Not sure how often this comes up... did a quick search and didn't come up with anything.
I've done research in other forums and Google. The technical information is out there, but the intangible "best practices" and the specific advice (i.e. how to grow tomatoes) is not out there. Tomato is probably a bad example, b/c it's one of the vegetables (err fruits) that actually has a lot of info... but I'm looking for a site that compares different plants and growing environments so I know what might be best suited to my basement (temperatures, available lighting, and nutrient levels).
Anyway, I kind of gave up on planted tanks and that's left me with some extra equipment and fertilizers. I'm not walking away from it forever, just for a little while.
Basically, I figured people here are pretty knowledgeable about plants. So I just have a few questions...
1) Are there any good hydroponics sites for discussion about growing flowers, vegetables, or fruits? Most of what I find out there is for marijuana, which is not what I'm interested in. I haven't decided what to grow yet, but my wife wants me to grow some begonias for her to plant next summer ($3 for packet of seeds versus $3 per plant - so works for me).
2) Any thoughts about planted aquarium equipment transferring over to grow hydroponics?
3) Should I give up on the idea as it's impractical or "dumb".
4) Should I do an aquaponics (basically plants filter the main fish aquarium) setup or isolate my systems from each other and use dirty water as a supplement (this will allow me to dose my aquarium with ferts without worrying about the fish).
5) Are T5 lights appropriate. Where's a good site that breaks down this stuff on what vegetables and fruits need for artificial growing? I know for lighting requirements and ferts, there's a lot of advice for soil growth. However, I know hydroponics, you have to control lighting differently and ferts too (since there's some basic stuff in soil not found in water).
My main goal is to learn a new skill, subject, and have some fun. I figured there's a chance if I do an aquaponics setup, that I might get some filtration out of it, but that's secondary to my primary goal of just learning about plants and using excess equipment to setup a sub-hobby (one that doesn't require a huge learning curve to my current one and has a lot of transferable equipment and techniques).
I figured this might be a good place to ask since most people here are pretty good with plants. In another forum, I brought this up and I guess there was skepticism that I was actually doing this for legit reasons. So let me make it clear, I know about some of the other forums that help people grow weed, so if that's what I was growing, I wouldn't need to come here
I have a pretty nice paying job that REQUIRES I stay clean and I get drug tested often. This isn't something I would pursue even if my employer didn't care.
I've done research in other forums and Google. The technical information is out there, but the intangible "best practices" and the specific advice (i.e. how to grow tomatoes) is not out there. Tomato is probably a bad example, b/c it's one of the vegetables (err fruits) that actually has a lot of info... but I'm looking for a site that compares different plants and growing environments so I know what might be best suited to my basement (temperatures, available lighting, and nutrient levels).
Anyway, I kind of gave up on planted tanks and that's left me with some extra equipment and fertilizers. I'm not walking away from it forever, just for a little while.
Basically, I figured people here are pretty knowledgeable about plants. So I just have a few questions...
1) Are there any good hydroponics sites for discussion about growing flowers, vegetables, or fruits? Most of what I find out there is for marijuana, which is not what I'm interested in. I haven't decided what to grow yet, but my wife wants me to grow some begonias for her to plant next summer ($3 for packet of seeds versus $3 per plant - so works for me).
2) Any thoughts about planted aquarium equipment transferring over to grow hydroponics?
3) Should I give up on the idea as it's impractical or "dumb".
4) Should I do an aquaponics (basically plants filter the main fish aquarium) setup or isolate my systems from each other and use dirty water as a supplement (this will allow me to dose my aquarium with ferts without worrying about the fish).
5) Are T5 lights appropriate. Where's a good site that breaks down this stuff on what vegetables and fruits need for artificial growing? I know for lighting requirements and ferts, there's a lot of advice for soil growth. However, I know hydroponics, you have to control lighting differently and ferts too (since there's some basic stuff in soil not found in water).
My main goal is to learn a new skill, subject, and have some fun. I figured there's a chance if I do an aquaponics setup, that I might get some filtration out of it, but that's secondary to my primary goal of just learning about plants and using excess equipment to setup a sub-hobby (one that doesn't require a huge learning curve to my current one and has a lot of transferable equipment and techniques).
I figured this might be a good place to ask since most people here are pretty good with plants. In another forum, I brought this up and I guess there was skepticism that I was actually doing this for legit reasons. So let me make it clear, I know about some of the other forums that help people grow weed, so if that's what I was growing, I wouldn't need to come here