@@Pepperheadsavage Its better if outdoor plants stay outdoors, because you could bring in aphids. However you could bring them indoors under a grow light and just keep them warm enough to make it with the energy you already use to keep the house warm. I have done it before the plants will produce like crazy next fruiting cycle.
Peter, you've really embraced Professor BA Kratky's non-circulating hydroponics techniques! Great to see your success, and the amazing results that you've had this 2020 growing season.
Definitely hook up a reservoir and float valve to that so you can control the level of the nutrient and add it without disturbing the plant. I’d love to see how it looks now!
WoW!!! Those roots are Amazing Peter! I'd love to see you do a bonsai! I was thinking on doing the same thing 👍 Btw, that one hydro I had, I did over fill it that's why it was drooping. Now it's doing great after I removed some of the nutrients, thanks for your help on that! 🙂
Wow that turned out nice. I have an indoor growing room and it takes me an hour every day to water everything, so I am looking to try this method so I do not have to water as much LOL Thanks for the video
Thanks. On my phone and don't have link handy, but the how to mix Masterblend link in the description shows the exact ratios I used, and how I mixed. For the barrel, I put all the water in first, then measured the number of gals x 2 for Masterblend, x 1 for epsom salt and x2 for Calcium nitrate.
Peter Stanley thank you. I am using your formula on the video for some time now. It saved me a lot of time thanks to you. However, is it different for soil plants as you say you are using 14.14.14 but no mention of Epsom salt or Calcium Nitrate? Is so, is Soil nutrients EC also 2.0 max? What ppm?
Just stumbled on your channel. Great job 👍 I do a little kratky and dutch bucket and I'm definitely gonna try this on a mammoth jalapeno! We eat them on a regular basis. Thanks for the video.
Thanks for watching! I hope your jalapeno does well. I saved seeds from some ripe jalapenos I picked up at a produce stand, they were really big. I'm going to try growing them next year.
Hi Peter. I love this huge chilli video. Just wanted to ask what nutrients you use? Apologies if you have already answered this question. Mattyroots UK
Amazing Peter! Can I ask, do you regularly fix the pH of the nutrients in the barrel, or do you literally just fill it once and let it go all season? Cheers from Ireland
I didn't check anything after the initial fill. I did empty, rinse and add back in some fresh nutrients, about 25% of the barrel worth after pulling it out in the video.
@@pepperdactyl that's crazy! What size was the plant when you started it in the barrel? Guess it proves the pH isn't as important as I have been thinking haha thanks for the reply
@@CoDownCraft I have grown plants to maturity and fruiting at pH 7. I theorise I could have even used tap water. I think all the major nutrients are available at pH 7, so it's not worth overcomplicating things!
Wonderful job, that came out amazing! Is that a 6 inch mesh net 5 gallon lid, or something larger? And did you manually cut a hole through the top of the pickle lid and attach the mesh net lid to it? Thanks
I don't remember exactly, it's either a 6 or an 8 inch. Either would work though. Yes, I cut a hole in it. This video shows the setup. ruclips.net/video/iBWzwasIXxM/видео.html
No issues at all. With Kratky systems you don't have to worry as much about heat, unless it's so hot that it's cooking the plants. The reason it's an issue with DWC is that the dissolve oxygen goes down as temps rise. With Kratky, the plants are getting oxygen via the air roots, that are suspended above the nutrients. The submerged roots do all the feeding.
@@pepperdactyl interesting I have a small dwc pot (3 gal) going right now and the water gets up to 94 degrees on a 81 degree day. Just experimenting to see how hot or cool these small containers get. I'm thinking the water has to stay under 80 or the plant suffers?
@@FC2ESWS It doesn't get super hot where I live, at the most mid to upper nineties, but usually lower than that. I can't tell you from experience how hot it would need to be to harm plants, but at my temps, I haven't had any problems.
Hard to say, I didn't weight them out, or keep track. It was quite a bit. I dehydrated a bunch, packed a 1/2 gal mason jar, froze some and used some in things. There were a lot of green pods left over too, that would have ripened out if the season was longer.
Not really, Heat will affect circulating hydro more than non-circulating. As heat goes up, dissolved oxygen decreases. With Kratky method, it's not as much of an issue since most of the gas exchange is occurring at and above the surface level of the nutrients.
