🌱 Home Hydroponics Gardening ~ Outdoor System Update (02/22/2018)

Hello my fellow gardening enthusiasts.

Progress has been made getting my front outdoor hydroponics system back up and running. Last week I re-dug out the hole for the 55 gallon reservoir, installed a new pump for the vertical garden section and moved the tomato and cucumber plants outside to get adjusted.

This week it was time to tackle the dutch bucket system on the right side of the setup and get those back in working order.

First things first, I cut the 1/4" feed lines, removed all five of the buckets and cleaned them out. I figured this was a good time to replace the O-ring gaskets on the return lines in each bucket since they spent a few months in dry, hot conditions.

The gaskets are placed around the male adapter coming through the side of the buckets, then the female adapter and drain "T" fittings are screwed back on to make a tight seal.

Inside the unit I cut and replaced the 1/4" feed lines to make sure they were new and flowing cleanly. After-all, I was putting in a new pump so might was well have fresh lines as well.

This was the first time I was able to take a picture inside the setup to to show how the main line, feed lines, and return lines are all connected together. This system was originally built before I joined Steemit so I never thought to take pictures of inside.

With the new 1/4" feed lines pulled through and all the dutch buckets sitting in their return line seats I connected up the new 300 gallon per hour pump using the same outlet with the 1/4" air supply node I used on the vertical garden pump I showed in my previous post. The two of them together is giving a very strong circulating current in the reservoir tank.

This photo is showing the completed main feed and return lines for both systems connected to the reservoir tank. This was just before I connected the last dutch bucket, I left that open while I tested the pump to make sure I could see the return water flow back to the tank. Once I knew it was all flowing properly, I installed the end bucket.

Next I replanted the tomato and cucumber plants into the dutch buckets and used vine clips to attach them to the supply lines hanging down. The cucumbers will grow across the trellis on the far right side.

_{Patio Cluster | Steakhouse Hybrid | SuperSweet Cherry | Money Maker Cluster | Tyria Cucumber}

The last thing on the list to do this weekend is to build the new wood box to cover the reservoir tank and move the bell pepper and herb plants out to the vertical garden rails.

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