I'm trying the Kratky Method this year (pumpless hydroponics)

This year due to soaring food prices, the coming food shortages, and need of a summer project I am going to try the Kratky Method Hydroponics. It involves very little work after the initial set up, and no pumps or electricity. Plus, it is easily portable if you need to move it (we get a lot of hail here, so a big plus if I need to save my plants).

The Kratky method is a passive hydroponic technique for growing plants suspended above a reservoir of nutrient-rich water.[1] Because it is a non-circulating technique, no additional inputs of water or nutrients are needed after the original application, and no electricity, pumps, or water and oxygen circulation systems are required.[2] The Kratky method has applications both for commercial food production and as a small-scale and low-maintenance technique for home growers.[3] It has been described as "the simplest hydroponic system

Kratky Method

The supplies I have purchased:

10 - 5 gallon buckets (they need to be dark to keep out the sunlight to avoid algae growth)


10 - net pot bucket lids (they sit on the top of the bucket as a lid and hold the plant) - you do not need to do any hole drilling with these


I will be using the buckets to grow the larger plants like peppers, tomatoes etc.

The root system will eventually look lie this



2 - 5 gallon totes (food safe plastic)


I will be using the totes to grow green peas and green beans. Will have to use a tomato cage or something else for a trellis when the plants are ready.

Using a hole saw, I will cut the holes in the lids of the totes and will require net pots. To save money you can cut a gatorade bottle or any other drink bottle and use the top of the bottle with the drinking spout pointed down as a pot.


The root system will eventually look something like this



The nutrient package I chose to purchase (Masterblend 3 bag complete)


People apparently successfully grow in coffee cans and other containers already on hand







There are many, many helpful videos on youtube. Of course, the ones I really wanted to post here I cannot find right now.

There are many ideas on cost cutting and using supplies on hand in youtube videos also.

a reply to: tinker9917

That's really cool. Thanks for posting that.

a reply to: tinker9917

Pay attention ... LOL

You're welcome.

Hopefully it all goes as planned, lol.

SnarlThanks for the video. That's exactly what I'm afraid of, is someone stealing my food system, or even killing me or my family for it. Might have to move it indoors at some point.

a reply to: tinker9917

Sounds interesting.

You do know the triangle symbol of plastic items can't be relied on. That is put on whan the mold was first made and if they change the plastic, they don't bother changing the mold because it is too expensive to do so.

I was in the plastics recycling industry for years and the lab would test everything that came in and it did not match what the symbol said about half the time.

I am considering making a garden with some plastic 55 gallon drums. Cut in half length wise and scotched in place with bricks. The method you described might be better for the drums. Cut off the ends at the rings then flatted out the middle for a cover to hold the plants.

They would be easier to move because you could move the water out then back in after moving the plants.

The cut in half method would fill them with gravel then dirt. Very heavy to move. I am going to fill one with water while on it's side to test a moving method I think might work before deciding which way to cut.

Would root vegetables grow in the Katky method?

Edit: Very heavy to move might be an advantage to not being stolen, at least the whole thing. They could still take the crop easily.

originally posted by: beyondknowledge
You do know the triangle symbol of plastic items can't be relied on.

So ... how does one tell?

a reply to: beyondknowledge

I like your idea, that should work very well I would think.

I did see a video with radishes be grown, but I would think most would be very difficult to impossible. But if you figure it out let us know!

Don't do it
I can give you some tips if you want, but that type of stagnant water setup is terrible.
Root rot, fungus, overwatering, nutrient uptake etc is the main issue there.
I could help you retrofit your setup if you like. Not all is lost there.

a reply to: Snarl

There is some very expensive equipment involved or you can burn a tiny sample and smell it. I never learned the smells but for some, that method is almost as reliable as the Phazir, or the Laser scanner we used. Some plastics are very toxic for the smell test though.

Phazir

I just did minor repairs to the Phazir units and swapped out parts of on the Lazer scanners and aligned them. The Lazer units are about the size of a large 1980s PC. The Phazir is like a fat hand drill .

Mandroid7 Thanks, but I have my mind made up to try this. If it doesn't work out I may be speaking to you later this year, lol.

Hey, this kind of thing is an excellent first step in moving towards actual self-sufficiency.

Good luck!

a reply to: tinker9917

I can tell you right now, it is unlikely to succeed. 'passive water' systems are pretty much doomed. Not trying to be a downer but.....