@@pepperdactyl Gotcha! Do you have to often replace the water with a kratky/dwc setup? I recently transferred a young starfish plant into a 5 gallon kratky, and after about a week I've noticed zero growth and the pH rose from 6 to 7.
I was just gifted a beautiful 200l plastic food grade drum and was looking for suggestions on what type of pepper prefers the kratky method. Can I ask you how long did you have the plant in the drum before you had to change nutrients please?
I think this one took about 5 months give or take, to draw down the nutrients to close to 10% remaining. It's hard to predict, based on climate, plant, age of plant at transplanting, etc... You just have to check it periodically, or if you notice the leaves droop all of a sudden.
@@pepperdactyl it's only my first time growing and I might be doing too much. But do I just have to keep removing the plant to check water levels? Or can I create some sort of flotation device etc
It's a cross by Khang Starr between Linzo and Sangria. I'd have to check my notes, and I don't remember if this particular one was Linzo x Sangria, or Sangria x Linzo. I 'think' it's Linzo x Sangria.
Any hydroponic nutrient should work. I would target around 500 - 600 ppm and pH in the range of 5.5 to 6.5. I keep mine under the porch overhang, so it doesn't get rained on directly.
This is a cross by Khang Starr of Linzo x Sangria. I grew it from seed. It got very large from being in that size container. I used to have it in a smaller, less than a gallon container and it was much much smaller.
I don't remember exactly, it was either a 6 or 8 inch net pot. It was also still in the original AeroGarden basket, which did eventually spit. This was shot in the summer of 2020, I started the seed in November 2019. It was in a small DWC system when I first transplanted it to the large Kratky barrel. You can see it before transplant near the beginning of this video - ruclips.net/video/tY45F_jTV8Q/видео.html This is a couple weeks after transplant - ruclips.net/video/AUBcGRfx_zk/видео.html
Wow! So Cool. I live in an apartment and my patio area does not get full sun all day. Does anyone have a pepper type that would work with this system? This looks like a low maintenance system after setting it up. Thanks
Thanks for sharing this incredible Kratky grow. Well done Peter and I definitely like your idea for a modified/improved plumbing system for autofill. 10+ my friend.
Thanks! I was inspired by another grower/RUclipsr, Matt Garver. Check out his channel for similar content. ruclips.net/channel/UCUznk-cggnf5NrnneXBykfQ
My goodness Peter, what an outstanding plant and root system. I was kind of wondering the same as was Khang; guess we wait to spring to answer the over winter curiosity? Here it is October 10th and I am heading out to the garden to pick fresh tomatoes. Happy Gardening! -Bob...
Thank you for all your videos. Can you do a video on seeding. Huge roots .... here is my question. Can you cut those roots off??? I mean half of it or something? Is too huge!
Thank you! I do have one coming soon showing how I started some Rocoto seeds, should be a few more weeks. Yes, you can prune the roots back. It works best to prune the top side back at the same time. I'm planning on trying something extreme with this plant, to make a bonsai version of this pepper.
Wow! The roots look amazing! That’s a big pot...goodness! Great update Peter! You are an awesome grower with an awesome grow! Thank you for the update!! 🙃🔥❣️
New subscriber here! Wow, I am brand new trying to learn hydroponics...did not even realize they can get this large. Anxious to get started and video record my journey!
Damn! That's a lot of roots! And they look super healthy as well! Maybe I should try this in a more balcony friendly sized container next year. Would you say that 60 gallon for this amount of time would be considered a lot of nutrients compared to what the rest of your Kratky plants consume?
Thanks! I think the rate of consumption is consistent with the others I've grown in smaller containers, like the 32 and 44 gal I've grown in. Those would get depleted earlier in the season. One of the the challenges with the long term Kratky grows is maintaining the balance between the feeding roots and air roots. When they draw down the nutrients, overfilling can drown the plant. Matt Garver shared a method a while back on using a float valve and controller bucket to maintain a static level, once the plants draws the nutrients down. I've tried this with my 27 gal Krathy tote, and it works great, but there needs to be a way to drain and flush periodically to remove the excess salts. I think I'm going to make those changes to this 60 gal setup next year. That would make it mostly fill and forget. All you'd have to do is once or twice in the season, turn the reservoir feed off, drain, maybe flush with a little fresh water and drain again. Then turn the reservoir line back on. And top up the reservoir container periodically as needed. With a setup like that, you get could get by with a much smaller system. Would love to see what you go with on your balcony.
