ottawa foodies

Came across this video on YouTube, simply astounding what these guys are doing.

youtu.be/vs7BG4lH3m4

If you search Growing Power on YouTube there are lots of videos that show the systems they use. If they can do this in Milwaukee I bet it could be done in Ottawa too.

When I was doing research before and after I bought Aerogardens, there are people who takes large plastic rectangular storage bins and cut holes on the top and put basket and growing medium in the lid and they put in aquarium bubblers and liquid nutrients.

FYI the youtu.be videos don't embed but normal links to the same ones do

Some interesting options for Home Hydroponics:

One of the many how to for home versions. I had more links but it was on my old laptops and they did not transfer.
www.instructables.com

Up to the pricy system offered by Urban Cultivators on Dragons Den
www.urbancultivator.net/

Martha Stewart featuring Windowfarms I think
www.marthastewart.com

Aerogardens are sold in Canadian Tires but the larger ones are pricier.. A bit less than before since CAD is at par right now.

Different photo images of hydroponics
www.google.ca

We had an Aerogarden for years, but wanted something to start different types of plants indoors and we found the selection was not what we wanted with the Aerogarden. A couple of years ago we visited Hydroculture Emporium (1315 Richmond Road) and they got us set up to start some plants indoors. The tomatoes we were able to yield from those plants was exceptional.

The system is pretty basic. Two 5 gallon pails, which act as supports for a large PVC tub, which we have tipped at a slight angle towards a drain at one end. We have two T-5's as our light source, (with reflectors) and the speed of the growth is incredible. Right now we have our seeds started in there and just giving the plants a light misting of (well) water and about 6 hours of light per day. Once they have rooted (the melons need to be transplanted soon), they get transplanted to small pots with soil. There is an air stone at the bottom of one pail, so the water does not become stagnant. Organic plant food is added to either pail when the water needs to be replenished (once the plants are in pots). Gravity keeps the water level even in both pails (there is a hose going between the two which keeps the water level). We have a pump which is on a timer, which floods the tub and waters the plants once a day for about 3 minutes - then drains. The timers enable us to be away for a couple of days and it is a pretty self sufficient system. I will take a photo if anyone is interested.

We get our seeds from Terra Edibles (online) as they have many unique varieties of heirloom seeds available. This year we have planted several varieties of heirloom tomatoes, melon, kale, collard greens, Swiss chard and pak choi. The main benefit with the light is accelerating the growth - yielding larger plants when you are ready to put them in the ground (for us, probably June), so you get a couple weeks more growing season. This may seem a bit complicated (I was completely unfamiliar with hydroponic gardening), but the guys at Hydroculture Emporium were great.

Happy growing!

Jojo,

Love to see a picture of your system and your plants :D

Here is a photo of our set up in the basement.

Here with the lights on - it is actually 4 T5's, not two, inside the reflector.

Here are the seedlings - 10 days old.

That's a cool setup.

One thing that really draws me to the idea of the aquaponic systems is the way the fish provide the nutrients for the plants and the plants take away the toxins for the fish. No nutrient dosing required.

I think I'm going to give this a go in my backyard this summer with a large tub of water with some small crawfish, or shrimp, in it and a dosing pump to move the water up. Just need to figure a way to keep all the critters out of the tub so they don't steal all my seafood before they get big enough to eat!

You can find door screening material at any hardware store. That would be more than adequate.

Forgive my country ignorance....is aquaponics rebranded hydroponics without the pot factor?

Not really Krusty. You feed the fish and they poop, then you feed the poop to the plants, which feed clean water back to the fish to poop in again.

Hydroponic systems require nutrient input to grow the plants. These systems grow fish AND plants for roughly the same nutrient input. Dollar for dollar they are some of the most efficient small footprint urban farming systems out there, especially the way they do it in the video.

Hydroponic requires addition of nutrients with the most popular being liquid nutrients. You need different formulation for greens or growth vs fruiting and vegetables. Also ph level is important in hydroponics since certain plants like different ranges of phs.

I have to admit I only got as far as aerogardens which is a baby hydroponics system. But I was interested in it for a while so read up about it but never got my act together to go to a more powerful home grown system.

Thinking back, one of our project (on paper) at U Waterloo which we submitting to NRC for a space experiment competition was growing algea in space for food... Maybe here stem my interest in hydroponics lol.

The new non-profit Torbolton Centre in Ottawa's West Carleton region is building two systems. The smaller one will be operational at the Greystone Grill in Constance Bay Village early next year. The larger system for community food share is being built at the 3924 Woodkilton Road for deployment on site later in the year. The large system project is headed by Jane Stratton and Martin Buffam. The restaurant project is headed by Chris Smith and Darryl MacDougall.