Home Hydroponics, the easy way!

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 hydroponic 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 plant 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.

My Home-Built Systems

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 also known as a flood/drain system. 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.

If you like this website, consider downloading this free toolbar for your browser.

Previously I featured a conduit toolbar with radio for download but replaced it with the Alexa toolbar featuring website anaysis tools along with real-time related links to facilitate searching. Alexa is owned by Amazon and will not embed spyware into their toolbar. It's safe and it's free!

Download

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)
• Connolly, Bryan, "The Wisdom of Plant Heritage: Organic Seed Production and Saving", Northeast Organic Farming Assoc. (2004)

Site Map