@@pepperdactyl Thanks for a very informative answer! And I haven't tried Kratky my self yet. This is only the second year I'm growing chillies. So far I've only tried some DWC and then transplanted to soil when I take them out on the balcony. Last year I only had 2 plants and this year I had "too many" smaller size plants just to try out some different varieties. Next year I'll stick to having maybe 4-5 bigger sized plants. Would be interesting to try out some Kratky. Guess I would need to find a dark/thick enough container that wouldn't allow sunlight to come through. I'll let you know if I get in to dabbling in Kratky and how it goes.
I used Masterblend (2 g/gal), Epsom Salt(1 g/gal) and Calcium Nitrate (2 g/gal). You can see an example of mixing it here. ruclips.net/video/jWGLQ4BlvfI/видео.html
Wow, those roots look super healthy. And I take it there's no air pump in the water? I thought I might be getting root rot from not enough dissolved oxygen in my water and my roots getting waterlogged as I have to turn my air pumps off at night. But maybe that's not the problem if you're not running an air pump at all and your roots look like that.
Kratky works a lot differently from DWC. With DWC, the roots are taking in nutrients and getting oxygen from the aerated nutrient/water solution. Hotter temps will affect DWC systems more since dissolved O2 drops as heat goes up. This makes it more difficult to run outside in the summer. With Kratky, the feeding is done in the nutrient solution, and gas exchange/O2 absorption is occurring in the moist air layer above the nutrients. If temps rise, it doesn't matter as much, since the roots aren't absorbing the o2 from the nutrients/water anyway.
Thank you for all your informative videos. I have a couple of questions, if you don't mind: 1) At what point do you move a plant that was started from seedling indoors under grow lights into this system? Is it by days old or plant height? Also, do I need to harden it first (gradual exposure to the sun) before moving it to this system permanently? 2) I do not have a shaded area, and our summers sometimes reach 90 °F. Will this system and with a gallon as big as yours be able to withstand this heat?
You do need to harden the plant some before putting it out full time. For a large system like this, it helps if the plant is bigger starting out. For very small/seedling type plants, I would put them in something around the size of a mason jar, until they get bigger. Kratky method is better for withstanding heat than circulating methods like DWC. This is because the gas exchange is occurring at the very surface and above the surface of the nutrients. The roots submerged in the nutrients are just feeding, and dissolved o2 there doesn't matter as much.
Thanks! I just put the same plant back out again, in the same system. I haven't made any changes since last year, but if I did I would keep the float valve external in a controller bucket.
Definitely agree that having a valve at the bottom to drain makes it much easier. I just use a Elbow and an o ring and some tubing. Prop it up and tape it to the side and when you want to drain just lay it flat
I wonder what this monster would look like if you over-winter it for next year! Great job Peter!
Thanks, Khang!
Haha I commented in another of Peter's videos, but I guess you weren't kidding when you said the Lingria could grow massive if you let it!
Great question how do you over winter a krakty pepper plany.
@@Pepperheadsavage Just take it in the house and put a grow light on top of it
@@Pepperheadsavage Its better if outdoor plants stay outdoors, because you could bring in aphids. However you could bring them indoors under a grow light and just keep them warm enough to make it with the energy you already use to keep the house warm. I have done it before the plants will produce like crazy next fruiting cycle.
Peter, you've really embraced Professor BA Kratky's non-circulating hydroponics techniques! Great to see your success, and the amazing results that you've had this 2020 growing season.
Thanks, Matt!
You should get an award for those roots
Good job, this plant is a beast! Looks more like a tree than a shrub.
Thanks!
Definitely hook up a reservoir and float valve to that so you can control the level of the nutrient and add it without disturbing the plant. I’d love to see how it looks now!
Can’t wait to see your new improvement on that system!! Wow awesome pepper 🌶 plant and root!!! Thanks for sharing!!!
Thank you!
WoW!!! Those roots are Amazing Peter! I'd love to see you do a bonsai! I was thinking on doing the same thing 👍
Btw, that one hydro I had, I did over fill it that's why it was drooping. Now it's doing great after I removed some of the nutrients, thanks for your help on that! 🙂
Thank you! I'm glad that helped.
Peter, I love how you do all these experiments. I have learned so much from you.
Thanks, William!
