World lacks enough food, fuel as population soars

[mashman]

UP , is the answer

At the moment I have a small aquaponics experiment ( thats working REALLY well )

+1 on the UP.

Got any piccies? My hydroponic experiment went pretty well had an absolutely kick ass tomato plant that just kept on givin... but want to take it to the next level or have a crack at aquaponics.

[Brian d marge]

+1 on the UP.

Got any piccies? My hydroponic experiment went pretty well had an absolutely kick ass tomato plant that just kept on givin... but want to take it to the next level or have a crack at aquaponics.

at the moment I am being hypocritical, enjoying cheap claret and pizza....cheap
but when I get home I will take a photo
it really works ... and if I can do it anyone can
at the mo ,its just an experiment with a few gold fish. but the plant loves it and is successful
so as a proof of concept .. it works

post pic later

stephen

[mashman]

I took this out of the vege patch at the end of summer last year as it was getting a little blight and used it as a hydroponic guinea pig along with some broccoli. I stuffed the broccoli by making the solution too powerful and it flowered way too soon and the tubs they grew in are way too deep.

anyhoo, the beast was at least half the height of the stick again and all over the place. I grew it in my bedroom . It did attract some form of white fly, but nothing that a wee water squirter every couple of weeks couldn't solve. She were a beauty and the toms were bouncy ball size, some bigger but not bad for a Tiny Tim Cherry Tomato plant and we must have had a few hundred off the one plant . I chucked it out about a month ago and as you can see there's still about 40 toms on it... T'was fun.

[Brian d marge]

A bit rough and ready , but this is in my office next to this computer
the other is my front garden of me house ,,,



Stephen

[mashman]

noice... does the tank algae up much? or does the plant remove that shit?

[SMOKEU]

+1 on the UP.
My hydroponic experiment went pretty well had an absolutely kick ass tomato plant that just kept on givin...

Sure, a "tomato" plant.

[mashman]

Sure, a "tomato" plant.

Ya see tomatoes on the pic right? I did myself a home made grow lamp too (Cardboard back off of a Pad of paper, 130 LEDs and a smashed up pair of old speakers for parts that would plug into the mains or run off a 12v battery), went too heavy on the orange LEDs though I reckon and couldn't be fucked getting the mirrors etc... to reflect the light, plus the plant was growing. Also noted that I probably needed the seriously expensive LEDs to get any real "light" out of it... but it's a pretty colour when lit up

[Brian d marge]

noice... does the tank algae up much? or does the plant remove that shit?

no algae as its aerated, and the plant do "stuff" of which Im not sure ,,,

I will increase the fish , and this summer "try" a larger scale to grow lettuce or spinach ,

Also remember our plants are naturally Radiated from Fukushima so they are pest free,,,

Stephen

tis the future ,,,,,,,

[Brian d marge]

Ya see tomatoes on the pic right? I did myself a home made grow lamp too (Cardboard back off of a Pad of paper, 130 LEDs and a smashed up pair of old speakers for parts that would plug into the mains or run off a 12v battery), went too heavy on the orange LEDs though I reckon and couldn't be fucked getting the mirrors etc... to reflect the light, plus the plant was growing. Also noted that I probably needed the seriously expensive LEDs to get any real "light" out of it... but it's a pretty colour when lit up

so if I went to akihabara, looking for LEDS , what would I be looking for, to be able to gro lettuce all year round in my office would be awesumanal .... pity I dont smoke as , i could be rich ..... rich I tell you

Stephen

[mashman]

tis the future ,,,,,,,

Completely agree... 60 foot by 20 foot cylindrical plastic/glass towers growing veggies, solar/wind powered dehumidifier, just add fish ... oh to have the spare cash to try out a 20 foot version... t'would produce a fuck load of veggies in next to no space.

[mashman]

so if I went to akihabara, looking for LEDS , what would I be looking for, to be able to gro lettuce all year round in my office would be awesumanal .... pity I dont smoke as , i could be rich ..... rich I tell you

Stephen

1 watt luxeon star modules red and blue (not sure on wavelengths but could look them up again) in a ration of 1 blue for every 8 red from what I remember... google it, there's even a few youtube vids... wonder if a USB version is possible ... pity I have to work for a living, could have some fun otherwise.

Added Linky... gives a kind of idea and I believe the key part is getting the right resistors. Will add link to the board I used for testing. Can't remember what the thing is called , but one of these was handy as hell for piddling about with different light configs:

[rainman]

so if I went to akihabara, looking for LEDS , what would I be looking for, to be able to gro lettuce all year round in my office would be awesumanal .... pity I dont smoke as , i could be rich ..... rich I tell you

Stephen

Short answer, the absorbance maxima of chlorophyll (a) are 430-440nm (blue) and 660-680nm (red) athough environmental conditions do play a part. The peaks are quite sharp, so anything much outside these ranges will do fuck all for your plants.

A big arse array of bright LEDs will make for some expensive lettuce, though, unless they are very cheap in Japan. Other bulb types are often used and are a bit cheaper.

[mashman]

A big arse array of bright LEDs will make for some expensive lettuce, though, unless they are very cheap in Japan. Other bulb types are often used and are a bit cheaper.

but other bulb types are more expensive to run I believe? I was using superbright bulbs but think they were only half watt, if that, and didn't really seem to do anything... possibly coz of the orange inclusions taking up red space, but likely coz the bulbs were crap for purpose.

[rainman]

but other bulb types are more expensive to run I believe? I was using superbright bulbs but think they were only half watt, if that, and didn't really seem to do anything... possibly coz of the orange inclusions taking up red space, but likely coz the bulbs were crap for purpose.

Eh? Orange inclusions taking up red space... how does that work? They are different "spaces" in the spectrum. Orange can't crowd out red, the plant will just ignore (reflect) the bits it doesn't use.

[mashman]

Eh? Orange inclusions taking up red space... how does that work? They are different "spaces" in the spectrum. Orange can't crowd out red, the plant will just ignore (reflect) the bits it doesn't use.

In essence I changed the ratio of red to blue based on information from a website that said that orange was beneficial and gave a different ratio. So the orange ones took up space that shoulda been red. Either way the LEDs were poop, possibly because I didn't setup a reflector unit (not enough $$$).