Learn How to Set It and Forget It Hydroponic Growing Microgreens and More

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0:00 Intro
0:40 Growing Plants in Mason Jars
2:02 Using kombucha bottles for self watering microgreens
4:35 Solution to one major problem you may have
6:15 Why this system works so well for growing microgreens
6:55 Make your own plastic free self watering microgreen grower with a vase and a pop bottle
8:30 Outro
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We've got a lot to show you today about how this awesome system works for growing your own food. We're going to talk about some problems you might have. We made some new adapters for kombucha bottles. We'll show you how to make one of these micro green growers without my adapter and totally plastic free.
We've got a lot of experiments going on with more natural hydroponics. Cutting out a lot of the plastics. And hopefully, down the road, it'll be a more natural way to grow food that's a lot easier on your back and your wallet than a traditional garden. So as we experiment with all this, I love sharing it with y'all.
And the first thing I'm gonna talk about is growing some of these microgreens into bigger plants. We're gonna do that with mason jars. Now I found some at the Dollar General for 12 a case. It's pretty good. 1 a jar. Now you're gonna see me putting these tops on there. And the only reason is I had a bunch of these small net cups that don't fit in it.
Now I could print a bunch of mine up, but I want to use what I got. Now when I was printing up these self watering adapters, it took me about 12 tries to get it the way I wanted. So I had a lot of the initial experiments and mistakes. Just sitting around and I don't like to waste things. They fit on a mason jar, so I just drilled a 2 inch hole in the top of those, and that's what I'm going to use.
So this is just the basic Kratky system. With things growing in the clay pebbles, they come out really easy. There's no soil to mess with. I just put a little bit of hydroton in a net cup with the plants. Pop them in the top.
Now this is our ladder system. We've got some black fabric on it. You guys saw that in another video. And I just pulled it up over the front. Maybe cut down on a little of the algae. But, we'll see how that goes.
Now, the Kombucha bottles. This is Synergy and Publix brand. Now, a lot of bottles have standard tops on them, and I found out that these two were interchangeable. So if you drink any of these, even some of the other brands might have the same tops. So I made these two adapters. I made this first one, the small one, and that worked okay.
Holds up the bottle, it's nice and sturdy, so that'll work just fine.
And even though it fits on the 32 ounce bottle, it's top heavy, and it won't flip over easy.
So I made this one. The legs are a whole lot bigger. Makes it a whole lot more stable. Now I don't plan on putting these in my shop unless some of y'all really need it. But I'm gonna put the file up on Thingiverse so you guys can print your own if you want. If anyone needs me to print some of these, go ahead and message me.
We'll work something out. But this is how I set up this micro green grower.

[@RenatoCarvalhoS]

Thanks for the nice idea for self watering microgreens. I adapted the idea so there's no need for 3D-printed supports. I just made holes on the BOTTOM of the plastic soda bottles and kept them closed with their own original caps and not upside down. It works just fine. 🙂 The only disadvantage is that they take a little more space in the container, but I just got a slightly larger container.

[@Karoline_g]

I literally just set up something like this last week after watching some of mike’s earlier vids - good way for me to reuse supplement bottles for small containers of micros. :) I think the only reason he doesn’t it because glass is a mite harder to poke holes into the bottom.

[@paulwilson4081]

As the water is used,drained, from the plastic bottle doesn’t the vacuum created above the water cause the plastic bottle to collapse. The same with your idea Mike Vanduzee do you need to use glass bottles

[@RenatoCarvalhoS]

@@paulwilson4081 it doesn't collapse because there is no vacuum being created. When the water level in the bowl drops to the height of the hole in the plastic bottle, air enters through it while water leaves. The water level in the bowl remains balanced at the height of the bottle hole.

[@ashsilos7252]

Man, you’re so cool. Seriously, one day I’d love to just spend all day experimenting with my nephew and son. Learn how to grow our own food and just live off grid somewhere. Amazing Mike! Thanks for creating some valuable content for us. I truly appreciate it.

[@ausfoodgarden]

Using thrift shop glass and ceramic bowls is a great idea and the water bottle adapters work well too. I'm using different nutrients to you because - Australia. But I'm still getting nice results. Cheers!

[@tirzah-marielewis3447]

Sending this to every homeschooler I know!

[@regenaguinn]

This is a wonderful project for homeschoolers! Creative mind development 👏👏👏

[@dingdongdaddy589]

Thanks Mike. Any good 3D printing lately? If you were closer, I’d give you a aeroponic tower I printed… Had one on craigslist for months at a steal, not one email. Wish there was more interest. Just to get it out there, not make a killing.

[@sueshaw6609]

Thank you Mike! You’re great inspiration for so many of us just trying to learn the basics. 👍🏻

[@deborahtemptingtanglesdesi1511]

I really like this idea & for me, time has become a rare commodity so anything self watering is a huge benefit. I wish there was an easy way to refilly my quart jars of lettuce plants - but this for microgreens is wonderful. NOw the question - I see lots of leca and roots and wonder if you have a marvelous way to easily clean the leca?? - Many thanks!

