I have one tomato plant in a 5 gallon bucket I am in Kissimmee yes it is hot but the tomato is doing really good I am planning if it gets to be above 90 I will probably take a frozen water bottle and stick it in the solution to cool it down
Thank you for sharing. I'm in Port Orange and trying to figure this out as well as the heat that we're experiencing. Did the frozen water bottle work? I'm afraid it will shock the plant??? Thsnk you
I recommend growing a determinate variety of tomato plants. That way you can use your method of harvesting all at once and always having another batch growing to replace. The heat in GA has me a bit concerned as well so I am glad you get to try some things out so I can see what works!
Thank you for the idea of painting the buckets! I’m new to this and my apartment porch has direct sunlight for a lot of the day. There is also duct tape that comes in colors, I’m gonna try to cover it in a dark tape like brown so it looks like a hydroponic tree. Thank you for your videos.
Adding a little Hydrogen peroxide will slow down the algae. Also adding Barley straw prevents the growth of algae... got to add it before any algae starts.
Hi Mike! I’ve been experimenting with aspects of this on and off since late last summer, and I thought I’d try something a little different this time. I have two little feverfew plants that I took out of the ground during an unseasonably warm period this winter, and they were sitting in water up until a few weeks ago. So I put one in coir and the other in a glass jar from the recycling, with a pool noodle sealing the top. It got its nutrients mix in the water solution, and the bottle was wrapped in aluminum foil. The same nutrient mix was given to all the plants regardless of growing situation: soil, coir, or pure nutrient mix. Then came an opportunity that took me away from home for a few weeks. I gave the potted plants extra nutrient solution, grabbed a computer and work clothes, and went. Yesterday, the opportunity to take a break to go home and water the plants again came, and what I found was very interesting. Some of the plants were rather wilted. The new plant in the pot of coir was green and bushy (feverfew is particularly forgiving that way, or perhaps it had something to do with the substrate in which it was growing); its’ same-age, same-species counterpart in the bottle of nutrient solution had at least four times the biomass, and had consumed half the solution. This gives me great optimism, as I often get an opportunity to work on a project or just visit other people that I haven’t seen in a while, and can be gone for weeks on end. The project that goes overtime keeps me there longer. It sure is nice to know that if I have the right set up, at least the plants that I enjoy will still be producing when I get home. This will be true for both medicinal plants like the feverfew, which does wonders against migraine and leg cramps, or food or even ornamental plants. This year, this system has already given more freedom with my production then I have any other year. So thank you.
That's so awesome Daphne, thank you for sharing. I started all of this because my wife and I were on the road constantly and still wanted to grow somehow. You are doing an awesome job! Good luck and happy gardening!
Dude thanks. Here in South Africa and my friend has some towers, but they expensive. Love this kratzky tower system. I'm getting some buckets and noodles end of this month. Thanks!
Guessing it’s just the white bucket. The darker colors block out a bit more light. I was going to use white buckets, but now I’ll change that up! Thanks for your video.
Decoupage! Take pieces of colorful paper, fabric, leaves, flowers, etc. and use modge podge or clear acrylic adhesive to paste it to the side of your bucket and you have art garden. Hmm, you could paint or put down sheets of colored paper as a background and paste fake flower petals on top and seal them in. Hmm I wonder if that would work? The only Sunny Space I have in unfortunately in my front yard. Even though my neighborhood is a bit trashy, I like to make sure my front yard is less trashy and more purposefully nice to look at. Since I have a pentagon of tire planters ( someone dumped a bunch of bald tires in my backyard so I turned the into planters with a deer net held up by stakes and cardboard and wheat straw over the 'grass' so it kinda looks like a summoning circle. To top it off I put some Dollar Tree solar lamp torches on top of each pole that glow like fire at night... ahem...) I need to make it look more like I am growing nice plants and less like I am summoning demons. LOL White Buckets look kinda industrial, so I am thinking I might have to Martha Stewart that stuff. Any suggestions are welcome.
I would like to see anything you do, sounds very cool. Keely is working on disguising some of our towers now. The red, white and blue will do for now since we have July 4th on the way. We look really patriotic with these on our front drive.
To not waste any nutrients, maybe you could throw something inside of a bucket and that way force water level to go up without adding any extra nutrients? I'm just wondering, haven't tried it myself :D
Mike thank you so much for the videos! I am getting ready to start using your methods. In the five gallon buckets I am trying to figure out where to buy the net buckets and what size. If you have an affiliate I would be glad to buy there, also, what are the round brown balls you use on the tomatoes. Appreciate all your help, and all the info!
