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The Kratky Method By Dr. Bernard Kratky .

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sergiana

Member
I would love to see more experimenting with autoflowers and this method.

If I can get some work and some income I will gear up and start in on it too.

I will probably try to use the 3 litre soda bottles and led.

Is there an alternative to the landscape fabric you can think of off hand that might be slightly cheaper or DIY.

Quick question on the nutrients for the life cycle of an autoflower assuming say a 0-60 day finish as an example.

Would you start it out then with the grow formula for say 2 weeks or so and then change the water out completely then add the bloom mix and let that go for a month or more?

One more thing I wanted to know was when you said you could have left the plant for 3-4 weeks without topping up or changing the nutes. Does that length of time potentially increase with container size effectively?

Mastering this method for autoflowers is a great challenge.
 
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sergiana

Member
"The configuration that you illustrated appeared to form a `seal` at the point where the top portion, or inverted bottle top, met the lower reservoir, effectively limiting the flow of oxygen into the lower reservoir. Additionally, with a `sealed` chamber of water (perhaps including nutrients), the gas exchang process might become limited, as there might be limited channels for gases given off by roots to escape."

What if you made a couple of holes near upper portion and inserted a couple of long straws with LOTS of tiny holes somewhere near the upper part of the bottle with the top of the straw folded and taped to prevent any light getting in. Air would flow in/out as needed without the seal occurring.

I have a limited understanding of the whole concept but its pretty fascinating stuff compared to more complicated methods.
 
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sergiana

Member
Ok after boning up a bit on this subject this guy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcS6xTUgK58 flat out states it works best with herbs and not so well with flowering plants like tomatoes etc.

From some of the videos I have seen hot peppers do well too.

But if this can be adapted to autos I cannot find anyone through searching online that can claim to have pulled it off.

I'd bet good money that it is possible with a few modifications.
 
SRGB

SRGB

Member

sergiana:

I have a limited understanding of the whole concept but its pretty fascinating stuff compared to more complicated methods.

--

But if this can be adapted to autos I cannot find anyone through searching online that can claim to have pulled it off.

Hi, sergiana.

We cannot post to the method as described at post #1. We can post to our own work experimenting with combining certain passive methods into a moderately comprehensive passive technique that we found to be consistently replicatable.

Below are some methods that we have developed independently while experimenting with extremes in soilless media mixes and SRBGB`s. We hope that the data might be helpful.

Square Root® Brand Garden Bag - Drain-To-No-Waste [Methods]

Respectfully,
/SRGB/
 
Budley Doright

Budley Doright

Active member
Veteran
Burnt Rope said:
http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10125/2353/HG-44.pdf?sequence=1


dr k also worked with cukes.....
Click to expand...


I have some conclusions about the Kratke method....

It does not alter too much my long held beliefs on hydro in general......


Does kratke work???? In some ways yes..... in some ways no..

I reposted this experiment done with cucumbers to show the problem with katke....


In the experiment he uses a whole trash can..... lotsa water....



That's important..... because that is the only way you could keep this plant alive.....


as we all know..... as the water levels reduce thru evaporation or transporation..... the ppms get higher and higher.....


That occurs with kratke.....


As far as growing in non aerated water..... with some roots exposed to air..... that concept I think works perfectly.....



The answer imo..... is just like with any other hydro system.....

reservoir management......



you must add or replace the nutrient solution ....or use huge amounts to start with.......


Im more interested in this for outside than for inside....... normal garden plants......

but that will be my approach......


its still about reservoir management imo.....
 
Budley Doright

Budley Doright

Active member
Veteran
In this thread there was some reference to the utube vegetable grower mhpgardener.....

He has very good success with kratke....


but then he follows sane reservoir practices.....


nothing fancy when they need more water and nutrient he adds some.....


Adding more water and nutrient a time or two along the way is hardly a ball buster......


Of course whether you drain and replace or top off will be your choice....



That's reservoir management for you.....
 
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davon96720

New member
I worked with Berny Kratky for a number of years doing hydroponic lettuce with wonderful results. I went on to use his methods for many other crops, successfully.

I was the very first person to use his method for cannabis.
davon96720
 
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davon96720

New member
The biggest problem I had with suspended plants, allowing air for the roots, was for them to dry out. Solution, some air stones or tubes. That generates a bit of spatter and kept the little ones survive until the root system get established.
 
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dudin

Active member
davon96720 said:
I worked with Berny Kratky for a number of years doing hydroponic lettuce with wonderful results. I went on to use his methods for many other crops, successfully.

