catch all of your water as rain or do you have access to town water? also how much water do you go through a week in your system?
How do you keep rainwater from going down through the pot and diluting the nutrient solution. Also, early on you mentioned "half" strength? - lost me there.
Hey man it's not called a "bsp" BSP or BSPT stands for British standard pipe thread(conical fit) Also NPT is national pipe thread(perpendicular fit) They don't go together
It is not a good practice to refill the reservoir without draining the remaining liquid. Because it will increase the concentration of minerals that the plant does not take up from the water. It will also increase the concentration of some bacteria. It is therefore necessary to remove all remaining liquid from the reservoir before refilling.
It's normal practice. This way you will not have abrupt change in EC in Ph. As you refill, concentration of minerals will trend towards the concentration of the solution you are refilling with. Check prof. Kraky channel, he grows peppers with this method perfectly fine.
Float valves on low pressure are a waste of time. They also can gunge up easily and not shut off. You should have built an overflow just above your water height in case they fail so you dont drown your plants. I built an electric level, it uses 3 x S.S. 5mm nuts with wires soldered in. You can fully adjust the height for both on and off. It controls a 12v relay. Totally more reliable, but far more advanced.
HE'S BACK!! the absolute best thing to happen on a good Friday to ever happen in history! BIG DOG HAS RISEN!! ALL PRAISE BIG DOG!
🥚🤣
the way you are able to make a video with so much leaning by doing while cutting in timelapses.. just wow. Amazing production and the skills that must require. Great job hooch.
Yeah agreed. A good horticulturist has a thumb on keeping time and records…that’s always been my downfall lol I always think I’ll just remember!! Lol
You could fit the float valve into an upside down 150mm pot and place that into the container. That should stop stray roots from interfering with its function.
The old float valves that you had problems with are differential valves and require a minimum pressure to work properly about 0.5 bar. this means that the bottom of you IBC tank must be at least 5 meters above the ground. They will not break down slowly like a ball valve. They just stop working resulting in all your nutrient being emptied or no nutrient getting to your plants. Ball valves are the more reliable in a hydroponics system and 100 gallons of nutrient being dumped into the environment could land you in a lot of trouble if it gets into a river.
5 meters? seems extreme ...
Hey, I've purchased those same style cylindrical floats .... They have a minimum pressure requirement! I bet your gravity feed just does not provide enough pressure to allow them to turn on and off properly
Is that your own music Hoocho?
Perfect system for everyone especially the low budget. Awesome stuff Hoocho🍺🍺
Success you got fruit. Also I gotta say all of the time-lapse you do is awesome, and gives such detailed insight on the growth of the plants. Thank you for the incredible vids. Keep up the good work.
alright so my idea is an inline electronic valve set up to a timer. that way they will only fill up once or twice a day or something. and it might help to set the float valve lower leaving more room for oxygen roots.
Gooday from Canada brother. Another great upload. Today I'm opening up my greenhouse for the season and I'm going to make some space for an infinite Kratky for sure. Now I just have to decide which seedling will be the winner.
hi, love the videos, thank you so much for the time and effort you put in.
absolutely love the slides in the intros 🕺🏽🕺🏽
Helpful! I was thinking that an overflow hole, drilled just above the float valve shut off level, would mitigate risk from equipment failure, by creating an escape route for too high water level were the valve to fail?
Wonder if a little cage of some kind around the 2nd style float could protect it from rogue root pressure?
I like the idea of auto-fill to maintain established air to water root balance & their separate functions in a hands off way. I appreciate your testing & showing some challenges that could happen along the way.
Doing this indoors might need a reservoir of some kind to catch runoff if a valve did fail, (yikes!)
Thanks for your hard work and for showing things to consider on front end. 👍😊👍
Another awesome video Hoocho! It would be awesome for you to show how you save seed from hydroponics crops, considering the timeline, and your thoughts on what types of seed is conducive for seed saving practices. As you know, heritage seed is so important and needs to be perpetuated. Thank you for all you share Sir.
Love the concept, but maybe this system would be better in rectangle totes instead of circular tubs to offset the plant from the float valve.
