Experiment Tiny Tim hydroponic vs soil
mike_swedish_farmer
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Hi! I've just finished recording av video of an experiment comparing how a soilbased Tiny Tim versus a hydrophonic Tiny Tim grows. Which one is better? If you are interested here's a link to the video: https://youtu.be/IzYwAQoLd2U
Regards!
Mike
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albert_135 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
7 years ago
mike_swedish_farmer
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Soil Too Wet In Container Vs. Hydroponics
Comments (10)I think everyone makes the 5:1:1 mix a little differently. If the bark is well-composted and you work hard at it, I think you can over=water to the point where you could make a case for being able to say it CAN get too wet, but if you're reasonable in your approach to watering, it won't be a problem. Ideally, the soil will hover at right around the separation point between a soil that does and a soil that doesn't support a small amount of perched water. The answer to your question about "... why soil mix that is too consistently wet in a container can cause problems in growing tomatoes, while growing tomatoes hydroponically, i.e. roots always submerged in water, does not cause problems?" lies in understanding the difference between parenchymous and aerenchymous tissues. The root cortex and pith of plants grown in soils with ample O2 are composed of mostly parenchyma, which serves primarily as a (food) cache. Some % of the parenchyma cells of plants that have been flooded or have had their roots intentionally immersed in water, which creates hypoxic conditions (low O2), die from lack of O2. Their dissolution creates continuous air spaces between the shoot and the roots. This tissue this forms is called aerenchyma, and it facilitates O2 movement between roots and shoots, allowing normally terrestrial plants that are able to form this type of tissue to survive in aquatic environments. The problem is, the tissues formed are not well-adapted to making the transition back and forth from an aerobic environment to hypoxic or anoxic conditions. The short answer is that roots that are adapted to function in water fare poorly or don't function at all in well-aerated soils, and roots that form in well-aerated soils die in soils devoid of air and choked with the gasses that saturate these soils; although, they often CAN make the transition to hydroponic culture via the mechanism described above. Al...See MoreSoil mix experiment
Comments (40)Although I still use 5-1-1 for many plants,I want to take a moment to talk about why I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the results from my 5-1-1, especially my figs, and decided to change many of my plants into coconut husk, and then later making me decide to grow some plants side by side to see if I made the right decision. Last year in January I began a thread to ask about advice onto what soil mix I should use to pot a variety of plants, specifically figs, blueberries, a bay tree and a dwarf nectarine. You can read through here if you are interested; http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/contain/msg0120561912795.html?72 28 days later I came back with a follow-up on how the plants were going since they were re-potted into 5-1-1, and in most cases no plants were doing particularly well! This thread is here; http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/contain/msg0301115119857.html Because of this, when many of my plants went dormant in winter I potted them into a new mix, in larger pots using the coconut husk chips. After bud break all my plants took off in their new mix. Unfortunately I dont know if this would have happened anyway, had they remained in 5-1-1. Perhaps their growth now is because they have not been disturbed after bud break. Perhaps it was too hot last year. Perhaps there is another cause. Either way, take for example two of my original figs- White Adriatic and Black Genoa. In the 4 months from Feb to May and up until the first frosts, many of my plants did nothing, or put off a single leaf or two. Now, in just over 3 months since they woke from dormancy, in coconut husk chips all my figs (and my other plants in husk) are doing amazingly. 2nd Feb 2013 White Adriatic planted into 5-1-1 19 March 2013 - 6 Weeks Later 5 April White Adriatic - small amount of growth 23 September - Breaking bud in coconut husk chips 9 October - Less than a month later 22 November - About 6 weeks after breaking bud Now Black Genoa Feb April October after being put into coconut husk while dormant Today...See Moresoil vs. media vs. dirt -- in potted plants
Comments (31)Wow, it's a small world (or internet in this case). I don't keep up with the conifer forum as well as I do some of the other forums, so I didn't realize this thread was a spin off of another one, but it's still a good idea to have the link to the above article as a reference for any future searches. I agree with Ken, that frequent replanting would go a long way towards solving the issues relating to soil decomposition, except for four things. First, even if you change your soil every other year, most soils will still have some drainage deterioration towards the end of the two year period. Second, if you use your old soil and mix it back in as many people do, that has the potential to cause problems. Third, it's good for everyone to understand how drainage works so that they are better able to decide what ingredients are best for particular plants or circumstances. Different species have different moisture and drainage requirements, and different circumstances (climate, amount of supplemental watering available, etc) require adjustment. Fourth, and maybe most importantly, many people (we know who we are) won't replant frequently enough even though this would be best. As for drainage, as it applies to container culture, being vastly different from drainage, as it applies to in-ground plantings, I'm not so sure. The physics is the same! Only the variable, or circumstances, change. A true understanding of one is a true understanding of both....See MoreExperiment: 5:1:1 mix vs coconut vs universal soil vs garden soil
Comments (92)Gudang, a lot of people here on this forum started with a heavy dense soil mix, often with compost and other soil components - because that is what is commonly available. Then they noticed that their plants are start to suffer at one point and came here for advise. Al (Tapla) has relentlessly taught the concept for better soil mix, fertilizing, pruning, repotting and many other topics. Most made an effort to follow in his foot steps and found his teachings to be invaluable and succeeded in keeping their plants flourishing. In short, he has a lot of credibility here. Not only that they have subsequently helped others because they understood the concept that no book can offer. Whereas you have yet to offer sound advice with evidence of success. First you have to build and establish your credibility - show your work and explain not only what but also how and why. For example, terms like less porous and more porous does not make any sense - more or less compared to what?...See Morestevie
7 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
Garden Lover
7 years agomike_swedish_farmer
7 years agoGarden Lover
7 years agostevie
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agomaybe this will give you some additional inspiration ;-)
left is a cutting that was pretty beat up looking.. the right is after only 25-something days with 1-2 inch fruit size forming and the plant topping the 54" cage.
nutrients were kept around 750-900ppm using a 5-15-14 fertilizer.. maxi bloom by general hydroponic works pretty good at around 1 tsp a gallon (half that for younger plants!) i highly suggest a PPM/EC meter and a PH meter. glued to the bottom of the bucket there is a 4 inch air stone with an inexpensive aquarium pump.
if you can somehow manage to give them more than 13-14 hours of sunlight, beware, RUN.. they might create an even bigger explosion leaving you disorientated. ^.^
i do suggest using a bigger container (10 gal) because they can drink a couple gallons of water per day..
Garden Lover
7 years agomike_swedish_farmer
7 years ago
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