Beautiful root system
Thanks!
Wow! Massive plant, great job Peter 👍
Thanks!
Thats an amazing hydroponic grow! One year growth on trunk is very surprising.
Thanks!
That is a tree! Wow, very impressive.
Incredible job Peter! I had to replay that root shot 3 times. :)
Thanks!
Amazing!!! Never seen such a huge pepper plant!
Yea ??!!!!!!
Thank you!
Wow, I had no clue pepper plants got that big. Look at that root system.
Thanks for watching. Yeah they can get huge.
God damn if you grew weed Peter you would be a champion grower by far 😜💚🙏 you got some green fingers my friend
Thanks! I don't know about green fingers, lol.
Love the 3 webers in the background
Thanks! I use all of them.
@@pepperdactyl Bad ass pepper plant too!
Wow! Crazy roots there.
I have 2 of that same type of barrel in my backyard for next year. Can’t wait! Nice video!
Thanks, Jim!
Amazing plant Peter!! You are an amazing grower. Generous with your time and educate us all! I hope to aspire to your level someday! Thanks so much. 🥰
Thank you for the kind words!
Peter Stanley Hey Peter just found out you have t-shirts floating around for purchase somewhere lol. Where I can purchase one at?
@@marjoriethistlewaite2727 Thanks for asking! It's a work in progress, but here's my merch store. teespring.com/stores/pepperdactyl-2
That's just surreal (in an amazing way)... Let's call it chilli-oak...
Thank you!
Wow that turned out nice. I have an indoor growing room and it takes me an hour every day to water everything, so I am looking to try this method so I do not have to water as much LOL Thanks for the video
Amazing stuff Peter, that root system is epic!
Thank you!
WOW Peter very impressed , might have to give this a go next season
Thanks!
That thing is a beast! Great job!
Thanks!
A drain plug and a water level gauge would make that even better.
Amazing root structure
Thanks!
That a fine looking hydroponic grow. Nice job. Absolutely try to create a bonsai from it.
Thank you!
hahaha beautiful
nice work man
Thanks!
Wow, that is one big kraky plant. Love to know the mix ratios for your nutrients for this to get so big.
Thanks. On my phone and don't have link handy, but the how to mix Masterblend link in the description shows the exact ratios I used, and how I mixed. For the barrel, I put all the water in first, then measured the number of gals x 2 for Masterblend, x 1 for epsom salt and x2 for Calcium nitrate.
Peter Stanley thank you. I am using your formula on the video for some time now. It saved me a lot of time thanks to you. However, is it different for soil plants as you say you are using 14.14.14 but no mention of Epsom salt or Calcium Nitrate? Is so, is Soil nutrients EC also 2.0 max? What ppm?
@@abdallaakoud1166
Thats not for fruit
Beyond amazing!
Just stumbled on your channel. Great job 👍
I do a little kratky and dutch bucket and I'm definitely gonna try this on a mammoth jalapeno! We eat them on a regular basis. Thanks for the video.
Thanks for watching! I hope your jalapeno does well. I saved seeds from some ripe jalapenos I picked up at a produce stand, they were really big. I'm going to try growing them next year.
This is amazing.
Thanks!
Hi Peter. I love this huge chilli video. Just wanted to ask what nutrients you use? Apologies if you have already answered this question. Mattyroots UK
Thanks. I don't remember 100%. It was probably masterblend 4-18-38, calcium nitrate, and epsom salt. If not that, it was dyna-gro 7-9-5.
Healthy beard on that plant Peter !
Thanks!
That is one awesome plant
Thanks!
Hello Peter, How hot does it get in your location and how does the heat affect the outdoor Kratky system? Thanks for all the great videos brother!
Thanks! Where it live the hottest it gets usually is low 90s. Kratky isn't affected by heat as much as DWC or other circulating methods are.
Amazing Peter! Can I ask, do you regularly fix the pH of the nutrients in the barrel, or do you literally just fill it once and let it go all season? Cheers from Ireland
I didn't check anything after the initial fill. I did empty, rinse and add back in some fresh nutrients, about 25% of the barrel worth after pulling it out in the video.
@@pepperdactyl that's crazy! What size was the plant when you started it in the barrel? Guess it proves the pH isn't as important as I have been thinking haha thanks for the reply
@@CoDownCraft I have grown plants to maturity and fruiting at pH 7. I theorise I could have even used tap water. I think all the major nutrients are available at pH 7, so it's not worth overcomplicating things!
