by Fred
(Exeter, N.H.)
I use soil, not hydro yet. I have Fox Farm fertilizers, Big Bloom and Tiger Bloom. The instructions give directions for a gallon mix. I would be lucky to use that in a week. Can I mix these products and store them at room temp? And should it have a lid on it? I have read somewhere that with organic products, once mixed it should be used that day and not after. Is this true? Thank you very much, Fred.
Answer: Fred- even though organic fertilizers recommend using them right away once mixed, I have never had a problem saving them for three or four days. Even at a week you are probably still fine. I have no doubt SOME degradation occurs as micro-organisms begin to feed on the seaweed and other organic material in the fertilizer....but if you are keeping it in a cool, dark location this will be kept to a minimum.
Light will cause algae to grow when both water and nutrients are present....and heat will cause micro-organisms to multiply very rapidly. Avoid both and you should be OK for short term storage. I always kept a lid on my extra nutrients, more to avoid spills than for any other reason.
If you become overly concerned about the hydroponic nutrient solution quality, you could always try mixing it up a half gallon at a time (simply use HALF the fertilizer recommended in the directions). That will reduce the amount of time you have to store the extra nutrient solution.
If you were using freshly brewed compost tea, that would be a different story. Fresh brewed compost tea supports large populations of beneficial micro-organisms....this is one of the reasons it is so effective. If you try to store this type of fertilizer for several days, most of the beneficial micro-organisms are likely to die off (along with any benefit you would have gotten from using them).
I hope this helps you out Fred....and Happy Growing!
AffordableGarden Design&Setup
Hi everyone, Jason from Jason's Indoor Guide here. When I got startedwith hydroponic gardening more than 24 years ago, my first garden usedrockwool cubes and B.C. Nutrients....and I remember thinking to myselfyeah, sure, there may be a lot of advantages to gardening withhydroponics, for example there are very few pest problems, thereforevery little pest control, no weeding, no plowing or tilling the soil, nosoil testing or having to add things into the garden soil, no wateringthe garden....but for someone who just wants to grow their ownvegetables and have more control over their food supply and the qualityof the food that they eat, the cost of constantly having to buy growmedia and hydroponic nutrients makes this an expensive hobby for mostpeople...
Epic Nutrient Change
I suppose when you take into consideration how much money you save NOThaving to buy food at the grocery store, it is surely cheaper to growyour own food hydroponically even with the cost of high qualitynutrients. Nevertheless, I didn't have a whole lot of money to work withand I needed to make my efforts as affordable and effective aspossible....and in the last 24 years I HAVE learned a thing or two!
As you browse through Jason's Indoor Guide, you will notice all of thesystems that I use personally are homemade systems. As I got 3 or 4years of experience under my belt, I quickly adopted a preference tostanding water systems and systems that use expanded clay pellets orlava rock, because the media is re-usable and it eliminates a hugeoperating expense. So once a hydroponic system is built, gardenmaintenance is minimal- check and adjust the nutrient solution daily,and to change it completely every 2 weeks....and the biggest operatingcost is the hydroponic nutrients. (and the electric bill, lol)...
Homemade Cloner
And, regarding the cost of the nutrients....I experimented for about 3years with making different compost teas and nutrient teas, but there isstill a lot of expense $$$ associated with making high quality nutrientteas....like kelp meal, liquid seaweed, rock dust, bat guano,un-Sulfured molasses, worm castings. You can eliminate a lot of thisexpense by becoming an expert at making high-quality colloidal humuscompost, and use your properly made compost as the basis of yourhydroponic nutrient solution.
Unfortunately, I have been gardening for over 24 years and I have onlyjust recently mastered this difficult skill....and even then, onlybecause I happened to find a very easy to follow, high quality techniqueand decided to follow the instructions to the letter. I produced morehigh quality compost in just one week than I was able to use in a wholeyear! If you can master the technique, I highly recommend it. It is one of the top 3 things you can do toincrease the productivity of your food production efforts, while at thesame time decreasing the amount of effort required to grow all of yourown food, and decreasing the total cost of operating your foodproduction system.
And when I say decrease operating costs, I mean decrease them to almostZERO, especially if you are producing your own nutrients...
High Efficiency
Hydroponics
The ultimate solution to eliminate the cost of your hydroponic nutrients:Imagine a hydroponic system that does not require you to buy anynutrients, does not require you to make your own compost, and does notrequire you to brew your own nutrient tea. Seriously! No cost and noeffort as far as providing nutrients to your plants! Plus,at the end of the gardening cycle you harvest all of your gardenvegetables, PLUS YOU HARVEST FISH from the system--->
Aquaponics
This solution is aquaponics. If you are serious about producingall of your own food and being self-sufficient, this is the ultimatesolution for reducing expenses (as much as possible), reducing the totalamount of work required, and maximizing the productivity of yourgardening efforts. I have been gardening for over 24 years, and it isthe perfect food production solution in my opinion.
Besides mastering how to make high quality compost, learning aquaponicsis one of the top 3 things you can do to increase your gardenproductivity, reduce your total costs, and reduce your total work. Theproduct that I learned from is called Aquaponics4you.With all of my hydroponic gardening experience, the first time I came acrossthe Aquaponics4you product I knew immediately that it was something veryspecial! Place an aquaponics system outdoors and use the sun instead ofgrow lights, and you have reduced every garden expense to nearly ZERO!
The Same System/ 10 Weeks Later!
