Hydroponic sweetcorn harvest

[@crazyhomemaker]

Beautiful corn and tomatoes!

[@Brianshydroheaven]

Yes, we should be eating sweetcorn every day for a couple of weeks. Thanks for stopping by.

[@Genk1-f9b]

Hi Brian! I've recently found your channel, and have been in awe at all the hydroponic works you have in your garden. I am researching about hydroponics, and would like to eventually construct my own system. How do you avoid mold and root rot in drain and flow systems? Also, what type of systems would you recommend when growing plants with large root structures? Thanks!

[@Brianshydroheaven]

G’day, thanks for dropping by. To avoid root rot the pipe system runs non stop. In running the pump non stop the nutrient solution is at a constant temperature and oxygenated at all times. Root rot develops in warm stagnant solution. In warmer weather keeping the nutrient temperature between 22 - 25 C is best. Bury the reservoir, larger reservoirs are better. Add hydrogen peroxide into the nutrient solution when changing nutrients and when planting new crops and in hot weather every three days. I like to grow bigger plants in 20 litre Dutch buckets. If you need bigger it’s possible to use 100 litre or 200 litre drums to grow hydroponic plants in. I hope this information helps you. Any questions please ask. Have a great day.

[@Genk1-f9b]

@@Brianshydroheaven Thanks for the help :) Just out of curiosity, around what sowing density was used for the corn? I have received mixed results online and am not quite sure what an optimal density would be for a flood-and-drain system. In addition, what was the initial cost of your system?

[@Brianshydroheaven]

@@Genk1-f9b 10 - 12” spacing on the sweetcorn which gives 24 plants into the bed. All of the plants produced two cobs, a couple of the plants produced three cobs. The systems were built using mostly free or recycled materials and pipe. The flood and drain tray was given to me. $70.00 for the 1/4” gravel. Timber frame stand was from recycled wood that I got from an industrial area waste. The pump and digital timer were about $65.00. All up I would have spent no more than $1000.00 over time to build my initial garden. That lasted 6 years. Now I’ve upgraded to the tunnelhouse which cost $1300.00, and about $2000.00 to fit it out with steel stands, fans, new pumps and fittings.

[@dressydressy6246]

Hi Brian. I love watching your videos. They have helped inspire me to build my own garden. I live in NSW in the Hunter Valley region. The hot days we are having really burns the leafy greens in the NFT system. As your in WA (assume high temps there too) and have built your system on concrete (more heat reflected), how do you protect your plants from the heat?

[@Brianshydroheaven]

G’day, thank you , well some of the garden has 50% density shade cloth over it. The rest is in full sun. Yea it’s getting hot here now, last week was a heatwave up in the 40’s C (110f). Ideally I need to build a poly tunnel. Bury the reservoir, shade the reservoir, keep the nutrient solution cycling, add frozen bottles to the reservoir, adding 2ml of 50% concentration hydrogen peroxide every three days to add and extra oxygen molecule to the nutrient solution is about all. My lettuces bolted straight to seed as it’s too hot for them (above 35C). Tomatoes, chillies, melons, onions seem to grow fine in the heat.

[@dressydressy6246]

I hope you look at your comments, Brian :D - I use a similar Dutch bucket set-up to you. Recently, one of the Zuccihini's started overflowing due to roots blocking the water outlet. Do you have any suggestions on how to fix this issue? Or is it a case of regular maintenance?

[@Brianshydroheaven]

Looking now Dressy. Yes a good established large plant such as a zucchini, tomato etc will probably follow the return pipe and may block it. I have a 3” net pot inside to keep the stones clear of the drain, and I drill out the drain hole to about 19mm (.748”). I use a short piece of 19mm poly pipe from the drain fitting to the elbow into the return pipe so that if the water backs up and the Dutch bucket floods due to roots blocking the pipe it’s easy to remove and using a piece of 1/2” poly pipe I can shove that up into the fitting on the bucket to clear the roots.

[@dressydressy6246]

@@Brianshydroheaven Thank you, Brian. I will take a look this weekend. Thank you for showing off your wonderful garden - it is my inspiration 🙂

[@Brianshydroheaven]

@@dressydressy6246 thanks very much for looking and the comment. End of summer here, just about to change over to autumn crops. I’ll update the tear down and replant. Keep growing fresh food.