Hydroponic Bent grass

Anyone have info or links?

Mr. Google is not giving me much.

i bet.......not many golf course designers build fairways on net pots.lol.................if you don`t mine me asking, what is the end goal

Well you know just stoner thoughts I've had all summer while I mowed my lawn and now that it's fall it's time for a little testing before spring.

I have a pretty decent looking yard with bermuda turf, but I would love to have a lawn like a putting green for my kids to play on, or even have an area I could turn into a grass tennis court with a little TIO2 and a net (that's the dream).

Lately I've been less into gram per watt and more into gram per hour of my time, which has led me to the use of autopots. I'm digging the concept, though their valve scares me, and all their black plastic isn't great for keeping temps down in a confined space. The concept is similar to the rain gutter gardens which use a netpot hanging out of a 5 gall bucket to wick up the water as needed. As roots suck up moisture the water level drops and a float valve like in your toilet opens allowing water in from a reservoir. Basically both gravity powered, subsurface fed, self watering systems.

I'm thinking about grading an area completely flat with the top 6" being perlite under this layer would be rain gutters with a 1/2" perforated hose (rain bird) running though it that would be connected to a control bucket at one end. Another perforated hose would be at the bottom of the perlite layer and dalylight to drain the perlite when it rains. I'm thinking This would basically give you a hydroponic planting bed to do whatever you wanted including bentgrass.

However, my favorite plant has taught me you have to crawl before you can walk. So step 1 is to see if I can grow bent grass with this method in a controlled environment (basement).
I am setting up a few small scale tests with differing depths of perlite. However, I have no idea what to use for a solution. The only thing I have run across is the Hoagland’s nutrient solution in this paper http://www.jhbiotech.com/docs/Humic-Acids-on-BentGrass.pdf. I'm an engineer not a chemist. I need nutes that I can buy or produce without a great deal of skill or capital investment.

Anyone got a suggestion? or a wild ass guess for that matter? If not I'm going to try normal Veg solution at 1/4 strength and hope for the best.

ok that answered that question............but i`am not much on the yard, i have that pave it and paint it green philosophy. look into mixing your own salts. the salts can be had cheap, there are some calculators online. here is a link to give you some insight.
http://www.gardenguides.com/85212-make-hydroponic-nutrient-solution-using-epsom-salt.html
lets us know how it works out.

Pretty hard to grow bent grass well in a Bermuda grass climate. also, a six inch bed of perlite ain't cheap and the mower would wreck that pretty quick too.

Maybe look into an artificial surface like Southwest greens.

http://www.southwestgreens.com/

SeedHo said:

ok that answered that question............but i`am not much on the yard, i have that pave it and paint it green philosophy. look into mixing your own salts. the salts can be had cheap, there are some calculators online. here is a link to give you some insight.
http://www.gardenguides.com/85212-make-hydroponic-nutrient-solution-using-epsom-salt.html
lets us know how it works out.

Click to expand...

Cool thanks. How hard is that stuff to buy? Amazon Prime-able?

Shnkrmn - The architectural review board has to approve changes to grass, they have approved bent grass before, but I don't think they would approve any kind of artificial turf no matter how good it looked. Compaction is definitely going to be an issue, but I should be able to get it compacted enough to have a bearing capacity for people and a lawn mower, but not so much that it doesn't allow the roots to grow freely. I'll have a landscape company install the perlite, no not cheap, but not a deal breaker.

its not hard to find and its not expensive. try this site there are some growers here use dry salts and they have a calculator and some links to supplies.
thegrowcorner.com

I have a pretty decent looking yard with bermuda turf, but I would love to have a lawn like a putting green for my kids to play on, or even have an area I could turn into a grass tennis court with a little TIO2 and a net (that's the dream).

Home automation in Gujarat

Mate your definitely going to need something like a heavy clay medium, pearlite won't last very long and if it's nots 159% level it will migrate down any slope and cause clogging and draining issues and in short will be a unmitigated disaster. I like your concept though, keep working on it.

I use chicken poo in a raintank and pig poo too, it's all gravity fed and just takes a few shovels full every now and then wait a day or two. Works on my lawn beautifully, the pig effluence is better because it's mostly liquified already.
If you live in a rural area it's easy to find, just ask your local pig farmer or go to a piggery it's usually free.

You should choose putting green for your pretty garden that gave your garden luxury look and provides a playing environment that is safe for your kids..
http://www.homegreenadvantage.com/