How to make a hydroponic garden?

A hydroponic garden allows you to grow herbs and vegetables without soil indoors or outdoors.

Getting Started with Hydroponics

Are you interested in hydroponics and growing food at home, but don’t know where to start? Growing food hydroponically at home has many advantages: a regular supply of fresh, nutritious food will save you from having to make trips to the supermarket. Agree, this is very convenient.

Hydroponics with your own hands

In today’s world to grow flowers, get crops of lettuce, vegetables, and other crops can be grown not only in the garden or greenhouse but also in an ordinary city apartment. To grow plants at home, it is necessary to create artificial climate conditions for them. One of the most effective methods of growing is hydroponics.

Hydroponics is a technology of soilless cultivation of plants, which has a number of advantages over the traditional way of growing in soil, namely:

• No need to loosen the soil, no need to fight weeds, no need to regularly water the plantings;
  full control of plant nutrition;
• In hydroponics plants easily get all the nutrients and do not waste energy on the development of the root system.

Creating a hydroponic installation by yourself

You do not need to be a highly qualified engineer to assemble a hydroponic system with your own hands. The simplest model will consist only of a tank, a compressor with a sprayer, planting places, and an inert substrate. Some of the more complex systems may have additional elements, but they are mostly incidental.

In this article, we will look at several types of different hydroponic systems, but first, we will talk about the general rules to be followed when purchasing components.

Rule 1

The tank intended for the nutrient solution must be made of a neutral material that is resistant to fertilizer and impervious to light.

Rule 2

The volume of the container must be adjusted to the number of plants and their “appetite”. Otherwise, the container will have to be refilled too often.

Rule 3

Of inert substrates, you can choose mineral wool, expanded clay, coconut fiber, perlite, vermiculite, or their complexes.

ACS system

These instructions will help you create a budget system from improvised materials.

You will need:

• 2 plastic containers + 1 lid;
• Disposable plastic cups;
• 1 plastic and 1 rubber tube (the plastic outlet should have a larger diameter);
• Pump capacity of 380 l / h (we recommend considering the model SP-650 from the brand Resun);
• A knife or drill to make the holes;
• Seals and hot melt glue;
• 2 L-fittings. You can take the connecting elements of high-strength plastic and save money without losing quality.

To assemble such a system is very simple.

To do this, follow the instructions:

1. In the lid of the container, you need to make holes for the seats.
2. In the bottom of the glasses, cut holes for the roots.
3. Place the top box on top of the bottom box, then one end of the rubber hose should be pulled out through the cut hole.
4. In order to feed the nutrient solution from the lower tank to the upper one you need to buy a pump and attach a hose 10-15 cm long to it. The pump should be placed in the lower tank with the nutrient solution.
5. The end of the plastic hose should be cut at a 45-degree angle and installed with the cut side down. Special gaskets or thermal glue should be used to seal the holes.
6. In the upper container on opposite sides diagonally there should be two holes for the water supply and drain. After it remains to pour the nutrient solution into the bottom tank, turn on the pump, and check if there is a fountain from the tube (to test the drain for leaks).
7. Put the cups in place. The hydroponic system is ready!

How To Make inexpensive Hydroponic System and Start Hydroponics Garden At home

Types of hydroponic gardens

Hydroponic gardens often produce fast-growing, nutrient-rich foods. This fact occurs because whoever plants it has complete control over the elements that influence and regulate plant growth, such as moisture, pH, oxidation, and nutrients.

In any case, not all hydroponic systems are the same, depending on how you circulate the water with the nutrient solution, depending on how you use the substrate, we can divide gardens into different types. Once we know what hydroponic gardens are, we will see the different types that exist.

Hydroponic garden with a flooding and draining system

In this system, plants are grown in a tray filled with some kind of substrate, which can be inert (pearls, pebbles, etc.) or organic. These trays are filled with nutrients that are absorbed by the plants.

When the plants have used up all the nutrients, drain the tray and fill it again with the nutrient solution. The amount of time the solution stays in the tray depends on the substrate’s ability to hold water and nutrients.

Hydroponic garden with a drip system for collecting nutrient solution

This hydroponic garden uses traditional drip irrigation methods. The difference is that the excess is collected and pumped back into the crop as needed. Since the garden is built on a slope, the excess can be removed.

DWP hydroponic garden (deep water crop)

This hydroponic garden system is very similar to those used in ancient times. Place the plants in a dish placed in a pool of nutrient solution. The roots are in contact with the water, so they can absorb nutrients. The problem is that when it comes to standing water you have to oxygenate it with a pump such as the one installed in the aquarium.

NFT (Nutrient FilmTechnic) hydroponic garden

This is the most widely used type of hydroponic garden in the industry. Plants are placed in PVC pipes with no substrate, and a solution is continuously circulated in the pipes through a network of pumps to allow the roots to absorb nutrients.

