My "Shelf-ponics" System

[Josh]

Hi,

This is my first attempt at AP after a few years of research on the subject.  Thought I'd share my progress.

 

The system's been up and cycling for about 2 weeks or so.  Currently, i'm in the nitrite spike stage which has proven to be tough on the fish, but the plants have been doing well.  I'm working mostly with cuttings of plants from my struggling dirt garden and I've been amazed at how quickly they've taken root for the most part. 

 

Anyway, here's some shots...

 

 

[Josh]

Agreed.  I have the same cycle as you and my lettuce seedlings look about the same.  I just hung a fluorescent light above them a few days ago as well.  I'm having much better results with cuttings rather than seeds at this point.  The system is still young tho.

[JT]

Thanks all. I adjusted my lights and everything is perking up! Yeah. I have been fanning them as well.

[Eric Warwick]

I want to makes a shelf ponics system that is dismantled and re-built every season: in winter can I get away with one light angled correctly? I have a limited budget on lights because I want to build my main system inside, so spending a lot now on lights doesn't make sense. Help is greatly appreciated, thanks. (Dreaming emotocon)

[TCLynx]

You might be able to get away with one light but the plant growth may not be very good.  Depends on the kind of light.

[JT]

I am ready to harvest my first batch of lettuce from my shelfponics system. It is great! I have three shelves. Top shelf, needs light- working on that. My middle shelf is full of green leafy lettuce and salad greens! In about 6 weeks time, I have grown a whole shelf of lettuce. I direct seeded them into the hydroton and they took off. After some pump problems and lighting tweeks, it is growing great.

 

Surprisingly, I am growing cucumbers (they have their first blooms now) and green beans (with actual beans growing)! I certainly didn't think they would have enough room for root growth, but so far, so good. It is still an experiment.

 

All powered by 5 marbled crayfish in a 40 gallon tank!

Thanks for all the help along the way!

[Josh]

Awesome!  My leafy greens havent been doin too well so I pulled them.  Still not enough light, i think.  Everything got real leggy.  Herbs are my best growers by far.

 Interesting that the top shelf of your system is the one having the most light issues.  I'd think the lower ones would be having problems.

 

Nice job!

[JT]

My top shelf has no artificial lighting right now. Just the window, so everything on the window side is growing a little bit. I am working on setting up the lighting system. Those grow lights are spendy! And it is time to put in the fall garden outside, so you know...one thing at a time! 

 

My basil is just now coming it. It took 5 weeks for it to show it's head...weird huh?

[TCLynx]

Basil can be slow sometimes to get going.

[Jennifer Allen]

I am in the process of setting up a shelfponics system in my apartment.  I am going to start with lettuce and herbs since this is my first attempt at AP...  I'm curious though about your beans and cucumbers.  What have you done to give them room to climb?  I've been trying to figure out how to make this work for the future once I get a hang of all of this.