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Category: watering

Time to Start Veggies for Hydroponic System

  • By - DiyGarden
  • Posted on

It’s hard to believe that it’s time to start veggies for the hydroponic system. After all, I’m in North Texas and we are getting hit with so much cold, snowy weather. Which makes it difficult to get the hydroponic system set up outside. And I know my northern friends have an even longer wait. I am still going to go forward with the belief that there will be a place to put these veggies when it’s time for them to be planted.

You can watch how I start the hydroponic seeds by clicking here.

A Veggie Is A Veggie

You might wonder if there is a difference between a veggie seed for a hydroponic system versus a veggie seed planted in a dirt garden. The answer is no, the difference is the planting material. Most of us are use to starting seeds in a planting mix which I do for most of our garden. However, the veggies seeds I start for our hydroponic systems I use a material called “rock wool”. The seed grows roots in this medium very well. It also protects the hydroponic system from dirt which can contribute to clogging the system.

Watering System

The thing that keeps me drawn to a hydroponic system is how water is used to grow the veggies. The main water source for the system might be an upfront heavy use of water. In our case we will be filling a 275 gallon tote full of water. That is a lot of water! However, it’s all the water we will need for a season of growing plants. A hydroponic system is a closed loop of circulating water so except for some evaporation the same water is used over and over again.

Here is a blog I wrote about starting our first hydroponic system

In North Texas this is important and very helpful because there are always water restrictions in the summer which makes it very difficult to keep the veggie plants alive in the heat of the season when watering the garden is very restricted. These totes are easily found and relatively inexpensive, we found ours on Facebook Marketplace.

Here is to your homesteading dreams,

Shawn

Water Problem in the Grow Room

  • By - DiyGarden
  • Posted on

I have a story to tell you…about a water problem! Now, this story is of a girl and she has to get water to her inside grow room. There are lots of plants in the grow room… I mean a LOT of plants! Here is a picture so you can see how serious I am.(sorry for the pink background, it’s from my grow lights.) For those of you who don’t know I am a full-time wheelchair user and have faced the difficult chore of watering all of my plants. My husband, Ron normally brings in 5 gallon buckets of water. I would scoop and pour water into each section. It took a lot of time and was very messy. Usually, I ended up mopping the floor after every watering. There had to be a better way!

Seeing The Water Problem

It just so happens that my grow room is right next to the bathroom. My wonderful husband (I hope he reads this so he knows I’m giving him public recognition!). Knew how difficult the watering chore was. He decided to fix the water problem. He was able to splice into the cold water line connection from the shower and run a water line into the grow room! If you would like to see part 1 of how he did that check it out here.

Fixing The Water Problem

This is an easy DIY project that many homeowners can do themselves. After a trip to the local hardware story or a quick shopping trip to Amazon for cpvc line, elbows, tees, ball values, hose adapters, primer and glue (affiliate links to above for parts) we are working on getting a permanent waterline into the grow room.

Stay Tune for Part 2

If you would like to see how Ron used all of the parts to create a permanent water line into my grow room you can subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the water problem in the grow room.

Here is to your homesteading dreams,

Shawn

Gardening With Less Water

  • By - DiyGarden
  • Posted on

If you like to read during the winter months like I do. I have a great book review for you. Gardening with less water, low-tech, low-cost techniques use up to 90% less water in your garden. by David A. Bainbridge. Since I live in North Texas the title of this book intrigued me. I want to know of any type of watering for my garden that uses less water and is low-tech!

Super-Efficient Irrigation Systems

The first part of this book goes over different irrigation systems. He talks about buried clay pots and porous containers. Something I learned about are ollas. These are porous clay pots that you bury in your garden beds. Then they are filled with water and the pots hold the water until the soil is dry then the water seeps out at root level. It is said that the water lasts for a longer time.

It also talks about deep pipes. These are also made out of pvc pipe with holes drilled into it. You can bury the pipes up to a couple of feet. When watering the trees you water down the pipes so that the water gets to the roots of the trees. We have used these pipes with the fruit trees we have planted and they seem to work well.

He does go over some other irrigation systems and they all seem like great systems and what I like about all of them is that they are easy to implement.

Taking it to the second level

The second half of the book goes over how to be water wise. This was probably my favorite part of the book. It talks about rainwater harvesting, grey water usage, and water catchments.

And then it discusses in the last chapter of the book about our water future. The importance of being water wise in our immediate homes, in our communities, educating ourselves and others throughout the world.

I hope that this was of interest to you especially if you garden in extremely hot weather. I enjoyed the book and refer back to it as we are getting ready to put systems in place. You can check out a video I did about the book here.

Here is to your homesteading dreams,

Shawn

Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.