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Home Hydroponics, the easy way!


Welcome....

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.


Combined, both systems grew 9 basil plants, 11 parsely, 6 carribean scotch bonnet pepper plants, 3 cilantro and 3 green pepper plants.

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.

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Check out our article in the Nov/Dec 2006 issue of CountrySide Magazine on 'Hydroponic Bucket Tomatoes' ________________________________________________________________

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)

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Site Links

General Hydroponics, an Overview
This section, General Hydroponics, is meant to give you a little background so you can better design and maintain your hydroponics systems

Hydroponics-at-Home SiteSearch
Search Hydroponics-at-Home or the Web

Gardening Articles
A list of gardening articles covering hydroponics, agriculture and dirt gardening

Hydroponics Nutrients
Hydroponics Nutrients are a blend of all the essential minerals needed to sustain a plant

Hydroponics Growing Medium
The main purpose of a Hydroponics Growing Medium is to anchor the plant.

Hydroponics Plant Propagation
Plant propagation in a hydroponics system is fairly easy provided you follow certain basic rules.

Growing plants indoors with hydroponic lighting systems
Indoor Hydroponic Lighting systems are state-of-the-art with much to choose from.

All about a Hydroponics Pump
Everything you need to know to select the right hydroponics pump for your system.

List of common Plants diseases that can afflict your hydroponics garden
There are a variety of plant diseases that can afflict your hydroponics garden

Identifying Common Plant Pests
How to identify common plant pests in your hydroponics garden

Setting up Greenhouse Hydroponics
How to build a portable, seasonal greenhouse for greenhouse hydroponics

Mittleider Hydroponics Grow Box Design
The Mittleider Hydroponics Grow Box incorporates both soil and soiless gardening. Here's how...

Build your own Hydroponics System; an Ebb and Flow Design
Build your own Hydroponics System; an ebb and flow, timer-controlled design

How to keep a complete hydroponics system running smoothly
How to keep a complete hydroponics system running smoothly and efficiently

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Policies of Hydroponics-at-Home.com

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Hydroponic Systems Blog
Get all the hydroponics information you need, here! Hydroponic Systems Blog

Hydroponics books from Amazon.com
Hydroponics books from Amazon.com

Gardening Videos
Gardening Videos on gardening techniques whether for dirt or hydroponics


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