Do you grow tomatoes?
Yeah – then you should be using this system to turbocharge your tomatoes.
I came across hydroponics about 10 years ago. Looking around at the time, even the basic systems were expensive. Nowadays the market has developed into a mass market and prices of the basic sytems have dropped.
I have come across this system on amazon.
Which will be ideal for tomatoes or cucumber or why not try aubergines.
Just imagine being able to grow tomatoes and go away on holiday without the neighbour forgetting to water them , coming home to disaster.
This system looks ideal, just fill the reservoir with water.
Then set up the pots using the clay pebbles at the bottom after fitting the plate.
Fill the pots with 1″ (25mm) of clay balls then fill the rest of the pot with 70% compost 30% perlite
If you don’t want to use compost then the alternative to this is coco coir and coco nutrient. At the end of the season the coco coir can be put into the compost bin or straight onto the garden.
The tomatoes will not know what to do – except grow!!!
My tomato plants are regularily 6ft(2m) tall with masses of fruit, lasting till late in the season. The leaves were longer than my hand.
My first season i had green tomatoes left over and had to make green tomato chutney.
Try it – grow them in your greenhouse right next to the ones in the grow bags and see the difference.
Good luck
Phil
I like the idea of Hydroponics especially as you can grow a really good crop of just about anything inside. I recently watched a tv programme where a commercial grower had bought a disused underground tunnel and had set up a huge Hydroponic growing system down there. They were growing salad greens for supermarkets. Not a lot of problems with pest such as green fly and an ambient temperature of about 16 degrees. So I have read your site with interest, that and the fact I am a keen garden with a postage stamp for a garden.
Hi Andi, thanks for stopping by and reading the post.
The underground tunnel would have been an ideal stable environment, adding lighting and moving the humidity around.
The only way they could get pests down there is by bringing them in on themselves, so if they are careful then there won’t be a problem.
It is a growing business, it is gathering support within the UK. So if you only have limited space, to be able to grow to the maximum yield is ideal.
I will be posting about vertical gardening soon, as gardens are getting smaller and people within cities are getting more interested in growing produce for themselves so growing upwards is the way to go!! Just remember that you can grow anything using hydroponics, plants or crops. So you can experiment with ornamental flowers alongside crops. I am looking into companion planting to assist the pest problems you still get with growing crops outside or inside.
You could start your indoor hydroponics with an attractive unit like the aerogarden, a self contained unit for growing anything you want. I am currently growing with three of these and have had a chilli plant, basil and parsley going for over five years, everybody likes the produce.
I hope you are able to utilise the space you have – if you need any help please contact me and i will see what i can do
Have Fun
phil