1:11 WHOA!
I wonder if this method would work on all vegetable plants?
It works on just about anything.
Wonderful job, that came out amazing! Is that a 6 inch mesh net 5 gallon lid, or something larger? And did you manually cut a hole through the top of the pickle lid and attach the mesh net lid to it?
Thanks
I don't remember exactly, it's either a 6 or an 8 inch. Either would work though. Yes, I cut a hole in it. This video shows the setup. ruclips.net/video/iBWzwasIXxM/видео.html
Incredible!
I like that tree!!!
Thank you!
Man that is a monster! Did you have any issues with the heat of the water and that black container?
No issues at all. With Kratky systems you don't have to worry as much about heat, unless it's so hot that it's cooking the plants. The reason it's an issue with DWC is that the dissolve oxygen goes down as temps rise. With Kratky, the plants are getting oxygen via the air roots, that are suspended above the nutrients. The submerged roots do all the feeding.
@@pepperdactyl interesting I have a small dwc pot (3 gal) going right now and the water gets up to 94 degrees on a 81 degree day. Just experimenting to see how hot or cool these small containers get. I'm thinking the water has to stay under 80 or the plant suffers?
@@FC2ESWS It doesn't get super hot where I live, at the most mid to upper nineties, but usually lower than that. I can't tell you from experience how hot it would need to be to harm plants, but at my temps, I haven't had any problems.
Just out of curiosity what was your total yield from this plant?
Hard to say, I didn't weight them out, or keep track. It was quite a bit. I dehydrated a bunch, packed a 1/2 gal mason jar, froze some and used some in things. There were a lot of green pods left over too, that would have ripened out if the season was longer.
wow. great job. quality content. subbed. thank you
Thanks!
wow this was so damn cool!
where did you get this kind of barrel from, that has a screw on type of lid ?
How is the bonsai chili plant doing?? Just wanna ask... If there's algae on root area...do we have to remove the algae? From Malaysia
It's doing well, so far no algae. I just posted an update this morning. ruclips.net/video/AIwCAOl6u20/видео.html
Beautiful job. May I ask where abouts you're located? I can never get mine to grow that long in southern California, too hot.
Thanks! In western North Carolina.
Nice! Don’t you have any issues with the container being black and getting too hot?
Not really, Heat will affect circulating hydro more than non-circulating. As heat goes up, dissolved oxygen decreases. With Kratky method, it's not as much of an issue since most of the gas exchange is occurring at and above the surface level of the nutrients.
Nice, what E.C/ppm did you give her when you put in the fresh nutes?
Thanks for watching. The EC on the initial fill, and replacement nutes was 1.4, 700ppm
Nice grow, it is a beauty. Do you have any particular plans for all those peppers?
I've been drying them for powders.
Hey Peter, is there a specific PPM you aim for in your kratky water? Do you start with RO water, or just from the tap?
I shoot for around 5.8-6 using just tap water. With my tap water it comes about about right using Masterblend.
@@pepperdactyl Gotcha! Do you have to often replace the water with a kratky/dwc setup? I recently transferred a young starfish plant into a 5 gallon kratky, and after about a week I've noticed zero growth and the pH rose from 6 to 7.
What nutrients do you use
I was just gifted a beautiful 200l plastic food grade drum and was looking for suggestions on what type of pepper prefers the kratky method.
Can I ask you how long did you have the plant in the drum before you had to change nutrients please?
I think this one took about 5 months give or take, to draw down the nutrients to close to 10% remaining. It's hard to predict, based on climate, plant, age of plant at transplanting, etc... You just have to check it periodically, or if you notice the leaves droop all of a sudden.
@@pepperdactyl it's only my first time growing and I might be doing too much.
But do I just have to keep removing the plant to check water levels? Or can I create some sort of flotation device etc
do you know what strain the pepper seeds came from ? interested in trying this in dwc
It's a cross by Khang Starr between Linzo and Sangria. I'd have to check my notes, and I don't remember if this particular one was Linzo x Sangria, or Sangria x Linzo. I 'think' it's Linzo x Sangria.
Huge!
Thanks!
What's the nutrients ph and ec? Also how do you keep rain water from getting in the barrel?
