Howzit Jason!

Thanks for your response to the NFT systems! Your expertise in this area is greatly appreciated as I begin to tackle this new system for my classroom. I’ll be in touch with the PVC NFT system as soon as I finalize the other 6 systems that the students are currently finishing in the class.

Thanks again!

Hi Randall,

Sorry for the late reply. I use rain gutters in my NFT system but it takes time to prepare, cut, drill and glue to assemble these raceways. I suggest using PVC pipe for making the system which would involve drilling holes in PVC and attaching fitting to make a system for your classroom. There are no videos that I could find on…

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Ken, Jason, and Jensen,

Once I deliver all six hydroponic designs to the clients, I am looking at building an NFT system for the classroom. I’ve been researching the difference between the two and am stumped on the direction that I should go.

Based on all your experiences, which do you prefer to use? PVC Pipe or Rain Gutter? Why?

Thanks!
Randy

Jensen,

Here are several images of the vertical systems lighting that the students designed themselves. We are still working on a solution for the drip system because the emitters are not allowing the water to spray out and only allows it to drip slowly (even when we open up the emitters). The students are deciding whether or not to remove…

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Aloha Jensen!

Update: Currently the students are still working on their vertical hydroponic towers. Each group has painted the wood to cover their container and now working hard to create their lighting system for their systems. I will provide you and include pictures when they have completed it.

One of the critical components that…

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Aloha Jensen,

Just wanted to see if I could get a confirmation February 4th (Ilima Community Day) to help our students construct their hydroponic systems.

Thanks!

Happy New Years Jensen!

<font face=”inherit”>Hope you were able to find time to relax and enjoy the holidays with family and loved ones. I wanted to reach out to let you know of a modified design that the students want to build for the clients. It’s a spinoff of what you already have and it includes a tub instead of the containers. The tub…

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The design above looks pretty good.

The T5’s might work. I have never seen them setup vertically but may work. I believe you could possibly mount them on a metal rack or shelf. They have modular kind and hardware stores which May be more sturdy than the pvc.

Jensen,

I could use your expertise on the indoor vertical hydroponic system that is to be built by the student groups. As I was researching online on how to get lighting for the indoor systems, I came across this and wanted to see what your thoughts on this idea.

The students could possibly build PVC framing (vertically) to hold Sun Blaze T5…

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I got to take that back because one of the clients requested the design that you shared with us. So we will have one design like the one you created and the other with two posts in the container.

Aloha Jensen,

My student groups’ clients got back to both of them and have requested to have the following vertical systems set up for their classrooms.

What suggestions in terms of the container size (how many gallons) do you think would be needed for this?

Morning Jensen!

Thank you for taking the time in your day to meet with my students via Zoom yesterday. As mentioned, my students were extremely nervous speaking to you but gained valuable experience in doing so. They are truly grateful for that and we were engaged in discussion after the Zoom conference. Wish they were just as talkative…

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I think we can scale the system to whatever size you want. I ordered the water pump from amazon but you may be able to find one at home depot or possibly at aquaponics plus in Waimanalo. I have used grow lights but have never used the strips you mentioned. I am not sure what intensity is need from those strips. If its not enough you may…

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Jensen,

Definitely going to take up the offer from you and will let you know. Right now, my students are in the process of communicating with their clients (teachers) and making sure that the product that they are designing is what they want.

FYI – the vertical tower that will be made will be 4th grade students and will be indoor.

Question…

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I drilled the 2″ holes in the post and then cut the pvc at an angle to make the holder for the net pot. I beleive you can use a 2″ pvc instead of the post. The base can be built using the pvc as legs and attach the pump line internally in the pvc. I would be happy to help. I have the tools to build it. Let me know when they want to start and I can help.

Jensen,

Not a problem! I have 2 groups who will be constructing 2 vertical towers for their “client teachers” at the elementary school. How difficult is it to build one of these towers? How did you manage to cut the net pot holes in the polyvinyl fence post?

On a side note, would you be interested in supporting my two groups in the…

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Sorry for the delay. Here is the image of the system I built. It was constructed out of material from HomeDepot. It consist of a rubermade tub and a polyvinyl fence post with pvc cut prices to hold the plants.

http://www.tomorrowsgarden.net/content/rain-tower-vertical-hydroponic-system

By the way, in case you do not have a picture of your vertical tower, it’s okay. I’ve included a link to ask if it was similar to these vertical towers in the link (provided by Cheryl). If so, can you offer some advice on how to approach and possibly tackle this with…

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Jensen,

Just wanted to follow up and see if you could provide a visual of the vertical hydroponic system that you made. My students and I are very interested in learning more and possibly build two systems for our clients.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Aloha Ken,

To be honest, I never even thought about having the students compete in the science and engineering fairs. Haha! Currently, I have my advisory class (30 min each day) working with 6 different clients on their hydroponic systems that the clients are requesting. Right now, I’m hoping that Jensen could provide an image of…

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Hey Randy,

This stuff that you’re talking about would be great Agriscience projects for your students and they would be worthy to compete on the national level.

1. Economics between soil and hydroponic (Plant Systems category)

2. Building your own hydroponic systems (Power, Structure & Tech Systems category)

You could even get kids to partner up…

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Aloha Jensen,

That’s awesome that you were able to build one yourself! Would you happen to have an image of what the system that you built look like so that I can show it to my students that will need to make a system like that? Secondly, what was the cost of one of those systems to build?

Randy,

Sorry not familiar with local distributors of small scale hydroponic systems. I have made tower systems with local materials if that’s something you may be interested in.

Jensen

Cheryl,

Sorry I am not familiar with any article that discuss the economics of the two systems. There are many factors that affect the economics of either system so a particular system would have to be compared with a particular system. In most cases cost of land and cost cost of materials and labor are large factors. Field production also…

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Aloha Jensen,

I’ve been calling various businesses (just to name a few: Mari’s Garden, Aquaponic Place, Ohana Greenhouse) on the island in search for 2 vertical hydroponic systems for classroom and have had no luck on finding any. Would you happen to know of vendors on the island that is selling it?

Hi Jensen,

We had a inquiry by Washington Middle regarding the economics of soil vs. soil less agriculture. Would you know of any articles or references that discusses this topic.

Thanks Cheryl

Hi everyone!

I’m back with another update! Things are moving fast at Washington Middle School and I’m happy to announce that the Interdisciplinary Unit (IDU) with the Kupaa teachers are in gear. Around two weeks ago, I was able to facilitate a meeting with the Kupaa teachers and we concluded one of our last meetings in the “planning stage.” We…

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Jensen,

That’s a great idea! Having the students research the light intensity and the color of bulbs (red, white, blue) will help put the ownership back on the students as they discover which type of lighting provides the best optimum growth for the type of plant. Always appreciate your expertise!

Indoor vertical hydroponics use similar led lighting to those shown in your images. Challenge with artificial lighting is having enough output from the bulbs. You may want to have your students look into recommended light intensity and optimal wavelength for the crops being grown. They can look into the benefit of red vs blue vs white bulbs…

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Jensen,

In your line of expertise, when dealing with vertical hydroponic systems such as the attached image, have you seen people use lighting such as the image attached? Two clients of my students (elementary teachers) requested vertical towers because of the lack of space in the room and needing to have enough grow nets for their…

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Jensen,

1) For Maxibloom, is this the correct package that you mentioned about flowering plants?

2) When changing the solution from MaxiGro to Maxibloom, do you suggest that my students empty out the entire bin that holds the fertilizer water and replace it with Maxibloom? OR do you suggest we have another bin ready and just move the…

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