Hydroponic tip for this hot weather

[sbrook_325]

Hello all

we have been experiencing very hot weather for a long stretch, and even though hydroponic plants are either in water or their roots are covered frequently with water, the heat takes it toll. My local farm supply sells hydrogen peroxide at 35 percent concentration. The hotter it is, the less oxygen your water can hold. I use aquarium air pumps to increase oxygen and reduce stagnation in all my hydro grows and tanks. Hydrogen peroxide has an extra oxygen molecule, and the formula is H2O2. As it breaks down quickly, it releases that extra oxygen molecule into your water. The recommended dosage is to add 2-3 ml to each gallon of water, however, some people use 5 ml per gallon and have never had any problems.

This is not the dollar a bottle stuff from the dollar store. This dollar store stuff has added chemicals to keep it stable longer. The 35 percent stuff is about the highest concentration you can get without hassle, since it is an oxidizer and in purer forms could be used to make weapons or bombs. Local farm supply had a gallon for under 20 bucks. Cheapest I have seen on Ebay is around 35 bucks. It also will clean your roots, and if your tanks, buckets, or grows end up with that swampy smell, this will help with that as well.

One word of caution, this should be treated as a strong acid....and take all appropriate safety measures.

This would provide extra oxygen even during times of normal weather, and for hydro crops, that is a good thing. May help spur growth, fruiting as well.

Stay cool, have a great day everyone

 

[so lucky]

Interesting! What do you grow hydroponically?

 

[baymule]

Great info! Tell us more about your hydroponic gardening! Pictures please!!!

 

[Boogity]

. . . The recommended dosage is to add 2-3 ml to each gallon of water . . .

Just how much oxygen does .08 ounces of 35% hydrogen peroxide contain? It can't be much.

 

[sbrook_325]

I grow tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, peppers, and some flowers hydroponically. I am new to the hobby, and gardening in general, so still experimenting with what works and what does not.

I uploaded pictures but I am new here also, and I think I have to have 10 posts before they can be seen, so I may have to upload them again

Boogity, I am unsure of exactly how much oxygen that would be....but with it over a hundred degrees for days on end, I will take whatever advantage I can get.

Thanks, I hope every one has a good day.

 

[Boogity]

Boogity, I am unsure of exactly how much oxygen that would be....but with it over a hundred degrees for days on end, I will take whatever advantage I can get.

Man! You're not kidding there! It has been 104F for four days in a row here. Walking in the yard is like walking in Rice Crispies.

 

[Boogity]

sbrook_325 - Welcome to the funny farm, you're gonna like it here. I hope you get your 10 post soon. We're alll interested in hydroponic gardening but not many of us know what it's all about. How long have you been doing it?

 

[sbrook_325]

thanks for the warm welcome!

This is my second season of any kind of gardening, and with hydro as well. I read some e books, and researched online, and jumped in. I have been trying different systems and methods to see what works best for me, and I like to tinker and build and try new ideas. I have killed....several....plants along the way, but had some awesome results too. The waste water from the hydro systems i use on soil grown plants, and it is still very rich in nutrients. Plants in soil seem to really, really like it. So I like the fact that i can get basically 2 fertilizings from each batch of water and hydro nutrients I mix up. I store used hydro nutrient in 55 gallon plastic barrels, and give soil vegetables a good watering with it a couple times a week. My first year it made a store bought average tomato plant grow to 7 feet tall. I had to tie it up with bungie chords. I have seen results that made me decide even if I did not want to do hydroponics, I would use the nutrients for hydroponics on all my soil grown plants, they seem to produce results that are unmatched by anything myself, or anyone that has seen my garden, has ever seen.
What little knowledge and experience I have in the area, I would be glad to answer questions or try to assist anyone anyway I can here. The most expense is the nutrients, but they are extremely concentrated. You use them in ml or tsp amounts, per gallon of water. I bought a more expensive brand of nutrient this year, and a gallon of bloom formula lasted me from march till last week. It was 70 bucks, but it also produced probably 130 or more gallons of used hydro nutrient, that after serving my hydroponic plants, served my soil plants as well.

 

[sbrook_325]

in my earlier post, I neglected to mention that I have 6 separate hydroponic systems going, inside a hoop house. So that nutrient seemed to last a pretty long time, considering hydro plants get large....fast. As they do, they use more and more water/nutrient mix, and at higher concentrations. The nutrients I use right now have two parts, grow formula and bloom formula. When seedlings and until blooms appear, only using grow formula. When blooms and fruit appear, only use bloom formula. I go through way more bloom formula than grow, probably two to one ratio. Once plants reach bloom formula time, I feed them that till they die, or frost gets them, ect. There are designer type nutrients out there, and some people swear by certain brands, kinds, ect. A lot of hyrdoponics is for....indoor growth of marijuana.......so vegetable growth my be different. Most nutrients are offered in small containers, down to like pint size for under 20 bucks. I would recommend starting there, as I did, and see what works best for you, your setup, climate, ect and going from there. Several formulas for making your own nutrients are available free online, or I can post them here. For my simple brain, it looked...extremely complicated.... maybe someday I will be ready to make my own...

Have a great day everyone

 

[~gd]

. . . The recommended dosage is to add 2-3 ml to each gallon of water . . .

Just how much oxygen does .08 ounces of 35% hydrogen peroxide contain? It can't be much.

I calculate that it would add 0.013176471 oz of free oxygen. A better question might be how much of that oxygen would stay dissolved in the warm growing liquid. If you remember your Botany plants tend to take in Carbon Dioxide and give off Oxygen. One of my 'grower' friends likes to place dry ice (frozen CO2) in his grow room to up the carbon dioxide, he claims that it promotes growth more than the chemicals added to his grow liquid.