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Home Hydroponics, the easy way!Are you interested in building a complete and inexpensive home hydroponics system? If so, then this is the place for you! So... where to start? Let's start at the beginning. Hydroponic systems have been around for centuries. The Aztecs designed floating rafts covered with dirt in which they planted food crops. The dirt was taken from the bottom of the lake so it was loaded with nutrients and the roots of the planted crops would dangle into the lake for water. These rafts would just float around until harvest time. It has even been suggested that the famous 'Gardens of Babylon' were elaborate hydroponics systems. Hydroponics, or 'soiless gardening', was always a mystery to me - it brought to mind warehouses full of supporting equipment and multi-thousands of dollars to keep it running. This may be true for some of the larger commercial enterprises but not for the home-builder. Simple home growing systems can be built completely on your own even if you have little to no mechanical ability such as myself. They can be as simple as a glass jar, an aquarium air-bubbler and some hydroponic nutrient to grow one plant or can consist of a 5 gallon cooler, an aquarium air bubbler, nutrient and something to float the plants on such as styrofoam. This is a picture of 2 growing systems in my portable greenhouse; one I purchased and one I virtually built by myself. Both systems are an ebb and flow design. The system in the foreground uses 2 separate growing containers holding an amazing number of plants and the background system is designed for 1 plant per container for 12 containers. They are very compact and easy to maintain.
Or it can be as complex as a water pump on a timer periodically pumping in nutrient solution to groups of plants arranged in a container. In other words, once you get past the idea that plants NEED soil to grow properly you can design and build any number of systems for yourself. The sky is the limit! Just think of soil merely as the means to anchor a plant - it is the mineral salts mixed with the soil that plants need to grow. So feel free to make yourself at home and 'browse' to your heart's content. Hopefully you will glean some valuable information and either build your own system or gain the knowledge to select a good pre-made system. Also, please feel free to contact me for any questions or comments concerning this web site. ________________________________________________________________
References Nicholls, Richard E., Hydroponics - Soiless Gardening. Running Press (1990). Crockett, James Underwood, Vegetables and Fruits, The Time-Life Encyclopedia of Gardening, Time, Inc. (1972) Crockett, James Underwood, Tanner, Ogden, Herbs, The Time-Life Encyclopedia of Gardening, Time, Inc. (1977) Crockett, James Underwood, Greenhouse Gardening, The Time-Life Encyclopedia of Gardening, Time, Inc. (1977) ________________________________________________________________ Site Links
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