Hydroponic update

You'll remember last year back in April I started a small hydroponic system.

This is a report back and a change of plan.

My newly installed small hydroponic ssystem

The lettuce still found the direct sunlight too strong and went to seed.  I will have to grow them in the shade next summer, with light being provided by bouncing it off a north facing wall.

The cabbages grown in the ground, without question, performed
 better than the hydroponic ones

 The cabbages - nope, not successful.

The hydroponic peas did well, and also didn't display any signs
 of "mildew" on their leaves

The peas?  They did beautifully 😄

And the tomatoes - they produced nicely - though not as well as those that were planted in the ground.

So, not a great result.  Not a "Yeeeha, Eureka!!" moment.

Perhaps it was my "feeding" of the water.  Being out in the sticks, and not wanting to incur costs buying and transporting hydroponic plant "food" I only used a seaweed concentrate in the pump tank.

But, I am not discouraged.

So, I have drawn inspriation from this pic I saw a while ago...

This image inspired me to plant strawberries in gutters which
hang on either side of my raised beds

As you know I hung gutters on the side edges of my raised beds and planted strawberries in them.

The current situation / progress of my gutter strawberries
(nope, they aren't battling weeds, but rather self-seeded
 rocket seedlings.  I love rocket, so I'm letting them stay
where they fell)

They are doing well, and this seasons strawberries are beginning to form and hang down the sides of the gutter.    So, I have decided to use the hydroponic pipe to grow strawberries and I will leave the exisiting  strawbwerry plants in the gutter for comparison.

Yes.  I can grow strawberries in the ground, and they have been successful, but the slugs have been just as successful in their quest to devour portions of every strawberry that happened to touch the soil.

The reserve / return reservoir which collects the pumped water back
 to the pumping tank via gravity.
I have suspended a stocking filled with organic fertiliser beneath
 the pipe's overflow outlet.

In place of the seaweed concentrate, I have added a measured portion of organic fertilizer to a stocking which hangs into the return water reservoir.  Everytime the pump switches on, the water falling into the reservoir falls onto the stocking (and it's contents) thereby "disturbing" it and releasing the nutrients.

The organic fertilizer RMan uses for our fruit trees

I planted the hydroponic strawberry runners about 3 weeks ago, and already the roots are beginning to grow out of the bottom of the yoghurt containers I use as hydroponic plant pots. 

New strawberry runners planted three weeks ago are already
 producing roots outside of the tub.  The strawberries were planted
 in a palm peat / vermiculite mixture.

I have the pump on a timer which switches on for 15 minutes every hour from 7.00a.m. to 7.00 p.m.  After that the water which remains in the pipe must suffice until the pump circulates the water again.

A shallow "bowl" of water permanently remains in the base of the
 pipe for access by the plants when required.  It doesn't fill the
 pipe completely and thereby provides air to the roots as well.

The new strawberry plants seem happy and are beginning to grow new leaves.

That, to me is a happy looking strawberry plant 😃

Let's see if I can get it right this time...

I am determined to be successful, as, given climate change / global warming / predicted global water shortages, I believe that hydroponics will figure massively in the future with regards to feeding the masses.  Being inquisitive, I would like to understand the process / problems in using this growing method.