Growing in Kratky System

Growing plants in soil-less medium

Moderator: Izhar

Izhar
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 4340
Joined: April 11th, 2011, 9:38 am
Country: Pakistan
City: Karachi
Gardening Interests: Fragrant plants, shade gardening, bulbous plants, annuals
Location: Karachi, Sindh

Growing in Kratky System

Post by Izhar »

It is type of hydroponics system which does not involves water circulations or aeration by an air pump, it is the most simplest form of hydroponics developed by Dr. B.A. Kratky.

It involves a water proof container (most probably plastic) with a cover, the nutrient solution is filled in the container and the plants are anchored on the container's cover such that their roots are barely touching the water. The plant roots grow and absorb water with nutrients, the plant grows, blooms and fruits... depending on the plant type and container size, no additional nutrients or water is required till the season lasts... e.g. Lettuce can easily grow in a 5 litre bucket but tomato and cucumber require 70 litre to complete their life-cycle. On the other hand small buckets can be very carefully re-filled on weekly-monthly basis..

I tried my hand on growing tomatoes in a 16 litre used paint bucket.

Image

Used this Hole-saw to drill holes for plants in the cover:

Image

Image

Used mineral water bottle was cut in half, each half will be used to anchor plants on the plastic lid/cover of the container:

Image

Two plants which were growing in soil were taken out and put in the bottles, i placed some coco-chips to cover the exposed roots, these pics are taken after two weeks of placing the plants in the Kratky setup:

Image

Roots are already grown in the water:

Image

The formula I am using contains the following:

N (NO3-) 170 PPM
N (NH4+) 19 PPM
K 310 PPM
P 41 PPM
Mg 45 PPM
Ca 150 PPM
S 112 PPM
Fe 5 PPM

So far so good, the setup is on my roof top for maximum sunlight.
Khalid Abro
Posts: 100
Joined: November 28th, 2012, 6:19 pm
Country: Pakistan
City: Karachi
Gardening Interests: Cacti & Succulents, Fruit Trees, Vines, Herbs & Vegies
Location: Karachi, Sindh

Re: Growing in Kratky System

Post by Khalid Abro »

Izhar
Seems great concept & system. Thanks for sharing it. Will try it on my roof as well but before that will visit you to understand it further. Hope you can take out some time...
Izhar
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 4340
Joined: April 11th, 2011, 9:38 am
Country: Pakistan
City: Karachi
Gardening Interests: Fragrant plants, shade gardening, bulbous plants, annuals
Location: Karachi, Sindh

Re: Growing in Kratky System

Post by Izhar »

Khalid Abro wrote:Izhar
Seems great concept & system. Thanks for sharing it. Will try it on my roof as well but before that will visit you to understand it further. Hope you can take out some time...
Sure..
muhammadimran7
Senior Member
Senior Member
Posts: 566
Joined: December 10th, 2013, 9:08 pm
Country: pakistan
City: rawalpindi
Gardening Interests: growing from seeds

Re: Growing in Kratky System

Post by muhammadimran7 »

nice idea
Fatima Almas
Posts: 2
Joined: January 24th, 2017, 1:40 pm
Country: Pakistan
City: Karachi
Gardening Interests: Sustainable Food and earth friendly friendly gardening

Re: Growing in Kratky System

Post by Fatima Almas »

really nice experiment izhar bhai :-)
Khalid1
Posts: 75
Joined: December 29th, 2014, 6:04 pm
Country: Pakistan
City: Karachi
Gardening Interests: All types of peppers and tomatoes and some other vegetables.

Re: Growing in Kratky System

Post by Khalid1 »

Excellent Izhar sahab! and thanks for creating hydroponic section.
Izhar
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 4340
Joined: April 11th, 2011, 9:38 am
Country: Pakistan
City: Karachi
Gardening Interests: Fragrant plants, shade gardening, bulbous plants, annuals
Location: Karachi, Sindh

Re: Growing in Kratky System

Post by Izhar »

Check the lovely growth in 7 days:

Image
nawaf.mahmood
Posts: 4
Joined: December 22nd, 2012, 3:03 pm
Country: Pakistan
City: Lahore
Location: DHA, Lahore

Re: Growing in Kratky System

Post by nawaf.mahmood »

Thank you for sharing.

How can we obtain the mixture of ions & elements you mentioned:

N (NO3-) 170 PPM
N (NH4+) 19 PPM
K 310 PPM
P 41 PPM
Mg 45 PPM
Ca 150 PPM
S 112 PPM
Fe 5 PPM

should we use KNO3 for getting NO3-? etc
nawaf.mahmood
Posts: 4
Joined: December 22nd, 2012, 3:03 pm
Country: Pakistan
City: Lahore
Location: DHA, Lahore

Re: Growing in Kratky System

Post by nawaf.mahmood »

Ok I found your answer in a fb post:

Mono ammonium phosphate, Sulfate of potash, magnesium sulfate, calcium nitrate, potassium nitrate, iron eddha
Khalid1
Posts: 75
Joined: December 29th, 2014, 6:04 pm
Country: Pakistan
City: Karachi
Gardening Interests: All types of peppers and tomatoes and some other vegetables.

Re: Growing in Kratky System

Post by Khalid1 »

MashaAllah excellent progress!!
Post Reply

Return to “Hydroponics”