Here you go. amzn.to/3Z3elgQ The clay pebbles are called Hydroton, there are generic brands too, look for hydroponic clay pebbles. Good luck on the gardening!!
Does anyone ever scuff then paint their buckets? I was thinking black with green, kind of splotchy, would both darken the bucket to block light plus make it less obvious once the greens have grown. Just curious. I haven't started any hydroponics yet but hope to this year.
Too cold yet here in U.K. but not a great lover of kale, assuming we can do this with Spinich? Already grow lettuce indoors, will do it outdoors in summer. What is the easiest fruit to grow hydroponically? I really want to try strawberries but wondering how difficult they may be
I put the cat litter bucket inside a box with packing material around it. That keeps the algae away and keeps the water and nutrients inside a constant temp. My tomatoes love it.
Those Buckets are great. Sturdy, thick, durable. The company I buy from stopped using them and switched to plastic bags and cardboard. Sigh. It's getting harder to find reusable source materials for free these days.
Is the heating up of the water in the bucket especially in summer an issue (root rot etc)? Any experience, what can I do to prevent without much work in constant relocating the buckets?
Algea competes for minerals that plants need to grow. so it's like having another plant steal from yours and giving you nothing in return but a mess to clean.
Yeah there were whiteouts at times. But still no where near the amount of snow we had when I was a child. The snow banks by the roads were so high, we built caves in them to wait for the bus!
you don't need airstones, the plants are breathing thorugh their roots in the moist airspace above the water. The only reason you might need an airstone in this Passive set up is if the weather gets so hot that it heats the water to a temperature that harms the plants. In that case having the water aerated seems to help keep the roots from rotting from the heat in the water.
Mike... I'm going to be starting our "basil garden" in our og style rainspout rails in 3 weeks or so!! All available plugs are growing my "dirt garden" stuff! Wr are soooooo excited for cardinal basil! 🪴 🌱 🌿 🌾
Went to Walmart and got another 4 White Buckets... Someone asked me why so many Buckets... I told them it was YOUR fault... LOL and now I find out... Stores are watching people who BUY Buckets... because there has been a rash of young (not so good people) Putting BUCKETS over People's HEADs... NOT FUNNY... So this last week... I wondered why they were watching me because I have bought so many Buckets this last week... (not cheap either) BTW... Walmart is the cheapest place for Buckets and Top... WHITE BUCKETS...
Harassing gardeners because of pranksters, lol. I am going to WalMart to get some. If the deli has any, they sell them for $1, then I will go check the regular priced ones, lol. And please stop putting buckets on people's head, you are going to get us all in trouble. 😂
@@KeepOnGrowin OOOHHH good to know about the Deli buckets... That is really scary that these young kids are putting buckets on people's heads... that is terrible. One woman, almost had a heart attack.
"We can't feed the world, but maybe we can teach the world how to feed itself"
I love that
I have one tomato plant in a 5 gallon bucket I am in Kissimmee yes it is hot but the tomato is doing really good I am planning if it gets to be above 90 I will probably take a frozen water bottle and stick it in the solution to cool it down
Great idea! Let me know how the tomatoes turn out!
Thank you for sharing. I'm in Port Orange and trying to figure this out as well as the heat that we're experiencing. Did the frozen water bottle work? I'm afraid it will shock the plant??? Thsnk you
I recommend growing a determinate variety of tomato plants. That way you can use your method of harvesting all at once and always having another batch growing to replace. The heat in GA has me a bit concerned as well so I am glad you get to try some things out so I can see what works!
Thank you for the idea of painting the buckets! I’m new to this and my apartment porch has direct sunlight for a lot of the day. There is also duct tape that comes in colors, I’m gonna try to cover it in a dark tape like brown so it looks like a hydroponic tree. Thank you for your videos.
Adding a little Hydrogen peroxide will slow down the algae. Also adding Barley straw prevents the growth of algae... got to add it before any algae starts.
Cool! Thank you!
Thank you
Hi Mike! I’ve been experimenting with aspects of this on and off since late last summer, and I thought I’d try something a little different this time.
I have two little feverfew plants that I took out of the ground during an unseasonably warm period this winter, and they were sitting in water up until a few weeks ago. So I put one in coir and the other in a glass jar from the recycling, with a pool noodle sealing the top. It got its nutrients mix in the water solution, and the bottle was wrapped in aluminum foil.
The same nutrient mix was given to all the plants regardless of growing situation: soil, coir, or pure nutrient mix.