Any hydroponic nutrient should work. I would target around 500 - 600 ppm and pH in the range of 5.5 to 6.5. I keep mine under the porch overhang, so it doesn't get rained on directly.
Big tree for a big guy
Where do u buy that tree pepper? What is the name of the pepper tree?
This is a cross by Khang Starr of Linzo x Sangria. I grew it from seed. It got very large from being in that size container. I used to have it in a smaller, less than a gallon container and it was much much smaller.
Great !!
Thanks!
Is it in full sun most of the time ?
There is an awning over it. But it does catch most of the sun throughout the day.
Jesus
Very nice what size net pot was that. What size was it when yoy started the krakty method?
I don't remember exactly, it was either a 6 or 8 inch net pot. It was also still in the original AeroGarden basket, which did eventually spit. This was shot in the summer of 2020, I started the seed in November 2019. It was in a small DWC system when I first transplanted it to the large Kratky barrel. You can see it before transplant near the beginning of this video - ruclips.net/video/tY45F_jTV8Q/видео.html
This is a couple weeks after transplant - ruclips.net/video/AUBcGRfx_zk/видео.html
Wow! So Cool. I live in an apartment and my patio area does not get full sun all day. Does anyone have a pepper type that would work with this system? This looks like a low maintenance system after setting it up. Thanks
Thanks! This one actually doesn't get full sun all day, it gets it for a few hours, and is partly shaded the rest.
damn........ that plant is... huge is an understatement... =O
Thanks!
Growing my ks Lingria in a 1 gal ceramic pot lol. I’m missing out
You can always upgrade :)
Have you tried growing mango hydroponically? I am going to get me a pickle barrel for peppers for sure.
Thanks for asking. I've never grown mango at all.
What about roots trimming ? Could help?
I did a severe pruning end of season and started a aquaponic bonchi. It's done well so far.
Thanks for sharing this incredible Kratky grow. Well done Peter and I definitely like your idea for a modified/improved plumbing system for autofill. 10+ my friend.
Thanks, Jeff!
Btw are all chilli can grow that big
Or just some?
Wow love it.
Thank you! 😊
nice!
Thanks!
I've never seen roots like that. Great job. Inspiring.
Thanks! I was inspired by another grower/RUclipsr, Matt Garver. Check out his channel for similar content. ruclips.net/channel/UCUznk-cggnf5NrnneXBykfQ
Does the ph change over time? What is the water temperature like? Thanks for the link, good stuff.
Dang that things a beast! Great job Peter 👍.. Your videos are very inspiring, keep it up.
Thanks!
That looks amazing. I wish I had thought to do that with the peppers I'm growing
Thanks!
What was the nutrient ratio?
My goodness Peter, what an outstanding plant and root system. I was kind of wondering the same as was Khang; guess we wait to spring to answer the over winter curiosity? Here it is October 10th and I am heading out to the garden to pick fresh tomatoes. Happy Gardening! -Bob...
Thanks, Bob!
Thank you for all your videos. Can you do a video on seeding. Huge roots .... here is my question. Can you cut those roots off??? I mean half of it or something? Is too huge!
Thank you! I do have one coming soon showing how I started some Rocoto seeds, should be a few more weeks. Yes, you can prune the roots back. It works best to prune the top side back at the same time. I'm planning on trying something extreme with this plant, to make a bonsai version of this pepper.
Hello there, just wondering what is the ppm and the pH and the nutrient your using, thank you?
pH was around 6. I think the ppm was 800ish.
Wow! The roots look amazing! That’s a big pot...goodness! Great update Peter! You are an awesome grower with an awesome grow! Thank you for the update!! 🙃🔥❣️
Thank you, Carolyn!
may i ask whats the vatiety of that pepper?
It's a Khang Starr cross between Linzo and Sangria
Great update! Those roots and the plant itself are amazing! It would definitely be cool to bonsai it with that large stem!
Thanks, Ann! I'm going to try it I think. I have a small aquaponics kit that I haven't opened yet. I might try with it.
🏆😎
New subscriber here! Wow, I am brand new trying to learn hydroponics...did not even realize they can get this large. Anxious to get started and video record my journey!
Awesome, enjoy the journey.
Damn! That's a lot of roots! And they look super healthy as well! Maybe I should try this in a more balcony friendly sized container next year. Would you say that 60 gallon for this amount of time would be considered a lot of nutrients compared to what the rest of your Kratky plants consume?
