Tell me about home hydroponics

[carnivorousplant]

@Broomstick

I agree that the easiest way to get tomatoes is to simply go to a store that sells them, but some folks like to grow plants.

They taste better than those orange tennis balls they have at the store.

[Broomstick]

I agree - well, not about tomatoes specifically since I can’t safely eat them, but my garden vegetables do taste better, worth the effort of washing off dirt, picking off bugs, and cutting out the occasional bad spot.

Hydroponics results in less dirt, bugs, and bad spots but does require a bit more input in other ways.

[Siam_Sam]

@Ale

My girlfriend wants to grow some vegetables at home using hydroponics, we live in an apartment with about 10 to 12 meters worth of balconies so I suppose there’s enough space to grow stuff for two people.

Having no experience growing anything but hair and toenails it would be nice if someone could give me the Straight Dope on this.

I’ve seen several systems, vertical, with planters stacked around a vertical pipe, or one on top of the other with water dripping successively from the one on top to the one bellow; then there’s the pipe contraptions, with either zig-zagging or parallel pipes with holes at regular intervals for the plants. I also saw a system that uses a Ferris Wheel type of setup were the plants grow towards a central light source and are dipped in water at the bottom of each rotation, pretty cool, not sure if it’s practical.

So, many options, no idea; suggestions welcomed!

I know diddley-squat about hydroponics, but have you checked with Accent Hydroponics Thailand here in Bangkok?

[Ale]

@Siam_Sam

I know diddley-squat about hydroponics, but have you checked with Accent Hydroponics Thailand here in Bangkok?

No, I haven’t; but my GF suggested taking a class or two to get started.

[Hershele_Ostropoler]

@bump

“vegetables”

Heh.

@VinylTurnip

What he meant to say was “vegetables… riiiiight!” <overt wink> <toking gesture>

When I was working at a mat service, one of the clients I caught was AeroGarden, before they developed their prepackaged pods. The copy they sent said it could be used to grow herbs. I shared this with the rest of the bullpen and said “I’ll bet you can.”

[Accidental_Martyr]

@bump

My wife and I make jokes about being on some kind of law-enforcement list now, because just about EVERY hydroponic site seemed to be about 70% pot-related, and 30% indoor vegetable growing.

It’s not really something to joke about in some places.

Family spends $25K to open records in drug sting

“Discarded tea leaves, false positive drug tests prompt search warrant of family home”

Records showed on Aug. 9, 2011, a Missouri Highway Patrol trooper observed a man leaving the Green Circle hydroponics store in Kansas City, Mo., in a KIA with his children and a small bag.

Bob said he had been to the store to get supplies for a science project he was working on with his son: a basement hydroponic garden.

Troopers had been observing customers at the hydroponics store because hydroponic supplies are often used in cultivating indoor marijuana plants.

[Broomstick]

Yeah, for my most recent go at hydroponics the person I partnered with on the project went to a friend on the local sheriff force and gave him a quick tour of our set up prior to really getting started. Sure enough - neighbors reported us twice as a possible grow operation but nothing came of it because the cops knew about us and that we were legit.

Less a problem with something like an aerogarden, but while there is a certain convenience to their set up the resulting food/herbs are expensive. Making a actual, producing-food garden needs a larger set up and that looks inherently suspicious to many.