Advantages and disadvantages

Like everything, this method of plant propagation has its advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages:

• Space saving, no arable land, speed of plant growth, control of plant nutrient uptake, etc.
• Growing in a hydroponic garden is a very simple, clean, and effective technique for growing food.
• When compared to traditional growing, the system does not require much water.
• Not all plants are grown using this technique, and some plants respond better than others.
• Most hydroponic gardens require a seedbed to be germinated before plants can be integrated into any garden.
• Careful control of the nutrient solution is necessary to ensure that the crop receives all the nutrients it needs to grow properly.

Disadvantages

Among the disadvantages, we must know more than we need to grow in the garden (know what the ideal hydroponics method is, the proportion of nutrients in the water, etc.), and the use of water is higher compared to traditional crops.

Germination must be done in the seedbed before hydroponics., not all plant species can grow properly with this system, etc.

DWC plant

DWC is a method of deep water crops. In this method of growing, the root system of the plant is completely submerged in a nutrient solution that is constantly aerated. An example of such a system is a ready-made setup.

It is excellent for growing annual crops of large sizes. Thanks to its compact size, it can even be easily placed on a windowsill. All you need to do to get a good yield is to change the solution every 7-10 days and control the pH and EC. If you want, a similar installation can be assembled yourself.

For this we will need:

• A container of at least 20 liters with a lid;
• A mesh pot with a diameter of 16 cm, made of non-toxic, high-strength plastic;
• ASC-02 atomizer;
• Single-channel compressor.

Assembly process

In the lid of the tank should be made a hole for the diameter of the pot. Directly under the lid should make another hole under the compressor wire, connected to the aerator. The joints should be sealed.

The germinated seed in the mineral wool plug should be placed in an inert substrate such as expanded clay drainage or mineral wool. The substrate with the seedling, respectively, be placed in the planting place. In the tank is poured 12-15 liters of nutrient solution. The compressor in such a system should work 24 hours a day. The nutrient solution should be changed once every 7-10 days. Remember that with hydroponics it is important to control the pH and EC of the solution.

Drip irrigation system

It should be considered a temporary help to the plants, especially when you are not at home. If properly assembled, this system can irrigate your plants without your presence. Growers often use drip irrigation to water their pets grown on coconut or any other inert substrate.

Here’s what you’ll need to create a drip irrigation system:

• A tank for the nutrient solution (depending on the number of plants);
• two 16 mm line pipes made of sturdy plastic;
• microtubing;
• seals;
• micro fittings;
• G-fitting;
• puncher.

How to assemble drip irrigation:

1 Make a hole in the tank for the main line pipe (seal it with a sealant);
2 Arrange the lines from a 16 mm pipe;
3 Make a hole for the microtube using a puncher
4 Then the microtube is connected to the main pipe with a microfitting;
5 The drip trays are installed;
6 A pump should be placed in the tank;
7 At the end of the main line install a tap for drainage.

You can assemble a drip irrigation system yourself. Long search for components will not have to. Everything you need for assembly is available in our store.

Aeroponics with their own hands

The term aeroponics should be understood as growing plants in a soilless environment. Only unlike hydroponics, their roots are in the air and irrigated with a nutrient solution supplied by nozzles.

Accessories:

• A large container for 70-100 liters;
• PVC sheet;
• mesh pots.
• water pump with a capacity of 3000 l/hr;
• piece of metal-plastic 50 cm;
• 2 adapters for metal-plastic;
• nozzles.

Assembly diagram

• One end of the adapter must be screwed into the pump, and the second end must be connected to the spigot through the barrel;
• Position the construction at the bottom of the pot;
• Cut out the lid from plastic to the diameter of the top of the pot;
• Make holes in the lid for planting seats;
• Perforate the pots with a soldering iron;
• Cover the center hole with a stopper;
• It remains to add substrate to the pots, place the plants, fill the container with a nutrient solution with an adjusted pH (5.8-6.2) and turn on the pump.

Tips:

• Pour no more than 50 liters of solution;
• Choose a watering regime of 15 minutes with intervals of 30 minutes;
• Use coarse expanded clay as substrate.

Where do I get my accessories?

Many elements of hydroponic installations and drip irrigation systems can be bought in ordinary construction and gardening stores. You can save time and buy most of the components at a progressive plant breeding store. For example, in the product catalog of our online store, you will find compressors, pumps, filters, tanks, and tubes, as well as connecting elements, substrates, fertilizers, and water quality control devices. This list is not complete.

There are also ready-made hydroponic systems for sale. It is enough to buy a tank and suitable substrate (coconut-perlite, playdate soil, expanded playdate-mineral wool) and refill the solution as needed.

With this information, I hope you can learn more about what hydroponic gardens are and what their characteristics are.

High yields will be assured!