Hydroponic Ethnobotanicals

[migraineur]

Does anyone here use hydroponics or grow lights for their plants like B. Caapi or Psychotria or any other plant for that matter? If so then how have your results been?

What made me bring this up is that I got some Syrian rue from someone but I left it out the other night and when I came back from work the poor babies looked dead. I also don't have a greenhouse at the moment and I don't want bugs, harsh rain or intense sunlight harming my plants. Some of my veggies took a battering from bugs recently which pissed me off.

I was wondering if I should get a 400 or 600 watt HPS light or something so that I can let the small plants gain some size and get some decent light inside before I introduce them to nature in Spring.

Any thoughts?

[poisonshroom]

I dont have any experience myself, but id say rue wont do too well. Iv heard psychotria go crazy though. I was planning on experimenting with some psychotria once, but never got around to it. Iboga/tabernaemontana may be alright for a while growing in hydroponic setup too

[DarkSpark]

Most of my ethnos are shade lovers so i probably wouldn't use a hydro light on them TOO much. however i am sure a decent nutrient feed would be beneficial for all plants. I am experimenting with H&G Root Excelurator for my psychotria leaf cuttings and branch cuttings to see if there is notable difference.

You could try some 48W CFLs temporarily. Build a little light deck with maybe 1 or 2 of them and then see how the plants handle the cfls grandually moving the lights closer. Preparing your plants for the HPS would be pretty important if they are used to a not very sunny environment, Hence i recommend the low discharge CFLS t begin with

[applesnail]

For psychotria and caapi i think use HPS as they will thrive on the heat as these are shade loving plants i would staple gun a piece of shade cloth over them, ive tried psychotria and caapi and iboga under fluoro and LED and i found they done better under HPS with distance from the light i kept them in the corner as HPS really are the best for heat also i was using a 250 watt HPS which is little less intense then 400 or 600 as i use it to grow lophs so i dont need large lumens as they dont grow tall....ive tried fluoros and LED and i always go back to HPS these are m favourite lights nothing can compare to them for heat output and growth rate.. hope this helps alittle its always about experimentation and fine tuning and finding what works best for the budget...

Edited April 12, 2011 by applesnail

[Magicdirt]

!

Edited May 8, 2011 by Magicdirt

[planthelper]

i don't know much about hydro setups, but i'm sure all ethnos would flourish with this methode.

maybe, some ethnos would need more shade, some others, lot's or only little water, but that could be all arranged.

sometimes i used fluros with iboga, catha, caapi, viridis and i guess a few more, and it worked quite alright, but those plants were dirt grown.

one problem for me is that indoor cultivation, brings often pest, if one is not very carefull.

when i lived in cold climat countries, the usage of just 2 or 4 fluros, created for me often a small ethno paradise which, without artificial light, would have been impossible to achive.

i second the idea with a 250 watt halide lamp, it would be better for this application, than a bigger gun.

caapi and viridis plants, probably would need to be placed into a humidety controlled enviroment, they both would struggle if kept in a type, "indoor central heating climat".

so maybe one has to use some humidety controll (mister, and/or, humidety domes).

Edited April 13, 2011 by planthelper

[migraineur]

I thought there would be more problems with pests outside than inside. I wouldn't want to necessarily want to use hydroponics as such because soil is more forgiving than hydroponics if one becomes a big slack. However, using coir as a growing medium would be better as it holds moisture and you can hand water if you just have a couple of pots. I think I'd be more interested in getting a grow light that does the job of giving the plants plenty of light during the Winter months while providing a little warmth etc as the Winter months can become a bit frosty and windy.

Also, I could probably start to grow/plant vegetable seedlings a bit earlier in the season if I had a grow light.

I wish I owned my own house so I could put a big fucking greenhouse in the back yard = /

[Teotzlcoatl]

I think it's so silly to use such labor-intensive, expensive, unsustainable, etc. technology when the same results or better could be achieved by organic methods of cultivation. I really don't understand the fascination with hydroponics.

[Moses]

I think it's so silly to use such labor-intensive, expensive, unsustainable, etc. technology when the same results or better could be achieved by organic methods of cultivation. I really don't understand the fascination with hydroponics.

 

which shows how much you know about hydroponics.

dont knock it till you try it, there are many plants that are quite hard to reproduce and would probably be gone or only in the hands of a bare few if not for advanced cultivation techniques.

[Magicdirt]

!

Edited May 8, 2011 by Magicdirt

[Teotzlcoatl]

I may have a stricter definition of organic than other people, I do not consider how hydroponic to be natural or organic in any way for obvious reasons, e.g. there are no hydroponic systems which occur in nature.

[Moses]

I may have a stricter definition of organic than other people, I do not consider how hydroponic to be natural or organic in any way for obvious reasons, e.g. there are no hydroponic systems which occur in nature.

 

actually the theory for hydroponics was taken from nature and expanded on.

have you not seen plants growing on the edge of cliff faces with water trickling past them, is this not the basis of(N.F.T.) nutrient film technology.

if you research the history of the techniques you'll be surprised at where they originated.

[Teotzlcoatl]

I'm sure it can be semi-organic but is not truly organic or natural.

