I’ve been reading this page for growing tips and am so happy to see an article on hydroponics, of which I’ve been experimenting since September. Still living and producing are my zucchini, indeterminate tomato, bell pepper, basil, and broccoli plants. I started very simple using 2 gallon buckets I found laying around, mason and spaghetti sauce jars, tomato cages, net cups, coconut coir plugs, clay pebbles, water soluble nutrients, and seeds. The most expensive things were the grow lights of which I now have four (LED 100W each), but I am growing in a spare bedroom with a North facing window so the lights were a must. I’m basically using the Kratky/modified DWC (deep water culture) method with no aeration or circulation of the nutrient solution. I refill the reservoirs as needed and use milk jugs to mix the nutrients. So far it is working well. I am a novice gardener so there has been a learning curve with every plant, but the experience is so rewarding! Important to note, keep the light out of the water reservoirs by covering with tin foil or painting black to keep algae from robbing the plants of nutrients. If using lights, LEDs are definitely the way to go as they are very energy efficient and do not put off much heat. With my four lights, I currently have the aforementioned survivors plus romaine, arugula, strawberries, watermelon, and cucumber with room for some snow peas that I plan to start soon. The lights are hung from an old photographers backdrop stand and can be raised and lowered as needed to match plant height. I’m not a very handy person, so the hardest part of this project was rigging the lights to the pole so that they could operate independently and stay evenly spaced (solved using hair ties) and cutting out holes for the net cups in the bucket lids using a box cutter (3” net cups fit perfectly if you use the inside ring from a wide mouth mason jar as your template). Learning to grow vertically and being sure to provide proper support has also proven to be a must. Being able to snip off fresh veggies and take them straight to the table has been just the coolest thing and my family loves it!
I’ve been reading this page for growing tips and am so happy to see an article on hydroponics, of which I’ve been experimenting since September. Still living and producing are my zucchini, indeterminate tomato, bell pepper, basil, and broccoli plants. I started very simple using 2 gallon buckets I found laying around, mason and spaghetti sauce jars, tomato cages, net cups, coconut coir plugs, clay pebbles, water soluble nutrients, and seeds. The most expensive things were the grow lights of which I now have four (LED 100W each), but I am growing in a spare bedroom with a North facing window so the lights were a must. I’m basically using the Kratky/modified DWC (deep water culture) method with no aeration or circulation of the nutrient solution. I refill the reservoirs as needed and use milk jugs to mix the nutrients. So far it is working well. I am a novice gardener so there has been a learning curve with every plant, but the experience is so rewarding! Important to note, keep the light out of the water reservoirs by covering with tin foil or painting black to keep algae from robbing the plants of nutrients. If using lights, LEDs are definitely the way to go as they are very energy efficient and do not put off much heat. With my four lights, I currently have the aforementioned survivors plus romaine, arugula, strawberries, watermelon, and cucumber with room for some snow peas that I plan to start soon. The lights are hung from an old photographers backdrop stand and can be raised and lowered as needed to match plant height. I’m not a very handy person, so the hardest part of this project was rigging the lights to the pole so that they could operate independently and stay evenly spaced (solved using hair ties) and cutting out holes for the net cups in the bucket lids using a box cutter (3” net cups fit perfectly if you use the inside ring from a wide mouth mason jar as your template). Learning to grow vertically and being sure to provide proper support has also proven to be a must. Being able to snip off fresh veggies and take them straight to the table has been just the coolest thing and my family loves it!