Thanks! I think the rate of consumption is consistent with the others I've grown in smaller containers, like the 32 and 44 gal I've grown in. Those would get depleted earlier in the season. One of the the challenges with the long term Kratky grows is maintaining the balance between the feeding roots and air roots. When they draw down the nutrients, overfilling can drown the plant. Matt Garver shared a method a while back on using a float valve and controller bucket to maintain a static level, once the plants draws the nutrients down. I've tried this with my 27 gal Krathy tote, and it works great, but there needs to be a way to drain and flush periodically to remove the excess salts. I think I'm going to make those changes to this 60 gal setup next year. That would make it mostly fill and forget. All you'd have to do is once or twice in the season, turn the reservoir feed off, drain, maybe flush with a little fresh water and drain again. Then turn the reservoir line back on. And top up the reservoir container periodically as needed. With a setup like that, you get could get by with a much smaller system. Would love to see what you go with on your balcony.
@@pepperdactyl Thanks for a very informative answer! And I haven't tried Kratky my self yet. This is only the second year I'm growing chillies. So far I've only tried some DWC and then transplanted to soil when I take them out on the balcony. Last year I only had 2 plants and this year I had "too many" smaller size plants just to try out some different varieties. Next year I'll stick to having maybe 4-5 bigger sized plants. Would be interesting to try out some Kratky. Guess I would need to find a dark/thick enough container that wouldn't allow sunlight to come through. I'll let you know if I get in to dabbling in Kratky and how it goes.
Hi. What nutrients did you use and how much
I used Masterblend (2 g/gal), Epsom Salt(1 g/gal) and Calcium Nitrate (2 g/gal). You can see an example of mixing it here. ruclips.net/video/jWGLQ4BlvfI/видео.html
Wow these roots... Looks so good!
Always wondering what you do and where you put the plant while refill?
My son had it with lid balanced and propped up on the ladder, while I worked on it.
@@pepperdactyl thanks!
What ppm level you maintained from seedling to full grown plant with fruits?
Wow! Inspiring 👍🏻
Thanks.
Amazing 😀
Thanks, Aaron! 😄
What a beautiful tree! Great job Peter! =)
Thanks, Susan!
Where do you live?
NC
Wow, those roots look super healthy. And I take it there's no air pump in the water? I thought I might be getting root rot from not enough dissolved oxygen in my water and my roots getting waterlogged as I have to turn my air pumps off at night. But maybe that's not the problem if you're not running an air pump at all and your roots look like that.
Kratky works a lot differently from DWC. With DWC, the roots are taking in nutrients and getting oxygen from the aerated nutrient/water solution. Hotter temps will affect DWC systems more since dissolved O2 drops as heat goes up. This makes it more difficult to run outside in the summer. With Kratky, the feeding is done in the nutrient solution, and gas exchange/O2 absorption is occurring in the moist air layer above the nutrients. If temps rise, it doesn't matter as much, since the roots aren't absorbing the o2 from the nutrients/water anyway.
Amazing!
Thanks!
Thank you for all your informative videos. I have a couple of questions, if you don't mind:
1) At what point do you move a plant that was started from seedling indoors under grow lights into this system? Is it by days old or plant height? Also, do I need to harden it first (gradual exposure to the sun) before moving it to this system permanently?
2) I do not have a shaded area, and our summers sometimes reach 90 °F. Will this system and with a gallon as big as yours be able to withstand this heat?
You do need to harden the plant some before putting it out full time. For a large system like this, it helps if the plant is bigger starting out. For very small/seedling type plants, I would put them in something around the size of a mason jar, until they get bigger. Kratky method is better for withstanding heat than circulating methods like DWC. This is because the gas exchange is occurring at the very surface and above the surface of the nutrients. The roots submerged in the nutrients are just feeding, and dissolved o2 there doesn't matter as much.
The valve would need a cover of some sort because the roots….That’s a nice looking plant!!
Thanks! I just put the same plant back out again, in the same system. I haven't made any changes since last year, but if I did I would keep the float valve external in a controller bucket.
Definitely agree that having a valve at the bottom to drain makes it much easier. I just use a Elbow and an o ring and some tubing. Prop it up and tape it to the side and when you want to drain just lay it flat
How long before you had to empty and add, looking to give kratky a try for the first time using a 275 gallon tote