Setting up the pipe work for the drip system is fairly quick and easy. Make sure you have a kettle on standby as every barbed fitting you push over rigid plastic pipe needs to be heated in hot water first. This makes the pipe hot and so expands allowing the barbed fitting easily slide over, when the pipe cools it sets around the barbs making it a good water tight fitting. With the compression fittings the blue insert is barbed and is then tightened by screwing the sheath to the cap. I start the pipe work at the far end with the stop end. The piping in then cable tied to the support bar all the way along. From the support bar the the supply tubes goes through 3 elbows and up to the filter set in the 220L reservoir.
Once the supply tube is in place and attached to the filter set I can start to install the drippers. Using the hole punch I cut out the holes carefully.
Once the hole is cut get the pre assembled dripper and insert it into the tube. You should hear a 'click' as it goes in. Once in pull the compensator back while squeezing the supply tube. This will help form a tight seal. I use 1 dripper per plant some growers use 2 or more but this is not necessary.
Now all the pipe work and drippers are in place I now position the plants on the trays. I am using 2 plants per tray in the middle and 3 plants per tray on each end. Last year I put 3 plants in every tray and I found the plants in the middle of the system did not do well as the were mostly in the shade.
Once I get the spacing and positioning right on the upside down slabs I mark out with a permanent pen on the slab bag where the drainage slits will be cut. I also mark on the aqua tray where the plants will get placed.
When I cut the drainage slight I'm careful not to cut into the rockwool slab. The drainage slits need to be diagonal and between plants not underneath them.
Once the drianage slits are cut its time to flip over the slab. You may notice I have cut the slit to fill the slab at the top of the tray instead the bottom. This is not a big mistake, all I have to do is flip the slab round so the horizontal slit is at the drainage end. Once the slab is flipped it will drain some more.
When the slab stops dripping its time to plant on. I cut an X on the slab and lift up the flaps. The plant is then placed on the slab and about 200ml of nutrient solution is poured through each block. This will be the last irrigation they get for 3-4 days as the slabs and blocks hold all the solution they need.
Over the next 3-4 days the roots will find their way into the slab and a light twist of the block will show you how well the plant is rooted in. In 1 week it will fell very solid on the slab and the drippers will go in to start irrigating the slabs. I will also make a cover for the catchment tank to prevent algae growth.
.JPG)
Hanging above the drip system is 2 x 400w metal halide lamps. The lighting system I am using is the 'Aurora Gemini' with 'Rising sun' reflectors. This system has 2 ballasting units in one case. The unit also has a built in contact relay so all I do is set the timer on the ballast and plug it in using 1 plug. Save on valuable plug points and is neat and tidy. The lighting extends the day length to 14 hours of light coming on at 7:00am and off at 21:00pm
This hydroponic system is a low pressure recirculating drip system and is named the 'Wilma'. This is made my Nutriculture and comes in 5 sizes from 4 pots to 20 pots. This one is the most popular amongst growers, the Wilma 8 pots system. This system has a reservoir as the base on which the tray is placed to support the 8 pots. A submersible pump (maxijet 1000) sits in the reservoir which is attached to a supply pipe with one dripper branching off to each pot. The nutrient solution is pumped from the reservoir, through the drippers and through growing medium in the pot finally returning back to the reservoir. I have previously used this recirculating drip system to grow herbs, potatoes, tomatoes and chillies but this time I'm using if for a variety of cabbage called 'Green Chancellor'.
This system is extremely easy to set up, all you do is place the tray on the reservoir, position the square pots in place and connect the drippers to the supply line, this only takes few minutes. With the Wilma system you have a choice of growing mediums, i am going to use coco coir and perlite mixed at 80% coco to 20% perlite.
The square pots for the 8 pots system hold 11L of growing medium. I place 2 strips of spreader mat in the bottom of the pot to cover the large holes to stop the growing media from falling into the tank while still allowing water to flow freely. I then add around an inch of clay pebbles in the bottom to help get good drainage and top up the rest of the pot with my mix of coco and perlite.
As with every hydroponic system i always ensure the my plants are very well established before transplanting them. You can see the roots of this cabbage plant are abundant and healthy. After the plants are potted into their larger pots i water them in by hand using Canna's Coco 2 part A+B nutrient at an EC of 1.6 with a pH of 5.8, i also add Vita-Link 'Bio-Plus' which is a fantastic rooting stimulator. Coco coir and perlite are both inert growing mediums so need to be watered with nutrient solution straight away.
Now they are watered in i will water again in 3 or 4 days by hand. I always water enough so a little run-off leaves the pot into the tank. I'll hand water the plants for 2-3 weeks until they need to be watered everyday at which point I'll fill up the reservoir beneath and used the pump to irrigate the plants once a day using a timer. Too much water straight after transplanting can get them off t a poor start so i make sure they are well established in their pots before feeding everyday. This variety of cabbage can get quite big, only time will tell.
.JPG)
