Homemade Hydroponics Systems

 

If you are planning to construct or buy one of the various kits for homemade hydroponics, you should carefully think about what plants you will be growing as few home hydroponics systems are suitable for growing a wide range of crops. If you are only just starting in gardening or you are considering an agricultural business using home hydroponics then you will need a large amount of specialist equipment which is only really available from specialist stores. Unfortunately, even for the smallest systems, things can be rather expensive so careful consideration is required.

Getting Started With A Simple Setup

Firstly you will need the following basic equipment, a container (32 liter plastic tote) which will act as the main reservoir for the nutrient and mineral solution, a water pump to shift the solution around, an air pump to oxygenate the solution, another container(s) sufficiently sized to hold your individual plant containers, tubing and, finally, a timer device.

In the upper container you will need to create two holes, one is for the flood and drain and the other is a simple overflow tube. The drain and flood hole should be connected to the pump using a length of tube. Your pump should also be connected to the timer device.

Once you have the basic setup fixed together, and water tight, you will need to set the pump to work for half hour intervals four times daily. You should now have a completed homemade hydroponics system and all that is left to do is to learn how to use it.

Start Growing Your Plants

Firstly you will need to understand the basic elements concerning feeding plants, which is completely different to feeding plants in gardens. How you feed your plants depends greatly upon the exact type of crop you have decided to grow as specific species required differing levels of nutrients and minerals to grow well and this balance may not be fixed during the plants life cycle.

Additional Equipment

Homemade hydroponics systems can be a little bit more difficult to control than a professionally built system. To grow plants well you will need to keep a constant check on the nutrient and mineral levels so it is strongly advised that you purchase an EC meter and also a Ph meter which makes the task far easier to perform and using them means your measurements will be far more accurate.

Building a homemade hydroponics system is a relatively easy task to perform using specialist equipment. Some of the equipment can be bought elsewhere, such as aquarium water and air pumps, but some of the flood and drain fittings and the timers are best bought from somebody who understands your requirements. Also, if you buy all your equipment from a single source you may be able to get a small discount or maybe a few things thrown in for free, there is certainly no harm in asking.

 

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