I just had the float valve issue with 5 gallon buckets, I had drilled in the side and the roots kept getting too large and keeping the float valve down, I used a piece of pvc like you did in the first setup but with a bulb float valve on the end so the float comes straight down from the netpot lid, always a project around here lol. Great video Mitchell thanks mate!
Always cool music and grow ideas. Complicated and very interesting tunes. Makes me miss playing drums. I planted okra, beans, cucumbers, moringa, jicama, amaranth, a fig tree, squash, sun chokes, New Zealand spinach, and all sorts of stuff around my yard the last few days. Got a lot more to try. Moved here last August so I`m testing to see what will grow. Blackberries everywhere. Gonna make some delicious high octane wine.
Ever think of leveling all the buckets to each other and use a single bucket and float valve for all buckets connected together
Could you please do a video comparing the different systems. All seem cool in their own way, but I find it difficult to judge when to use which.
Loved the time lapse
Thanks for the Awesome view!!!
I found my Tiny Tim cherry tomato seeds this evening. Gonna set up a 5 gallon bucket outside under the eve of my camper roof with a 6 inch grow basket in it with tomatoes and see how it goes. I may put a grow light on it too to boost growth. Wanted to test one bucket before investing in more. I`m considering trying yellow squash indoors in Winter in it or some other crazy experiment.
this was awesome. watched the whole thing!
FYI Dr kratky designed his own valve that you might want to look into. He has videos on his channel
I see you have started using the water plant pots as net cups.... I have been using them for about 3 yrs now, at $1 when I bought mine, you couldn't beat it.
I trialled a late summer rockmelon in a Kratky system this year, I't really didn't have enough time and it was pretty hot... It wasn't a huge success but once I move into a place where I can actually have a proper setup I will go all out.
Thank you for sharing this adventure with us! Excellent ideas.
So much useful info. Keep it up! I have a quick question though, when you keep the bucket outside and it rains don't it affect the plants?
Another point is you probably would want to paint containers white - roots generally feel better with not so hot temps.
Man your amazing. Thank you for guiding us on the hydro way 👍
Mmm roasted butternut squash 👌🏼
love the kratky stuff
if you place a 100mm pipe with ( holes at the bottom ) over the float valve you prevent the roots getting in the way of the valve
Interesting. I just started my butternut squash kratky a few weeks ago. In a styrofoam box (i layered with plastic). Compared to the one planted in soil, hydroponic is slower. I think its due to the plant focusing on root growth
Next time, dont let water level drop that low then topup drastically. Plants will suffer. Unless its near harvest. Then its better to cut off water source. Just like how farmers dont water their watermelons near harvest so the fruit taste more concentrated
Also, if the ground level is the same for each bucket, using 1 float valve would be enough. Place it on the first bucket. For the rest, just simply connect a tube (drilled from the side) that is lower level. Never higher than the water level for the first bucket with the float valve. Too low, there is a risk for the water to drain too much in case there is a leak at/along the tube
Interesting ideas! I was thinking it would be a fun experiment to do a side by side with ground planted and kratky planted stuff too! I am curious how they will compare at harvest time.
Great video I would like to understand in detail why they were stressed but otherwise good job I made sure to like for the algorithm 👍
Question for you. I really like the through the top install you did with the original float. It works wellbwithbmybaetupnof 5 gallon buckets close into each other. Before I buy the new floats you recommend I was wondering if you could tell me do you think the new ones would work from the top down for an install like you did with the first one though the lids?
nice fruit shape.....cheers
Inspiring! Another awesome video!
The intro to this song always makes me think Terminator.
In my limited experience pumpkins either grow completely out of control and cover the whole yard with fruit or they are riddled with disease and slowly die without producing a single fruit.
pretty cool i have to say!
great videos! is the reservoir you are using cooled?
Just a man and his dog growing food? I’m single! 🎉
Me too 🎉 😅
I’m married
All good except once in a while you might have all the nutrient drained from the IBC due to one of the values stuck due to roots.
What band/ music are you playing on your time laps? I love it!
My bag of salt it says to mix calcium nitrate last. I use Jack's.
Great project! Why not to use single float valve for all buckets and level them? That way you will have less chance of failure and less equipment to control.
Incredible
Duno why I didn’t think of this…. Cheers
@@Hoocho the only thing you will need to make hole in the container below water level and make it watertight. But you can circumvent it if you will put wick (rope) inside the tube feeding the container. Then you can put it over the top of container.
