Few questions about hydroponics

[Cir]

I want to try growing some of these pumpkin seedlings hydroponically:

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/3783/img1192large.jpg

There are twelve of them, and I've never had any experience with hydroponics. I looked up some stuff, and this design seems pretty easy:

http://www.simplyhydro.com/free2.htm

I wanted to know, is the water level supposed to fill and drain, or are the plant roots permanently immersed in the water?

Twelve pumpkin plants will probably take up a lot of space, and they get relatively heavy, so what would be the best set-up to try growing them? Also, assuming I can beg borrow or steal a lot of the stuff, how much money would I need to spend for stuff like pumps, aerators, fertilizer and perlite?

And lastly, how likely are my seedlings to die when I try to clean the soil away from their roots and put them in the perlite?

EDIT: This (http://www.simplyhydro.com/free1.htm) system seems far easier, not requiring pumps or aerators, so I might like to try this one instead.

[Cir]

Hmm slow board this one. Anyway, I just sorta winged it and set up a system. Most of the stuff I had just laying around, and I only had to pay for the Vermiculite and the fertilizer.

http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/1214/img1205g.jpg

Basically the way it works is, twice a day, I dump the catchment bucket into the reservoir, and it drains through the plant containers, and down the tray, through a filter, and back into the catchment bucket. I could install a pump to do this automatically through the day, but that would cost more money and require a power source. If these four plants survive the week, then I'll put the other eight on as well.

[waxing gibbous]

They're unlikely to survive for long. I would go with a raft aquaponic system similar to breeder steve's. He uses a top layer of soil so the roots grow down through that and the medium. I'd do it outdoors in a small pond because pumpkins get pretty big. Outdoors, the ground keeps the temperature fairly low, 68 to 71 fahrenheit, so it can hold more dissolved oxygen and not really require a chiller. The ecosystem also lessens the need for a chiller.

Basically, chemical hydro is for the tards. Aquaponic has been proven superior many times. It's also easier.

[Mor3BL7]

you cant smoke pumpkins :facepalm:

[Cir]

you cant smoke pumpkins :facepalm:

Idiot, you don't smoke them.

You inject them intravenously.

[Cir]

They're unlikely to survive for long. I would go with a raft aquaponic system similar to breeder steve's. He uses a top layer of soil so the roots grow down through that and the medium. I'd do it outdoors in a small pond because pumpkins get pretty big. Outdoors, the ground keeps the temperature fairly low, 68 to 71 fahrenheit, so it can hold more dissolved oxygen and not really require a chiller. The ecosystem also lessens the need for a chiller.

Basically, chemical hydro is for the tards. Aquaponic has been proven superior many times. It's also easier.

I hadn't heard of aquaponics, but it does seem like a pretty clever idea, so long as one could get the animal population stable. I doubt I'd want any fish, but crayfish grow prolifically in my state, and I have easy, free access to lots of them. Plus they are very low maintenance. I could grow a bathtub or drum full of them under my plants, and use one large tub instead of several little ones. Then I'd be able to serve pumpkin soup and crayfish salad.

[waxing gibbous]

I've thought about using crayfish. Not to eat, just because they live around here in the rivers and they are pretty hardy. I think they're cool animals. Their shit would produce pretty good aquatic nutrients. Amano shrimp would be good if they could get along with the crayfish although they require salt water for breeding. Malaysian trumpet snails are also a very good thing to have in an aquaponic system. They're very hardy and breed very fast. You can often get them for free in pet stores. Algae can be a problem with light leaks in hydro systems but with crayfish and snails it'll actually be beneficial. Any aquatic snail should work but the Malaysian trumpet snails are some of the most hardy. The amanos eat almost any type of algae. I also want to get some ninja shrimp. They're really cool. When I try it I'll be using mycorrhizal fungi in the soil/medium with an oxygenated rhizosphere hopefully developing. For the non-soil portion of the medium I'll use either expanded clay pellets or vermiculite with a layer of coconut fiber on the bottom. With a large outdoor system I want to use 6 to 12 inches of soil on top.

The plants roots can also excrete their own acid to dissolve rocks and stuff in the water for nutrients. Putting a rail road spike or some other chunk of iron in the water may supplement them, but you can also just put whatever nutrients you want in the animals diet. Aquaponic systems are pretty much self balancing once the ecosystem is established. Good for lazy people. Outdoors, I won't even have to feed the animals. Insects will naturally go to the pond and feed them.

One thing some people may see as a downside though, is that it'll take 6 months for the ecosystem to be fully established. But after that six months, it will outperform any other type of hydroponic system.

If you were using a barrel, you could probably stack the pumpkins in some sort of wire cage. But they're vines, so you could probably put them anywhere. They don't really have to be just above the reservoir.

[Cir]

Yes, my basic plan was that when they get big enough, I'd find some of that 25mm wire mesh and make a bit of a frame for them to grow on.

Even though the pumpkins have been on hydroponics for only a few days, they have made a marked improvement over the other ones. They have not died yet, and still look fairly strong.
http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/2254/pumpkinsv.jpg
The entire leaf structures circled in red were approximately the same size on each plant before I transplanted them.

Crayfish are really delicious, and grown in fresh, clear water, they don't get all that nasty gunk in their systems that makes them taste gritty and muddy. They are annoying to eat when they are only small, but if they were grown to 6-8 inches long, they would be far easier to make a meal of. In fact, they are even considered a pest species in some parts of the state. A very delicious pest. They are sold for about $20-$30 per kilogram in supermarkets.

I found this site: http://www.blueyabby.com/en/Research/ExtremeFarming.htm

which is about high-density crafish farming, the site claims yields of 80Kg with yabbies weighing 200 grams each (412 yabbies per m2).

Using a high-density crayfish system alongside a good aquaponic system would probably produce incredible results on both fronts.

The only thing I can't figure out is how they feed the yabbies in those little plastic pots.

[Cir]

Here is the result of one week. See the difference between the hydroponic plants and the non-hydroponic one. They were all the same size a week ago.
http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/4392/img1233large.jpg

[Dose Me]

Do you think they're going to die? They seem to be thriving to me...

[TruthBringer]

I don't know why they would die unless you're using the wrong fertilizer. Soil contamination is mostly a problem in DWC type hydro systems where chemical/synthetic fertilizers are being used because the reservoir doesn't drain and it's not like soil, the pathogens can be a problem. You should really get the money to automate this. Vermiculite doesn't require that much watering either. Once a week would be fine while they're young. The vermiculite should be mixed with perlite. Vermiculite alone isn't much good for hydro. Even course vermiculite isn't airy enough. It kind of defeats the purpose of trying to do hydroponic when you're using vermiculite by itself. May as well use soil.

Expanded clay pellets are best but perlite is probably easier to find so that can be mixed with the vermiculite to create a nice hydro system.

And be sure you don't inhale the dust of the perlite.