Global Depression 2022 - Time to do the Breadline Boogaloo!

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Who is going to get hit the hardest?

  • North America

  • South America

  • Asia

  • Europe

  • Australia

  • Africa

  • The Middle East

  • Everyone's fucked

  • Nothing will happen

Results are only viewable after voting.
Hippopatumus said:
I planned to get into composting, but when I read into it about how pests are a huge problem, and you have to get the ratio of green stuff to brown stuff right otherwise it doesn't work, it put me off bigtime. I'm not looking for a new hobby, just a way to dispose of kitchen scraps.

Anyway on gardening. I set up a hydroponic grow two months ago and while it definitely has a hard requirement for power to run, the yields are incredible and I should have my first tomatoes in the next week or two. a 2x4 grow is enough to basically provide vegetables for a family of four forever.
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"2x4 grow?" As in, feet?
 
Hippopatumus said:
I planned to get into composting, but when I read into it about how pests are a huge problem, and you have to get the ratio of green stuff to brown stuff right otherwise it doesn't work, it put me off bigtime. I'm not looking for a new hobby, just a way to dispose of kitchen scraps.
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Yeah, so all that green-to-brown stuff? Overblown and not as big a deal as it is made out to be.
As for pests, if you have meat scraps bury them or animals will come looking for it but otherwise it's probably another overblown problem.
Trench composting. Ruth Stout method. Hügelkultur. There are a fuckton of ways to do things. Don't let one person's way scare you off.
 
HTTP Error 404 said:
I'm completely out of the loop on this stuff, do we have a Hydroponics thread on the forums? Got any websites or books to point a person at?
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What I found is that there is precious little resources available and it kind of surprised me. 99% of the resources are weed-related and while you there is a lot of crossover in knowledge, veggies are kind of different.

Let me give you the cliffs notes I wish I had:

- Three main types:
-- Flood & Drain (this is what I did)
-- Deep Water Culture
-- Kratky

Kratky is easiest and cheapest; fill bucket of nutrient water, roots hang in air dipping into water. You must top off every day or so.

Deep Water Culture is similar but uses no water gap and has an air stone. You must top off every day or so.

Flood & Drain uses a reservoir and a pump to flood a table container your plants a few times a day. The plants get air most of the time and nutrient water when the flood occurs. I top off mine every week or two (40gallon reservoir). This is the most expensive but also the best.

Not mentioned: recirculating deep water culture or nutrient film technique.

Nutrient water -- All plants have a preferred nutrient level (called EC) that you will mix nutrients to. This level must be maintained over time. Some plants share similar EC levels and thus can grow together, some can't. In a nutshell, tomatoes and peppers are high EC and herbs and greens are low EC. I actually have two systems so I can do both.

PH must also be adjusted but it's a bit more hands-off usually and generally only needs to be adjusted in 1 direction for your system.

You must drain and clean the system every 1-10 weeks to get algae and crap out.

You measure EC levels with an EC meter.

You provide light with a grow light. Around $500 per 2x4 grow. You also need timer(s).

Fertilizers come in ratios of N (Nitrogen) P (Phosphorus) and K (Potassium). All have their own ratios depending on the intended veggies. In addition to the main 3 there is another 13 trace nutrients. You can generally ignore this and just buy e.g. tomato fertilizer to grow tomatoes which will have everything you need.

You can't detect the various nutrients in your water, you use the EC meter as a proxy for basic ion levels in the water. Over time they can get out of whack which is why water changes are a good idea. Tap water will throw off your base EC, sometimes by a lot, so filtered water is a good idea (but not necessarily required.

The start-up costs are a little expensive (500-2000$) but the consumables are all very affordable. I measure my nutrients with a precision scale because the amounts are so small. I have 3-5 years worth of fertilizer on hand right now.

Here is my setup. This is two months of growth from zero (from seed). Try doing this with an outdoor garden.
Screen Shot 2022-03-15 at 1.51.33 PM.png

There is tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, brussel sprouts, cilantro, and cucumber growing here.

That's about it for the core basics. This is pretty off-topic so feel free to PM me if you have questions so we're not shitting up this thread.
 