I was the very first person to use his method for cannabis.
davon96720
Click to expand...

Sweet. So tell us more. Was it productive for cb. What was my biggest mistake in the "bottle design" I made.
Any pics?
 
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dudin

Active member
davon96720 said:
The biggest problem I had with suspended plants, allowing air for the roots, was for them to dry out. Solution, some air stones or tubes. That generates a bit of spatter and kept the little ones survive until the root system get established.
Click to expand...

Then I would say its a DWC. I think it's the passive part that's interesting.
 
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davon96720

New member
I was lucky I worked with the guy and my first experience w cb was successful, no trials. I'm not sure what your bottle design was, but almost any container that can support a plant should do. My first grow was off the shelf products at home depot and wal mart, with some grow baskets from the local farm store, and a lot of florescents (the blue and pink) from the sides for penetration on some storage shelves. Fertilizer was 2 different miracle grow, one for growth (higher N) another for budding (higher P), I think at quarter strength, or half that, about what one would do for orchids so don't burn. The containers were storage containers, I use a undersize hole cutter and pared it to size with a potato peeler to hold the baskets. I added air stones and an aquarium pump to generate some spray and keep the baskets wet suspended about the water an inch or so initially. For many crops some additional calcium is needed, I used fine dolomite that coated the bottom. That grow was as lo-tech/hi-tech as I could imagine. Supplies were common off the self everyday items that would not catch attention. I think 5 gal buckets are great, holds a bit of water and weight keeps the plants stable. Top off the nutrients as needed or just change out the water weekly.
 
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davon96720

New member
I did other grows with a 1 gallon pots set in resevoirs. In Hawaii it was volcanic cinder with some shredding tree fern or coconut husk. The fiber wicks the water up to smaller plants root systems. I only filled the resevoirs to go half way up the pots, this allow air to the roots, a lot of holes drilled on the side of the pots.
 
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davon96720

New member
My initial experience for about 4 years with the system was with hydro lettuce. It was grown on table about waist high and 4 foot wide, that was to allow for reach. The tables had a 4 inch grid and at first we used old beer cans with holes punch, but switch to 4 inch pots, 1 to the square foot, later 2. 1 gallon of initial charge of nutrient solution fed gravity flow from a mixing reservoir with a open catchment above grade with a dug out pond lined with plastic to catch rain. Nutrient solution only went half way up the pots or cans, allowing air to the roots. We used 1 week old seedlings (germination later) one to a pot. Grow period was 5-6 weeks, depending on the season. In the summer (5 weeks) and as lettuce has a logarithmic growth we sometimes had to top the water the last week.

Initially the operation we composted the cinder/tree fern mix each cycle, but I noticed that ants gardened (overturned) the media after harvest and we started using 2 pots, side by side) to each square foot. We would plant one and allow the ants to garden and compost the harvested pot. We had no pathogen build up and it eliminated the biggest labor input of composting the media. This was a true passive, not circulating hydro system. The biggest energy input was each Friday night we used lanterns to harvest, first going around with a watering can over the plants so they would perk up and then harvested and down to the Hilo Farmer's Market before dawn the next day.

Over the course of 4-5 years we had 1 bad spot in the harvest, rats came onto the tables ready for harvest, we had to toss them, disinfect the table, fortunately they only had a taste for the mature crop and that was all we lost. We did eliminate the rats, unfortunately for the rats.

Germination: the system used leaf lettuce, the bread and butter of the operation was bibb lettuce, Manoa and a Dutch hydro variety that cost a half cent a seed. Berny Kratky is a scientist, truly. He wanted to get the best return and beside calculating the nutrients to a T for cost, was to effect the best germination...Styrofoam 1 inch cell starter flats were used with a fairly standard sterilized potting media was used, dampened, not wet, down and a piece of plywood with short screws every inch with head sitting out a quarter in or so. This was pressed onto the Styrofoam cell flats creating a dimple and 1 seed (mostly) was put into each dimple, that was it, not covering the seeds, the flats stacked, with a blank on the top and allowed to sit overnight and germination was almost perfect and cost effective, I've used this for cb with the same results. We transplanted seedlings usually after 1 week using a butter knife.

During my experience of 4-5 years the lettuce came off like clock work every single week. Except the one harvest that we trashed because of the rat patrol.

I experimented with a variety of vegetables and herbs over the years and the system was very successful for most things.
 
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