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17K views 21 replies 13 participants last post by  velacreations 
#1 ·
Another post in another section got me looking into hydroponics. I have limited resources when it comes to electricity and am not willing to put any more of a load onto my system. Is there a useful, meaning something that actually produces enough food to keep you going, hydroponics set up that doesn't use electricity? And can it be used without grow lights which also use electricity? I'm not super concerned about grow lights as they don't use much power but a water or air pump is just too much for someone who doesn't have unlimited electricity.
 
#2 ·
i see you are in wisconsin so not sure this would work as easily as it does here.
But when I lived in florida I took a course on hydroponics and aquaculture and they had Styrofoam boards with circles cut out floating in a small pond. the plants were growing in small pots designed for the hydroponic aquaponic field. with slits and holes in them allowing the roots to hang down in the water.

The fish that lived in the pond of course pooped and the plants took up some of the nitrogen and nitrates from the fish poop to feed their roots. It was a very basic system with no moving parts and very natural. I know being as far north as you are the ponds may freeze over and would not work as well as they did down there in orlando where I was at the time.
 
#3 ·
About the only non electric, hydroponic system (other than the outdoor situation, which I'm assuming you want something 'safe' and indoors) would be just to get into sprouting. No sunlight/artificial light needed.

If you have solar panels you might be able to get enough light to grow cool weather items indoors, but really, most plants need alot of light.

Sprouting is like 'quickie' vegetable gardening and you will be able to get ALOT of nutritional value that way. It's just not as tasty (to most folks) as eating a full grown veggie!

I have, erm...ALOT of wheat stored. Then I found out I'm gluten intolerant! (insert favorite cuss word here). I have grain mills (hand and electric) for it, but for me, one way to still be able to consume some of it is to sprout it until it has a fairly good sized tail, or to even let it go to the 'wheatgrass' stage. Then it's actually more 'vegetable' than grain. I'd be able to consume it then. Plus it'll have more nutritional value as a sprout.

Thank goodness I have some rice stored too! ;)
 
#4 ·
Hydroponics doesn't actually have to be done inside. Sure, growth rates may be higher when certain spectrum light is provided in a carefully controlled climate, but the sun is a lot cheaper.

Saying that, some small amount of electricity is still needed for most types of hydroponic systems. This is usually for water pumps or air pumps (the fishtank kind). That's really next to no power at all, and solar water pumps can be easily bought or solar air pumps can be easily made.

I've been trying to grow hydroponic corn out on my patio for the last month and a half or so. All I'm using is a small solar water pump and cheap five dollar fertilizer. Growing as fast as possible? Probably not. Cheaper than inside? Definitely.
 
#8 ·
I'm no hydroponics expert, but I have read a lot about it..
It will depend on the size of your 'garden', but the pumps needed to circulate the nutrient solution are reall small. Also, you may not need to run them constantly.

You coupld also probably make a gravity fed system, that you manually dump the nutrient solution in a high mounted tank, retrieve it from a gathering tank and recycle it that way. Meter it with a simple valve.
 
#9 ·
I'm no expert but have read a little and you probably could set up a gravity fed system pretty easy. My idea is to set up a large tank that everything drains into, this would also contain fish. Then just set up a spigot and a hose which would have to be at the bottom of the tank so the water pressure allows it to flow to the top of the system. This would work like a rain water collection system. This in theory would allow the water to flow continuously without the use of any electricity. Also with the water always flowing there should be enough oxygen to support the fish. I have never tried this out but setting up a system like this is in my plans and with a little ingenuity you should be able to get it to work.
 
#11 ·
I see a couple of people have beat to the gravity feed suggestion. I suspect these are best for those who can be sure to be around to tranfer the water. I've often thought that a bicycle hooked up to a manual pump would be a paricularly easy way to do the transfer.

There is also a form of hydroponics called 'wicking'. These are essentially your self-watering containers - the ones that have a reservoir below where the plants grow. These require no electricity and you just need to feed and top up the reservoir occasionally.

cheers,
-Per.
 
#13 ·
There is also a form of hydroponics called 'wicking'. These are essentially your self-watering containers - the ones that have a reservoir below where the plants grow. These require no electricity and you just need to feed and top up the reservoir occasionally.
The problem with wicking, at least from what I've read, is that it's only good for small plants. So if your just interested in lettuce or something I'm sure it would work fine. But for larger plants the wick just isn't capable of delivering enough water to a root system.

Of course, you could manually water any larger plants to give them the extra amount they need, but I think that would be a lot of work.

Also, reading the original post again, I think you have your power requirements backwards. Grow lights use way more juice than water or air pumps. The fish tank air pumps that are used for deep water culture systems run at less than 5 watts on average. When I was running mine through an inverter it ran at 8 and put through less air then normal, but still more than enough for plants.

Really, the only way to learn what works is to experiment. That's what I did, and now I have some hydroponic corn, broccoli, and lettuce out on the patio. All powered by small, dedicated solar systems.

Now, I'm not gonna claim I'm an expert, because none of my plants have gotten big enough to produce anything yet. But they are alive, and I figure that counts for something.
 
#21 ·
hydro with no electricity is possible

Hi there, im just getting into hydroponics myself and wondered what would happen if the power went out, & then stumbled upon this forum & your question. My idea costs a little mpre for setup. im doing deep water culture which consists of a black 5 gal bucket $8, a net pot mine are 8" for larger plants like tomatoes) $2.30, a tubing kit (which top feedd your seedling until its roots are big enough to hang directly into the water) $14, an air pump & stone. regular air pump & stone is under $15 but i noticed home depot offers a solar air pump for $40. I havent checked into the comparison on power (whether each solar pump could handle more than one hydro bucket) or of other companies offer them at different prices but thought this could give you a good starting point. heres the link to.the home depot pump. http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/203680...toreId=10051&N=5yc1v&R=203680056#.UYAju6N5tJg heres a link to a bucket system that shows the top watering ring & as well as the other tubing included in the kit. http://generalhydroponics.com/site/index.php/products/systems/waterfarm/waterfarm_individual/ i use the black buckets though they are cheaper http://www.hydrowholesale.com/viagrow-black-bucket-deep-water-system-5380 if you have a hydro store nearby id suggest visiting--bei able to see how everything fit together really helped. you tube is also a huge asset! There are tons of videos on hydro and aeroponics. anyway sorry about any typos im on my phone and i cant read what ive written :) good luck hope some i could at least spark some ideas.
 
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