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People are weird about compost doctrine. It’s true that if you want really premium compost you need to watch the N to C ratio, but if you’re just trying to cycle kitchen scraps, it’s pretty easy to get one of those black (non-tumbling) compost bins to keep critters out and just dump your scraps into it. If it gets stinky, cap it with some dry leaves or even shredded cardboard or junk mail. If it gets dry, water it. Eventually it will break down. It won’t be the best compost in the world, but it keeps the scraps out of the trash. You can also do trench composting (but maybe not if you battle raccoons).

I agree that hydroponics are useful. I grow some Kratky style greens on the same rack where I start our seeds. It isn’t worth it to me personally to go all in on pumps etc, but I can grow lettuce and baby kale, cilantro, etc, for cheap and almost no labor. My current system is literally about 15 dollars of aluminum catering trays topped with corrugated plastic sheets I cut holes into for the net cups.

Hydroponics is a huge autistic rabbithole. I would start just googling “kratky hydroponics” and try that out on a small scale to see if you even like it. Kratky has you growing greens in a reservoir so the plant roots dangle down onto the solution, then as the liquid level drops, the exposed plant roots are taking in oxygen. (Normally you use a pump to circulate oxygen to make this happen.) You can get really into elaborate hydro systems and spend a lot, so I would probably start with a really small system to see if you like it first.

There’s a reasonable Australian on YouTube, Hoocho, here’s his Kratky video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws9hDTwYXno
 
glad vlad said:
People are weird about compost doctrine. It’s true that if you want really premium compost you need to watch the N to C ratio, but if you’re just trying to cycle kitchen scraps, it’s pretty easy to get one of those black (non-tumbling) compost bins to keep critters out and just dump your scraps into it. If it gets stinky, cap it with some dry leaves or even shredded cardboard or junk mail. If it gets dry, water it. Eventually it will break down. It won’t be the best compost in the world, but it keeps the scraps out of the trash. You can also do trench composting (but maybe not if you battle raccoons).

I agree that hydroponics are useful. I grow some Kratky style greens on the same rack where I start our seeds. It isn’t worth it to me personally to go all in on pumps etc, but I can grow lettuce and baby kale, cilantro, etc, for cheap and almost no labor. My current system is literally about 15 dollars of aluminum catering trays topped with corrugated plastic sheets I cut holes into for the net cups.

Hydroponics is a huge autistic rabbithole. I would start just googling “kratky hydroponics” and try that out on a small scale to see if you even like it. Kratky has you growing greens in a reservoir so the plant roots dangle down onto the solution, then as the liquid level drops, the exposed plant roots are taking in oxygen. (Normally you use a pump to circulate oxygen to make this happen.) You can get really into elaborate hydro systems and spend a lot, so I would probably start with a really small system to see if you like it first.

There’s a reasonable Australian on YouTube, Hoocho, here’s his Kratky video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws9hDTwYXno
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All good info. And yes hydroponic is a very autistic endeavor. I do like how you have a range of low-end to high-end practices and everything in between. My mother in law does Kratky and she brings me huge bags of lettuce when she comes to visit.

I might revisit the composting thing again, I didn't realize you could bend the rules.
 
Hippopatumus said:
All good info. And yes hydroponic is a very autistic endeavor. I do like how you have a range of low-end to high-end practices and everything in between. My mother in law does Kratky and she brings me huge bags of lettuce when she comes to visit.

I might revisit the composting thing again, I didn't realize you could bend the rules.
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Yeah, there are some amazing hydroponics setups out there! I feel like I have to be careful to not get sucked in or I would end up spending thousands on an automated tomato Dutch bucket greenhouse or something.

Your system looks great!
 