[@tammytamz3046]

I received my adapters! 🙏Will be starting a new batch tomorrow! The expanded clay is working great with water but I also ordered your nutrients so I’m excited to see the change! Thank you!

[@KeepOnGrowin]

Awesome!!!

[@kims.9677]

I just harvested my first batch of red clover and broccoli microgreens using the Mason jar adapter in a dish a little larger than a pie pan and I have some observations to share: 1) I love the adapter and clay pebbles - so simple and less work than the soil-based method I was using. 2) Don't wash the pebbles over your garbage disposal unless you've plugged the drain. (Lesson learned the hard way; taking one for the team, you know.) 3) There were more unsprouted seeds under the pebbles than I liked to see, so I am trying to sprout them on a clean, damp dishcloth. We'll see how that goes. If there are good ideas to avoid the waste, I'd like to hear them. 4) I made a re-usable cover from an old plastic tote lid so I didn't have to try to re-use aluminum foil (and re-used otherwise trashed plastic). I cut it (with my muscley husband's help) into a donut shape and halved it so I can easily slide the two parts around the jar. 5) I also raise meat rabbits, so washing the clay pebbles made me think of washing rabbit droppings. :) I'll get over it. 6) I'm so impressed with how this went that I hope to get several of the kombucha bottle adapters for smaller bowls, or have a friend print some up. Thanks for helping us out and working toward less plastic.

[@KeepOnGrowin]

😂😂 #5! Thanks for the tips, I will share.

[@marceloantunes998]

I just got here after googling hydroponics because I was putting my strawberries back outside for spring and, out of nowhere, decided to put a couple in my aquarium. This hydroponics business seems fun. I already water some of my plants using this bottle method, I guess I would just need to take out the dirt from on top the rocks and add some fertilizer to the water

[@222mmax]

CURIOUS HOW DO YOU TREAT THE MOSQUITOES? THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR SKILLS. GOD BLESS YOU

[@mspat8195]

Great question! 👀 & 👂👂 💞~👵 NW Fla

[@MichelleHotchkissArt]

Great idea for the bottle base! Alternatively, a chicken water base would work excellent also - they are usually plastic or galvanized metal and cheap. It’s a matter of picking your plastic, I guess - the waterer base or the 3d printed base. A person could make holes in the edges of the waterer so water flows out of it and put the waterer in a larger glass dish with the clay pebbles and the seeds. I like this idea!! Thank you from Alaska where it’s still winter.

[@diva555sg]

Thanks for sharing. Keep on inspiring.

[@ronm6585]

Thanks Mike.

[@paulwilliams200]

Love your channel. You are inspirational.

[@Schallerotto]

Hi Mike! Salute from Brazil! Great vídeos!

[@Just-Nikki]

My order is in my city so it should be delivered tomorrow. I’m stoked!

[@anhdinh8954]

do you always use the hydroponic nutrient right at the beginning when sowing? i used water when i wait for germination so my seedlings look a lot smaller than yours wow

[@KeepOnGrowin]

I do because I never know which ones I am going to grow out. When I do move some to larger containers, I think it helps that they are already used to the nutrient solution.

[@Pyresh]

Thank you for making these videos, I'm having a wild time figuring out my microgreens setup and your ideas give me ideas :)

[@adamjchafe]

Mike, you are an inspiration. I have a 3d printer at work. Can't wait to give this a test!

[@gee3161]

Thanks Mike, been trying these with just used soft drink bottles that I've punctured

[@kimberlyjacobs2613]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I can't believe you already have the kombucha bottle adapter ready to go! It's only been 4 days since I suggested it in the comments! (Although maybe others had already suggested it.) Can't wait till the pattern download is ready. I ordered the clay pellets yesterday and they will arrive on Wednesday. Now I gotta go to the library to see if they have a 3d printer.

[@KeepOnGrowin]

I will post when I upload it to Thingiverse.

[@kimberlyjacobs2613]

@@KeepOnGrowin I can't find the link for the kombucha bottle adapter on thingiverse

[@kimberlyjacobs2613]

nevermind - i searched through the comments and finally found a link

[@NopeAndYep]

I'm experimenting with using polyfiber fill and sheets as a medium and a gallon detergent bottle. Just waiting on germination

[@somersault2243]

Trying to buy mason jar adapter on etsy uk but there is no offer for delivery. I enjoy watching videos and want to grow my own food. Wales,UK

[@depabooks]

I wish I could get 6 of these adapters, I live in Hawaii in a rainforest and follow your channel cause it seems so easy to understand. I am a senior on a fixed income and growing my own micrograms I this manner seems like it would work.

[@KeepOnGrowin]

Do you know someone who can 3D print or do they offer it at a public library. I put the files up on Thingiverse.

[@farmyourbackyard2023]

Have you shared a link to purchase the clay pebbles? I bought your bundle and can already tell I want to do more.