Then came an opportunity that took me away from home for a few weeks. I gave the potted plants extra nutrient solution, grabbed a computer and work clothes, and went.
Yesterday, the opportunity to take a break to go home and water the plants again came, and what I found was very interesting.
Some of the plants were rather wilted. The new plant in the pot of coir was green and bushy (feverfew is particularly forgiving that way, or perhaps it had something to do with the substrate in which it was growing); its’ same-age, same-species counterpart in the bottle of nutrient solution had at least four times the biomass, and had consumed half the solution.
This gives me great optimism, as I often get an opportunity to work on a project or just visit other people that I haven’t seen in a while, and can be gone for weeks on end. The project that goes overtime keeps me there longer. It sure is nice to know that if I have the right set up, at least the plants that I enjoy will still be producing when I get home. This will be true for both medicinal plants like the feverfew, which does wonders against migraine and leg cramps, or food or even ornamental plants.
This year, this system has already given more freedom with my production then I have any other year.
So thank you.
That's so awesome Daphne, thank you for sharing. I started all of this because my wife and I were on the road constantly and still wanted to grow somehow. You are doing an awesome job! Good luck and happy gardening!
Dude thanks. Here in South Africa and my friend has some towers, but they expensive. Love this kratzky tower system. I'm getting some buckets and noodles end of this month. Thanks!
Thank you for showing us what you found. I am enjoying your videos.
Got my buckets prepared, getting ready to plant some kale. Thanks for sharing all the knowledge you've gained.
Nice! I got a lot more kale sprouting now too!
This is an awesome idea. I am in South Dakota so last frost is end of May and I can't wait to try this!
Cool! Keep me posted!
Can't wait to try this experiment
I would paint the white ones to lessen the algae problem
Guessing it’s just the white bucket. The darker colors block out a bit more light. I was going to use white buckets, but now I’ll change that up! Thanks for your video.
As long as you paint or wrap the bucket in cardboard, white is fine
LOVE IT. DID TOMATOES 1ST
Take starts off the tomato plants in the fall. That's how you can get clones for the next growing season 💥
Have you done squash and have battled squash bugs/ what to do?
Mike ....what do we do if we have algae in the bucket and its just getting started???
Maybe it is just the lid that is letting most of the light in - maybe just swap the top white lid for a coloured one?
wondering how often you have to change the water in the buckets.. thanks!
Rarely change, just top off.
Could you put the white buckets on the bottoms of the towers only? Would that stop more of the algae growth in those buckets?
I am trying, I switched up my next grow.
Decoupage! Take pieces of colorful paper, fabric, leaves, flowers, etc. and use modge podge or clear acrylic adhesive to paste it to the side of your bucket and you have art garden. Hmm, you could paint or put down sheets of colored paper as a background and paste fake flower petals on top and seal them in. Hmm I wonder if that would work?
The only Sunny Space I have in unfortunately in my front yard. Even though my neighborhood is a bit trashy, I like to make sure my front yard is less trashy and more purposefully nice to look at. Since I have a pentagon of tire planters ( someone dumped a bunch of bald tires in my backyard so I turned the into planters with a deer net held up by stakes and cardboard and wheat straw over the 'grass' so it kinda looks like a summoning circle. To top it off I put some Dollar Tree solar lamp torches on top of each pole that glow like fire at night... ahem...) I need to make it look more like I am growing nice plants and less like I am summoning demons. LOL White Buckets look kinda industrial, so I am thinking I might have to Martha Stewart that stuff. Any suggestions are welcome.
I would like to see anything you do, sounds very cool. Keely is working on disguising some of our towers now. The red, white and blue will do for now since we have July 4th on the way. We look really patriotic with these on our front drive.
Thanks Mike!🌱💜
Keep up the great work!
To not waste any nutrients, maybe you could throw something inside of a bucket and that way force water level to go up without adding any extra nutrients? I'm just wondering, haven't tried it myself :D
I want the volume to keep it cooler when it gets hot.
@@KeepOnGrowin Oh, makes sense.
I spent 50 today on drill bits. I was like 15 for one or 50 for 10 🤷 the long term math of individual purchases wasn't looking good so I got the set.
Woah! Drill bits always come in handy though!
@@KeepOnGrowin that was my logic. Now we can drill any size we want 🤣
And how do you grow vegetables that have an edible root, carrots, beets, onions, parsley?
