Water Level Recommendations for Kratky and DWC

For nutrients in Kratky - there are three ways that I would recommend going about it:
1. Pre-mix nutrient solution (for example in a gallon jug), and refill it using that. You'll want to pour out the leftover nutrient solution every once in a while before you refill, since everything that the plant doesn't use will settle at the bottom. (at least with Kratky, since there is no moving water to mix it up like in DWC)
2. Refill using only plain water, and use a PPM meter to determine when to add more nutrients.
3. Have two of the same container - and instead of refilling, fill up the second container with nutrient solution to the half-way point, and move your plant over to the second container. Then you can clean the first one out and reuse it for the next refill. This is most commonly done with 5 gallon buckets, but I've done it with mason jars as well. The only type of container this does not work for is any container where the roots can get bigger than the opening (for example, if you are growing in a gallon jug)

Alternatively, if you use a big enough container, then there is no need to refill it with nutrient solution at any point - one gallon is the perfect size for lettuce, and a radish plant uses less than half a gallon.

Some recent DWC links for you, veng1.

aerogardenaddicts.com/post/50914/thread

aerogardenaddicts.com/post/42118/thread

Here's the basic Kratky introduction, which includes some discussion of nutrients.

aerogardenaddicts.com/post/38290/thread

Wish I could be more helpful, but after a period in which I did a lot of testing for pH and dissolved solids, I decided that my stuff grew fine in the AGs without a lot of extra attention.

Monitoring pH helps with strawberries, but they aren't a very satisfying thing to grow. They attract gnats, and they don't produce a whole lot of berries.

Somehow I thought that might be the case, veng1!

You have the situation well in hand, it seems. I love my Farms, but I wouldn't recommend purchasing them if you're more interested in experimenting with hydroponics than in having a very low maintenance indoor garden. The Farms are very expensive (even when discounted at the AG site), and they have to be taken apart if they develop problems (although AG is good about shipping replacement parts while the products are under warranty).

FWIW, I don't understand why planting a Farm with a pod in every other hole would solve nutrient issues. Nutrients are managed according to their concentration per gallon (or other volume) of water.

Generally it's best NOT to plant an AG with a pod in every hole, because the plants end up too crowded. With my Farms (which I've used for tomatoes, peppers, fairy tale eggplants, celery, strawberries, and cucumbers), I usually end up with 2 or 3 mature plants. (Strawberries and celery can be planted in every hole, but I won't do it that way if I try them again.)

The plants need room for roots, foliage, and air circulation if they're going to produce well. My solo Farm eggplant produced as many eggplants as my two Farm eggplants. (Incredibly, those two are still producing after some 14 months!)

Your DIY Farm system sounds fascinating, so I hope you'll post some photos! We all love to see photos of what others are doing.

veng1, your plants produce byproducts as they use the nutrients. As these build up, the water becomes more unhealthy for the plants, and the roots start turning brown or black. Changing the water in the bowls eliminates much of the problem.

You do add water periodically to your AGs to keep the bowls topped up. And you are correct that you don't just keep adding nutrients without water or the level of dissolved solids will go too high. The nutrient-to-water label recommendations are calculated for generally good plant growth.

A problem with the Farms is that you can't pump all of the water out of the bowls with the built-in drainage system. My eggplants have been doing fine without complete R&Rs, but my strawberries hated having anything but fresh water.

I'm not one to dispute anyone's personal experiences with hydroponic gardening, but my own experience is that the number of planted pods doesn't have much to do with the nutrients. I do add more nutrients between R&Rs if the plants are heavy feeders like cucumbers and are showing signs of deficiency.

You sound like a "Kratky" gardener to me! Have you seen this great video produced by Dr. Kratky himself? It's interesting as a window into how he thinks. The Kratky method is the lowest maintenance method that I know of, but it still requires refilling the nutrient solution.

aerogardenaddicts.com/post/52660/thread

There is no one answer to how often you need to change the water or add nutrients. It depends on your plants, your water, your light, your room temperature, and your overall growing conditions.