Hydroponics

**BraggSurvivor** · 03-14-2008, 10:38 PM

Does anyone have one of these units or know anyone who has one? There is one I'm looking at that retails for $8900.00 + tax but I can buy it used for $4300.00 no tax. Its 18 months old and has extended warranty. Would have to pic up 8hrs away. Its the 10001 model.

https://www.omegagarden.com/index.ph...5&product_id=2

**GVan** · 03-15-2008, 12:41 AM

I wish that I could help you Bragg, but I plant in the dirt in my garden.
Sorry.

**canid** · 03-15-2008, 12:48 AM

that monstrosity is so overpriced i don't even know what to think about it. i've seen them before. they could be built in a day for $800, mostly due to the cost of the lighting system.

**canid** · 03-15-2008, 12:50 AM

oh jeez! the 1001 is one of the smaller ones... $300!

**crashdive123** · 03-15-2008, 05:41 AM

There are alot of hydorponic systems available for a fraction of that cost. Granted, they may not be as fancy, but when you're eating your salad, can you really tell the difference?

**Rick** · 03-15-2008, 09:23 AM

I have to agree with Crash. I've looked at hydroponics quite a bit. I think it's a neat way to go and I'd like to do something like that in the winter. But I think you can do better for the money. Here's a great article from ME News.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organ...Gardening.aspx

**Alpine_Sapper** · 03-15-2008, 11:32 AM

Not sure about where you're at, but you can get quality hydroponics equipment for relatively cheap at most of the head shops in the DFW metroplex. There'll be a bunch of books about growing pot, too, so you know, if you want to expand your crop's resale value you can pick one of those up as well. Otherwise you should be able to find everythng you need for your garden, and inspect the equipment as well as compare it before you buy. You MAY even be able to find the ones you're looking at online.

**Rick** · 03-15-2008, 12:08 PM

I assume you'll have to use some kind of pot to grow your plants in....

**BraggSurvivor** · 03-15-2008, 01:00 PM

There are a few reasons I dont /cant have a garden, 1. Too short of a growing season 2. Not enough light - I dont want too take down any trees. 3. Dont have time for a green house 4. Deer and varmits will eat everything.

I like the idea of a barrell hydoponics setup because of the room it conserves. I could set it up in the corner of my shop and keep the animals away and hrvest out of the elements all year round. With a family of six plus it would pay for itself in no time. I found this unit in the Bargain Finder and just waiting for a call back.

**canid** · 03-15-2008, 04:42 PM

it dose not actualy conserve any room in the end. because if it's shape, it actualy severely limits the plants you can grow, as there isn't room for anything to get much taller than a food. what that geometry allows in an increase in the number of plants you can get under one light, without consideration for the amount of light each plnt is getting.

the mentality is like this:
if you put plants under a lamp and the light shines a 90deg arc, you're wasting light. this thinking is untrue, because in such a system, 90-95% of the total output of the lamp reaches that area occupied by the plant, that's what a reflective hood is for. the result is more lumens/foot. to get the same ratio on plants in a configuration such as the one you want, you need a higher output lamp [much more expensive] to compenste the higher surface area.

if you use the inside surface of cylinder you get a greater surface area in a smaller volume. true, but only on the actual surface of the cylinder. the closer you get to the axis, the less surface area you have, in a inverse ratio. you essentialy turn the available growing area from a rectalinear box into into a wedge. the only place you gain the spacial advantage in in the roots, though those are bound in this system in trays which only use up portion of that volume anyway. the tops of your plants get less and less room the taller they get, each getting progessively less foliage area exposed to the lamp. there goes all your spacial advantge.

now, i'm not saying the system is any worse than the DIY $200-500 systems all the ganja growers i've ever known use, but it's not much better, and many times as costly.

**BraggSurvivor** · 03-15-2008, 04:49 PM

canid, my buddy has a single light in an old metal shower inclosure. I was suprised at what he could actually grow in an area of 36"X36". Do you grow hydroponically?

I'd like to get into something but you now have me wondering.

**Rick** · 03-15-2008, 05:27 PM

If you notice, Bragg, they show those with just lettuce growing in it. You will be limited to the type of plants. Here are some other ideas.

Take advantage of south facing windows. You can plant container plants and use the window light. Or.... container plants next to the house or on the patio/deck. The closer to the house the warmer.

Half bury some old tires and plant inside the tire. The black absorbs the heat and keeps the ground warmer over night. You could get a week or ten days added to your growing season (4-5 days on each end).

You had some open space around the pond. Utilize that area for your garden. Once the water warms up in the summer it will also hold heat and give you some additional days at the end of the year.

Use the three sisters method. Corn, squash and beans. Let the corn support your beans and the squash will act as a mulch to keep down the weeds.

**canid** · 03-15-2008, 08:01 PM

i'm just saying that if you figure the square footage of the combined trays, add it up, then you only need that amount of floor space in square, by the target height of the plants you'll be growing, plus the clearance of the lamp in space to get the same effect. half that space at twice the height, plus an additional lamp clearance if you use two pods stacked.

the slight loss of lumens/square food in reflection from a material like mylar [5-10%] and you don't lose the available surface area for your foliage you would as the growth height approched the apex of the arc in a sysjtem like the one you're thinking to invest in.

electronic timers, thermostats, cooling fans, PVC, sturdy plastic trays for pods, etc ll run cheap and the light[s] and ballast for an HID/HPS system are still a fraction of the cost.

it's not the smallest type of project, but if you can do basic wiring and can pot together Ikea furnature it's not hard. in the end, you can still end up with comparble spacial efficiency.

i don't do hydroponic gardening at the moment, but i have in the past and have helped design and build a few for friends. i'm pretty well familliar with the specifics of the systems design and maintainance.