[@KeepOnGrowin]

Thanks! amzn.to/3VpTG8i Tell me how it goes!

[@marceloantunes998]

Slight improvement to your bottle set up: Use a tube(I just use a plastic bottle with both ends cut out) to hold your growing medium in place when you got to refill your water bottle so it's less of a pain and you don't end up crushing some of your plants. I do this in traditional gardening with dirt on a vase to hold the dirt when I'm refilling the watering bottles, but I see no reason why this idea wouldn't also apply to hydroponics.

[@janlee2576]

Mike. Could u put the hole about an inch from the bottom of the bottle and just leave the top on it and sit it upright in the container. TY for all of your videos. I love growing hydroponically. Jlee

[@KeepOnGrowin]

Thank you. Yes, but if you do not get an airtight seal, all of the water will equalize and flood your bowl.

[@tirzah-marielewis3447]

Check your library mine has a 3D printer patrons can use!!!

[@normacardenas9918]

Thank you for sharing your vibe! Do you set these up outside or do you have a link on the shelves you are using?

[@KeepOnGrowin]

Mainly outdoors

[@sgomez512]

Can you use microgreens with this set up that require darkness, like alfalfa? If so, do you need to cover it? And can you reuse those little red pellets? I forgot what you called them.

[@laurannbrook9964]

I mean, how beautiful is this😂❤😂

[@RuthDerrow]

Thank you Mike! I want to learn to grow sunflower Microgreens without soil. How would you advise me to get best results in Lecca?

[@KeepOnGrowin]

No, I do not use any medium. I use two ramen trays, one with holes.

[@bigpa7890]

Good day my friend. I as just curious how deep of a container have you found to be best? ty

[@KeepOnGrowin]

Different for different plants. Shallow for smaller seeds. Deeper for plants like radish that shoot up fast.

[@patriciawhigham7848]

I would like to purchase some adapters for my bottles. How can I purchase them from you. I love this idea. 💞💞💞

[@KeepOnGrowin]

mikevanduzee.etsy.com

[@diva555sg]

How did your moringa tree doing? Have you eaten the long pod (drumstick) in curry with lentil & vegetables yet? And stir fry the nutritious leaves? Btw, can potato, ginger, garlic, onion, tumeric grow using hydroponic, self watering way?

[@KeepOnGrowin]

Growing more. The hard freeze a few years ago took ours.

[@HayenMill]

Hi, where is the link to thingiverse?

[@KeepOnGrowin]

Here you go: www.thingiverse.com/keep_on_growin/designs I have not uploaded the kombucha bottle lids yet. I will soon.

[@KC-of1yx]

New here to hydroponic micro greens sorry if the questions are basic - do you only harvest once? Cut or eat the whole plant? Then reuse those rocks? Thanks in advance

[@KeepOnGrowin]

Cut, clean and reuse pebbles.

[@Calchick7]

Have you tried any Organic nutrients instead of the one you are using now?

[@KeepOnGrowin]

a few times, still working on it.

[@talitherose]

What’s the foil for?

[@KeepOnGrowin]

Keep the seeds damp until they germinate.

[@mssavedin92]

Hi Mike, is there any way to ship the mason jar adapters to Canada?

[@KeepOnGrowin]

If I get caught up down here. I am looking for someone to make them up there. Will let everyone know.

[@mssavedin92]

@@KeepOnGrowin Thankyou.

[@CindyPurses]

Hello Mike! I purchased 2 of your Mason Jar Adaptors. I have Ball Mason Jars and they do not fit on them. What brand of Mason Jars do you use for your Adaptors? I have almost all that I need to get started with growing and am looking forward to applying what I've learned from you. I haven't been very successful with gardening in the past, but because of you, I am feeling very hopeful that this time I will succeed. Thank you so much for sharing all your knowledge with all of us out here. God bless you.

[@KeepOnGrowin]

I have Ball Mason jars. I test every one that gets made. Try it again, they should fit. Make sure you screw it on straight. You can email me at [e-mail]

[@CindyPurses]

@@KeepOnGrowin When purchasing my Ball Mason jars, I didn't notice that one case says "wide mouth" and the other case says "regular mouth" size until just now. After you wrote that you also use Ball Mason Jars, I was confused, because I knew there was no way the adaptor was going to fit. When I went to measure just now is when I noticed it said "Wide mouth" on the jar I tried. Thankfully, the other case is marked "regular mouth" size. I had no idea that the mouth of the jars were different sizes. PHEW! I sure am glad that your Adaptor fits on the "regular mouth" size. YAY!!! Thank you for getting back to me right away. I am anxious to try your Adaptors. Your invention is pure genius...thank you so much!!!

[@KeepOnGrowin]

@@CindyPurses Glad it works! Have fun, keep me updated!

[@sharonryan5448]

What 3d printer do you use. Would like to look into getting one.

[@KeepOnGrowin]

creality cr10se. Good beginner model, I was printing in an hour.