Here are some of the problems I have encountered:

BUGS!!!!! Fruit fly in particular loves this.
Rotten roots
Plants not growing correctly because of poor nutrition.
SMELL - as in stagnant and rotten.

But hey, I'm with you. You never know until you try it. But don't put all your eggs in one basket until you've proven it a successful method for you to continue. As in, don't waste a lot of money. Plant some stuff in the ground for back up or other alternative growing methods. And really, Good luck!

P.S. I've never even heard of this as a growing "method" until your thread, I just happened to try it for a couple of things because I'm particularly lazy. But a good indicator of the logic and good choice award for this growing style is the fact that the video you linked is three years old. If it was a great method, or even good, it would have taken off and we would all know about it and most likely everyone would be using it because hey, easy peasy and time saving is always a winner.

I am doing some DWC (Deep Water Culture) with some aquarium air stones. Indoors with grow lights. The Masterblend fertilizer is great and way more cheap than liquid fertilizers. You will need a PH and a PPM/EC meter. I use a RO filter for my nutrient mix water. Wrap some aluminum foil all around your vessels to make them really light proof and secure it with tranparent tape. Imo you don´t need that huge net pots like in the pics, i work with only the 2 inch ones. I tried cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, zuchini, strawberries and of course california reaper peppers because i can´t buy really hot, fresh peppers here in Germany. At least not hot enough for me. And never needed bigger net pots. If you grow your plants inside you will need some fans for air circulation.

I even bought a grow tent now because building a grow shelf or cabinet or whatever by yourself will eventually cost more because of the materials you need. Will buy a second one and throw out my DIY grow cabinet. One for 18/6 hours of light/darkness (growing stage) and for 12/12 (flowering stage).

I am playing around with hydro since nearly a year now and tbh, it is not rocket science. First tries were jars, Kratky style too. But believe me, buy an oxygen pump for aquariums and some air stones and add one or two air stones per bucket, you will love the results. And they are not expensive and don´t use much energy. I have one with two outlets (two stones then) that uses 3W and one with 4 outlets that uses 10W (both if full blown).

Btw, i learned a lot at r/hydroponics on Reddit. A lot of nice and really helpful people over there. And from watching a lot of youtube DIY videos because i want to build as much as possible by myself if it makes sense, costwise.

Feel free to ask me anything about my equipment, my experiences, what the worst mistakes were that i made or whatever.

originally posted by: StoutBroux
a reply to: tinker9917

I can tell you right now, it is unlikely to succeed. 'passive water' systems are pretty much doomed. Not trying to be a downer but.....



But don't put all your eggs in one basket until you've proven it a successful method for you to continue. As in, don't waste a lot of money. Plant some stuff in the ground for back up or other alternative growing methods. And really, Good luck!

That’s why I’m starting small. I don’t know anyone who has done this, but I want to see if it works.

Root rot… only the bottom tips of the roots should be in water most of the growing time, as the water goes down most of the roots are just absorbing oxygen. I think it just may work. But we will see…. Nutrient uptake largely depends on adding the correct nutrients at the correct time with this 3 part nutrient system so hopefully that won’t be a problem.

If it does fail, I will be letting you all know.

Having examined a drum, if the ends are used for tubs and the middle for two ends, the tubs are only 4.5 inches deep. The middle is big enough for two lids though.

I have over a dozen closed head drums but most are translucent white. That kind of kills the keep the water in the dark requirement.

They have a mold seam on both ends to use as a guide for cutting into two halves length wise. I just need to mark the sides with a straight edge to make it all the way around.

They will be heavy and hard to move but that also makes them hard to take when full of dirt. I have two broken hand trucks that can move them when full of water when laying on their side. Just need some slight modifications to them.

I think I am going dirt trough method with one for a test. Like this video but sitting on the ground with two drinks on the downhill side.

a reply to: DerBeobachter

Thanks for all the helpful advice. I may be talking to you about some things soon.

a reply to: tinker9917

I look around at all the unkempt yards in my neighborhood and I thank about how dumbed down people have to be to not want or know how to grow food. Why even have a yard if your not using it to sustain yourself?

I love hydroponics but the pump requirements turn me away. I need to know how to make my garden produce without electricity. So this is very interesting to me.

a reply to: tinker9917

I wonder if live fish could be kept in the water? Maybe crayfish or crabs?

If so it would be my dream set up.

Like get clear containers and fish that eat algae.

a reply to: beyondknowledge
Can you paint the drums maybe?