[Magicdirt]

!

Edited May 8, 2011 by Magicdirt

[applesnail]

growing hyrdoponics in coco coir is truely organic it is the coconut fibre from coconuts "coconut fiber is rapidly becoming one of the most popular growing mediums in the world. In fact it may soon be THE most popular. It is the first totally "organic" growing medium that offers top performance in hydroponic systems. Coconut fiber is essentially a waste product of the coconut industry, it is the powdered husks of the coconut itself.

There are many advantages - it maintains a larger oxygen capacity than rockwool, yet also has superior water holding ability than rockwool which is a real advantage for hydroponic systems that have intermittent watering cycles.

Coconut fiber is also high in root stimulating hormones and offers some protection against root diseases including fungus infestation. Dutch growers have found that a mixture of 50% coconut fiber and 50% expanded clay pellets is the perfect growing medium.

One word of caution about coconut fiber, you must be careful when you purchase coconut fiber. There is a commonly available, lower grade of coconut fiber that is high in sea-salt and is very fine grained. This lower grade coconut fiber will lead to disappointing results when used in a hydroponic system."

Using this with an organic fertilzer is truely organic....

I use sand and gravel for lophs to create an arid-oponic enviroment although my fertilizer regime is non organic...

Edited April 22, 2011 by applesnail

[Moses]

e.g. there are no hydroponic systems which occur in nature.

 

the sea is one big hydroponic system,

plants grow in no soil with nutrients supplied through a water solution.

[migraineur]

I was thinking of growing a few plants in coco and hand watering with nutrients. A small grow light would help in winter, especially with cuttings and seedlings. I can use the waste nutrients on other plants too.

[migraineur]

What do you guys think of this fluro light kit and shade for ethnobotanicals?

http://www.growroom.com.au/p446/fluro-kit-with-shade

The power usage and heat would be a lot lower than a high pressure sodium globe. There's also all of these options too: http://growroom.com.au/c15/lights-ballasts-shades-kits

[applesnail]

there good i use a 14000k one, will work like a charm, but i found it alittle cold for my climate i have real cold nights here(far south vic), if you dont need heat these are fine, 14000k is pretty intense the 6400k may be better, they work nice though they pretty good on electricity to, my bill went up 30 bucks running 18 hrs although i may have caught the end of the electricity month when i was running it...also coco coir is the bomb. Ive never used MH lights so i cant comment on them, havnt used those HPS cooled kits either...but any one of those lights, will do the trick, its mainly about nutrients when you want the best results indoors, invest in a ph meter there pricey but will give you the benefit of maximum nutrient and uptake for the plant,...id try the 6400k CFL fluoro for psychotria and those kinda plants...

Edited April 28, 2011 by applesnail

[migraineur]

Where do you store your plants? I live in Perth but I have been bringing my plants inside for protection from the cold and from the bugs as my plants aren't that developed at the moment except for two big san pedros.

Also, which nutrients would you recommend for the various plants and what kind of light cycle?

[applesnail]

my setup is in my garage its built of bricks,but still gets damn cold i only use this set up for winter, summer i let my stuff grow natural, if you are growing in a coco coir medium invest in the nutrients that are used for coco, theres tons of companys selling over priced nutrients, i use on my cacti in a medium of sand, course sand and gravel, at a dilute strength i alternate between grow and bloom nutrient formulas fortnightly to monthly, silica occasionally and a product called zone which keeps the root system healthy and sterilises bad stuff(all these are dutchmaster brand) also i give em the occasional dose of superthrive and ive also started to feed my plants nutrifield herbal boost, also which is made from the root of sophora and increases photoalexin production and i use CO2 enricha during the night time period, im also fond of of a product called halo harpin which activates a natural defense in a host plant systemic acquired resistance (SAR)....mind you all this is fed at sometimes over a period of weeks, as im growing cacti i keep there nutrients in very fair doses so as not to overkill them, which can be easy in an indoor enviroment....i run 2 HPS lights at 250w and one 14000k CFL 250W all @ 18hrs aday which is alot of stress but maximum growth rate, which I alternate and routinely trade pots under fortnightly, this lighting is kinda overkill for cacti some may say but im lighting half my garage and i need heat, i use shade cloth set ups for some that dont like to much light and nanny curtains also...im very big on building disease resistence and pest management which can cripple a plant in aweek in an indoor enviroment. ive invested alot of cash into this and im still fine tuning and open to learn more...i would post a photo but i dont know how it just comes up with http:...?????????

Edited April 28, 2011 by applesnail

[migraineur]

Which ethnos do you grow in coco and do you use pumps and timers or do you only handwater?

[migraineur]

By the way, what did you think of the prices on that site that I showed you?

[applesnail]

yeah there very fair prices i get my stuff from these guys they have super quick delivery..I dont grow anything in coco anymore i use to grow the bob marley but i went to jail for that venture, now i grow legit stuff, i even showed the cops my set up just incase some nosey neighbour rang them on me thinking i was growin mary jane..LOL..and i handwater as cacti arnt to water hungry..

http://stores.ebay.com.au/Discount-Hydroponic-Supplies?_trksid=p4340.l2563

Edited April 28, 2011 by applesnail