Save the Loli said:
Trash is never your biggest problem because you always make it someone else's problem. Like that's why you pay someone to dispose of your trash. If shit hit the fan, then people will just leave bags of trash wherever they feel like. The worst will probably be fags from the suburbs who are used to driving but are scared of their HOA so they'll drive to nice rural roads and throw their trash their. Most probably will be out of state fags too from New York or California.
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you're retarded

if that happens people will get rats and all kinds of horrible diseases

composting: as a bunch of people have said it's dead easy as long as you don't put animal products or oils in there. if you have space, the easiest ways are trench or pile. trench: dig an 18" hole, put your kitchen scraps in the hole until it's halfway filled, and cover it up. then plant over it or next to it. pile: make a pile. it's super easy as long as you don't put meat, dairy, or oil in it.

hydroponics and indoor gardening require the power to stay on
 
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For those worried about critters getting your plants or your garbage or whatever, I have found something that worked really well as a deterrent.

Human. Urine.

Wherever you don't want critters, pee. OR pee into a container and pour it wherever. Don't get it directly on the leaves of your plants since some of them are sensitive to it but putting it nearby is fine.

Urine has nitrogen in it, so it doubles as free fertilizer.

Worried a neighbor will see you pouring yellow liquid onto your property? Put a few drops of food coloring in it and if asked say it's off-brand Miracle Grow.

Reapply after rain.
 
Jarolleon said:
They have the cuckservatives to run around and put out the fires they made, so as long as they keep cleaning up the mess, the assumptions hold true.


Also the Europeans had the same growth spurt we're seeing in Africa back in the 19th century, every society gets this when they industrialise for the reasons you describe. Africa industrialised last so that's why they're still at the crest of theirs. Eventually they'll get too urbanised for the 10 kids per woman thing to work out.
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That's a gross exaggeration of European population growth.
 
barleyrugsoap said:
you're retarded

if that happens people will get rats and all kinds of horrible diseases
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Never said they wouldn't, I'm just saying exactly what people will do, and that's making sure their trash isn't anywhere near them. Eventually that'll result in all sort of nasty shit, but for a few weeks it's probably okay.
FatalTater said:
Urine has nitrogen in it, so it doubles as free fertilizer.
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IIRC you need to mix the urine with other junk to convert it to actual fertilizer. There's a few traditional methods used all over the world for centuries still used in remote parts of Africa and India. There's actually an Indian caste whose traditional job is cleaning up the designated shitting streets and selling the stuff to farmers.
 
Save the Loli said:
IIRC you need to mix the urine with other junk to convert it to actual fertilizer.
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Nah, I've used it myself and the most I ever did was maybe dilute it 50-50 with water if it hadn't rained in a while.

Professionals can't charge for their services if everyone realizes they can do it themselves. Gardening is not an exception to this.

Solid human waste is different, though. It's more likely to carry disease-causing things, so it should be heat treated or something, I forget how it's done. "Night soil" it used to be called.
 
FatalTater said:
Worried a neighbor will see you pouring yellow liquid onto your property? Put a few drops of food coloring in it and if asked say it's off-brand Miracle Grow.
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Just turn to them and say it's Powerthirst; it's got what plants crave.

Now imagine in a few months when you harvest and wave to that same neighbor. "I told you, it's got what plants crave!"

You may now chill your own piss and sell it to your neighbor.
 
barleyrugsoap said:
you're retarded

if that happens people will get rats and all kinds of horrible diseases

composting: as a bunch of people have said it's dead easy as long as you don't put animal products or oils in there. if you have space, the easiest ways are trench or pile. trench: dig an 18" hole, put your kitchen scraps in the hole until it's halfway filled, and cover it up. then plant over it or next to it. pile: make a pile. it's super easy as long as you don't put meat, dairy, or oil in it.

hydroponics and indoor gardening require the power to stay on
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Don’t forget that while bones (chicken wings, tbone, etc,) are difficult to compost, if you do it right they release nutrients for a pretty long time.
 
LurkTrawl said:
Would mixing in diatomaceous earth into a compost pile hurt the plants at all? From what I understand it fucks up bugs and other small pests.
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It shouldn't hurt plants at all, but I'm not sure how well it works if it gets wet. I've not used it myself but I might try it this year now that I remember it exists.
 
oh I always forget other people don't know this

there is a very specific history to compost autism and it has to do with oil companies funding permaculture stuff in order to fuck up real alternatives to monoculture agribusiness

permaculture and transition towns and anything having to do with anthroposophy is controlled opposition.

I hate the antichrist
 
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