First you grow greens and then apply what you learn to that with practice
👍🏻👍🏻
Mike thank you so much for the videos! I am getting ready to start using your methods. In the five gallon buckets I am trying to figure out where to buy the net buckets and what size. If you have an affiliate I would be glad to buy there, also, what are the round brown balls you use on the tomatoes. Appreciate all your help, and all the info!
Here you go. amzn.to/3Z3elgQ
The clay pebbles are called Hydroton, there are generic brands too, look for hydroponic clay pebbles. Good luck on the gardening!!
Does anyone ever scuff then paint their buckets? I was thinking black with green, kind of splotchy, would both darken the bucket to block light plus make it less obvious once the greens have grown. Just curious. I haven't started any hydroponics yet but hope to this year.
What water solution do you recommend for vegetables?
ruclips.net/video/SaN6Dlf2hCg/видео.html
Too cold yet here in U.K. but not a great lover of kale, assuming we can do this with Spinich? Already grow lettuce indoors, will do it outdoors in summer.
What is the easiest fruit to grow hydroponically? I really want to try strawberries but wondering how difficult they may be
Cool, spinach should do well, too hot here. I don't grow any fruit though.
I have some yellow cat litter buckets I plan to do a tower with. I'll get to see if yellow buckets grow algae. 🤔
Cool! Let me know.
Yes it does
I put the cat litter bucket inside a box with packing material around it. That keeps the algae away and keeps the water and nutrients inside a constant temp. My tomatoes love it.
I would find out what those cat litter buckets are made out of first.
Those Buckets are great. Sturdy, thick, durable. The company I buy from stopped using them and switched to plastic bags and cardboard. Sigh. It's getting harder to find reusable source materials for free these days.
Is the heating up of the water in the bucket especially in summer an issue (root rot etc)? Any experience, what can I do to prevent without much work in constant relocating the buckets?
Heat video coming in about a month, watch out for it. I am experimenting now.
What does algae do in hydroponic systems? Does it affect the growth or the taste?
I find it consumes 😭 the nutrients so the plants suffer.
Algea competes for minerals that plants need to grow. so it's like having another plant steal from yours and giving you nothing in return but a mess to clean.
Snow here between Buffalo and Rochester Ny.
Woah!
Yeah there were whiteouts at times. But still no where near the amount of snow we had when I was a child. The snow banks by the roads were so high, we built caves in them to wait for the bus!
Question? Do you add oxygen (with air stones) to the nutrient solution?
He doesn’t with this set of buckets. He has a video a few back that shows one with an airstone and it was not his favorite.
you don't need airstones, the plants are breathing thorugh their roots in the moist airspace above the water. The only reason you might need an airstone in this Passive set up is if the weather gets so hot that it heats the water to a temperature that harms the plants. In that case having the water aerated seems to help keep the roots from rotting from the heat in the water.
@@Metqa🤔 I see. Something to think about and improve on.
There is always room for improvement. I am focused on getting folks to start, have fun, succeed and continue. Too much info causes most to quit.
Mike... I'm going to be starting our "basil garden" in our og style rainspout rails in 3 weeks or so!! All available plugs are growing my "dirt garden" stuff! Wr are soooooo excited for cardinal basil! 🪴 🌱 🌿 🌾
Nice!! Just starting my basil too! Exciting! Have an awesome weekend!
Do ur greens grow all year long? In Florida it gets really hot
Just about. A few days of hard freeze usually does in the basil and a few other plants.
Went to Walmart and got another 4 White Buckets...
Someone asked me why so many Buckets... I told them it was YOUR fault... LOL
and now I find out... Stores are watching people who BUY Buckets... because there has been a rash of young (not so good people) Putting BUCKETS over People's HEADs...
NOT FUNNY...
So this last week... I wondered why they were watching me because I have bought so many Buckets this last week... (not cheap either)
BTW... Walmart is the cheapest place for Buckets and Top... WHITE BUCKETS...
Harassing gardeners because of pranksters, lol. I am going to WalMart to get some. If the deli has any, they sell them for $1, then I will go check the regular priced ones, lol.
And please stop putting buckets on people's head, you are going to get us all in trouble. 😂
@@KeepOnGrowin
OOOHHH good to know about the Deli buckets...
That is really scary that these young kids are putting buckets on people's heads... that is terrible.
One woman, almost had a heart attack.
Do you reuse your pool noodles
A few times, yes.
Actually the white bucket plants looked a little smaller than the others
Look can be deceiving. We constantly harvest off of these, unless you are here day to day, you can't really tell.
🦁🧡👍🏽
Get out of my head Maaaaaannnnn.