Going back to Helga's post about my Paph growing conditions... I don't know that it's actually anything I do or don't do, but more that Paphs seem ideally suited to my growing conditions and habits. For a long time, Paphs really never did anything for me. Then came my discovery of Paph spicerianums cute little alien face on a show table one December. I was able to purchase one at our April show and it thrilled me by blooming that very same year and again every year in late fall and early winter. Then I fell in love with the elegant lowii and it too bloomed the same year I got it. To make the shipping on lowii worth it, I had purchased 5 other Paphs. They too grew vigorously and the mature ones even bloomed. I dont know about you, but I started noticing a trend. In short, I grow most of my plants in a spare bedroom. Summer day temps are in the 80s with night temps in the mid to high 60s. Winter day temps are in the mid to high 70s with night temps in the high 50s to low 60s. Humidity is ok, between 40% and 55%. I have a ceiling fan going on low all day for air circulation. The bedroom faces east by southeast, so it gets relatively good light. Higher light plants are right by the window and I have CFLs for additional light there. Around the walls of the room, I have shelves with fluorescent tubes. The Paphs were under two fluorescent tubes. Plants are grouped by genera and watering habits. For example, Phals in 4 inch pots will be in the same tray, while mounted Phal species will be in another tray. Ill check a couple of plants in each tray every morning and whats really dry gets watered then and there. For fertilizer, given everything is on its own schedule, I fertilize at every watering for 2 weeks, then with fresh water for one week. (Just for information, you may have noticed that Paphs "were" under two fluorescent tubes. I finally ran out of room in the orchid room a couple of months ago and expanded my basement growing area, which had previously been the summer home of my Masdevallias and other cooler growers. Paphs are now under four fluorescents, since this is their only source of light. Temperatures are also a bit cooler, though the lights do give a nice bump to day temps. I noticed when watering this weekend that there are a good dozen new spikes, so they dont seem to mind their new home.) I hope that this helps. Julie

I grew hydroponic tomatoes last year in DW and had very good success. To be honest with you tomatoes are easy to grow in DW, but there are some things that are extremely important to success. Space: Tomato plants use tons of space. I grew the Money Maker (4" red globe), Heirloom Organic Beefsteak, and Cherry Tomatoes. Each plant took up a 3 x 3 foot square on the floor and grew all the way to my 8' ceilings. Light: I found using both MH and HPS lights at the same time work well with tomatoes. The HPS light seems to spread, and penetrate the plants better, while the MH light keeps things nice a green. I had two 1KW lights going on at the same time. Ventilation: One of the keys is good air flow. If you see the plants leaves and flowers moving then you have enough air. The temp got up to 85 deg F every day in my grow room, and sometimes in the summer, I had to open up the windows. Bugs: Opening up a window, or bringing in plants from other gardens opens up your grow room to bugs, which can be very difficult to get rid of. Nutrients: I used the General Hydro Flora Nova Grow and Bloom nutrients with no Micro Nutrients except for a Calcium and Magnesium supplement. I started them out at 1.0 EC (by starting I mean they were 6" tall second set of leaves were out), and finished up with a strong 3.5 EC. I started with Grow until the plant was about 3' tall and started to bloom, then after blooming set in full I switched to the Bloom nutrients. DW: The most critical thing about tomatoes in DW is aeration of the water. I would strongly suggest you start your plants out in 2 gallon buckets, and then move them to 5 gallon buckets once they get about 3' tall. It is much harder to aerate the 5 gallons then the 2 gallons. You can tell when the plants roots are not getting enough air by the roots being brown, they should be white. I would also strongly recommend getting the General Hydro dual diaphragm 4-valve air pump, and using one 4" air stone to each pump when in the 5 gallon buckets, and two 4" air stones in 2 - 2 gallon buckets. You cannot give the plants too much air around the roots! Media: I started my plants out in rock wool, and finished them in rock wool. The secret to tomatoes is getting air to the roots during the entire growing stage. If you do not get enough air to the roots when they are young, they will never make it to adult plants. The problem with rock wool blocks and DW is that the air just goes around the block while it sits in the solution. You need to get air directly to the roots. To do this, I drill a hole through the center of the block, then use a plug (half the depth of the hole to hold the plant, while the roots hang below directly in the solution). Make sure your air stone is directly below the center of your basket and that your net pot or basket does not prevent air from entering the hole you drilled in the center of the rock wool block. In case the link part does not work: http://picasaweb.google.com/MEHargraves/Hydroponics# I hope this helps! Here is a link that might be useful: My home garden last year.

Thanks everyone. Broke down this weekend and converted the system to recirculating dwc. I think we went overboard with the reservoir bucket, 27 gallon container found at the home despot for $9. We made our own "bulkhead" connectors using pvc and garden gaskets, and attached dripsystem hoses. With the pond pump and parts, it was about $100 total. Drain from each bucket by gravity. Easy to reach equilibrium. We put all six bubblers into the reservoir instead of individual buckets, not sure why... probably should've left them in the buckets. Reservoir is not ideal plastic and likely full of bad contaminants, but this is all just a test anyway. We harvested soil-grown tomatoes already which were started a couple weeks AFTER we started the hydro grown ones, these are just going soooo slow, very anxious and frustrated, better be good :) Biggest mistake was putting the reservoir on the ground with no drain *face palm*. I will likely install a y-valve at the pump so we can easily pump out "most" of the water. We tried to setup the trellis on the table, however, it kept falling over, so for now, the trellis remains as is and we'll have to deal with arching tomato plants.

Techno, amcloud suggested lowering the water to force the plants to send the roots deep in search for nutrients. The bubbling action inside the reservoir was enough to keep the net pot wet, and I did not see any leaves drooping before the roots went deep. They are over 2 feet now in just a couple days since my last post. That was great advice and it may serve you as well. Thanks again AMCLOUD. Here is the video I created today, posted to my youtube channel and posted to the blog along with comments. [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOZbzFUwdMA&feature=feedu[/url] You can see the DWC roots and some of my notes on the current lettuce grow in the second half of the vid. It has been a really good grow so far. I use store bought nutes that cover all the micro and macro nutes, and doesn't require "ripe" or "bloom" because the lettuce doesn't need it. I may switch to powder in the future to save money, but I have used so little nutes for these grows that the gallon may last a couple years. Good luck with your grow, it is a lot of fun and as another poster said, "very addictive". Here is a link that might be useful: My Hydroponic Video and Photo Journal Blog