And run the single float in a container with no roots! If the containers were all connected at the beginning of the grow the nutrient level would fall evenly. Add the float 1/4 way down from the full nutrient level (it will be fully submerged) at the beginning of the grow so that no roots later die due to being flooded. Use 6mm (not 4mm) tubing with top hat grommets that are designed for it.
@@dmitryplatonov not necessarily! You could run a tube between them coming in the tops of the buckets and pre-fill the tube with water. Siphon effect
Great video as always. For people who want to use this infinite system, but don't have a res with a higher elevation, have you thought of a way to connect an aquarium pump to refill the buckets instead of gravity fed? I am trying to do that for my system, but am having issues finding something to prevent a "dead head condition" when the pump is running, but the float valves are closed (full bucket) and the pressure would build up.
Municipalities run water pumps to fill water towers. Gravity is much easier and more reliable than forcing a pump to provide contant pressure. You could do something similar by connecting a pump in your res to a timer and sending the output into a bucket on a stool. To prevent any overflow, a second tube could take any excess liquid back to the initial reservoir.
why don't you put a vertical pvc tube connected to the reservoir on the outside of the bucket to house the float valve? it would prevent the root system from messing with it. seems like the most simple and cheap fix to me.
Bro is there a way to block the rain water going inside Krathy which is kept on open space.
Can you do this with any plant like 🍅, cucumber and strawberry
Do you think the float valves would work in Bunnings buckets (10 & 20 litre) to do this or would they be too big to seal properly?
Why do you use calcium nitrate first .
Isn’t Diamond spec the same as Jacks or Masterblend ? 5-12-26
interested to know, do you catch all of your water as rain or do you have access to town water? also how much water do you go through a week in your system?
Hey where is the best place to get some litriture about the kratky method
Hello, what would be the best system and plant to grow roots, lots of roots for chicken consumption?
I guess I don't know what pumpkins are I'm tryna make a hydro tomatoes though am using Cherokee purple variety!
Tips for preventing root rot/pathogens?
How do you keep rainwater from going down through the pot and diluting the nutrient solution. Also, early on you mentioned "half" strength? - lost me there.
Thank you! 😊
Does rain affect the nutrient solution?
What did you start the cuc in (RE that close up shot at 25:05)?
Out of curiosity and for the fun of it, is it possible to hydroponic / aeroponic venus flytraps?
What type of pumpkin is that?
In the end you got some great butter nuts ❤
That's awesome!
How did the frog at 19:05 get in?
Is it really a Kratky system anymore if it refills?
Yes. Its not circulating. Manually topping up water/nutrient = auto refill by float valve
Yes, it's still Kratky as it has no recirculation and no airation.
Pumpkin = Butternut Squash??
It looks like pumpkin is a blanket term for winter squash in non US but English speaking countries.
Its good to see sherlock helping you out ? :P
Hey man it's not called a "bsp"
BSP or BSPT stands for British standard pipe thread(conical fit)
Also NPT is national pipe thread(perpendicular fit)
They don't go together
Float valve needs to be really low.
El' Hoocho Grande, you've lost some weight homie. Looking trim!
ayeessss
Has anyone mentioned you look like Henry Cavill in Mission Impossible?
sin aereacion?
How about trying some watermelon?
👍
It is not a good practice to refill the reservoir without draining the remaining liquid. Because it will increase the concentration of minerals that the plant does not take up from the water. It will also increase the concentration of some bacteria. It is therefore necessary to remove all remaining liquid from the reservoir before refilling.
For bacteria & algae, hydrogen peroxide would help, also providing oxygen boost for the roots.
It's normal practice. This way you will not have abrupt change in EC in Ph. As you refill, concentration of minerals will trend towards the concentration of the solution you are refilling with. Check prof. Kraky channel, he grows peppers with this method perfectly fine.
Float valves on low pressure are a waste of time. They also can gunge up easily and not shut off. You should have built an overflow just above your water height in case they fail so you dont drown your plants. I built an electric level, it uses 3 x S.S. 5mm nuts with wires soldered in. You can fully adjust the height for both on and off. It controls a 12v relay. Totally more reliable, but far more advanced.
you know it's on rain water only