My Most Successful Hydroponic System, missing info?

by Alex

Hi, We love your website. We will be building this system. When looking at this diagram (My Most Successful...) off to the right , what are those 2 grey curvy lines going off to the right and the 2 little orange boxes? Is that inside the system or outside. Thank you so much for your reply. Thanks, Alex

Answer: Alex- on the diagram of My Most Successful Homemade Hydroponic System those two little orange boxes are aquarium air pumps, and the grey lines are standard 1/4 inch air tubing.

Every plant requires oxygen at the root level. In fact, the roots will only absorb nutrients in the presence of oxygen. This is not a concern when using a flood and drain system or a drip system, but in THIS system the plants are grown directly in the water. In order to provide enough oxygen to the roots, you need to add a couple of air pumps and air stones to the system.

When I first started using this design, I put two 6 inch air stones in the nutrient reservoir. This put enough dissolved oxygen into the nutrient solution, but the air stones and air lines were always in the way (especially when doing nutrient solution changes). That's when I decided to put the air stones in the elbows of the system instead of having them in the nutrient reservoir.

To do this, simply drill a 1/4 inch hole in the top of the elbow. Slide your air stone into position, feed the air tube through the hole, and connect the two inside the system. If your air stone is too long, you won't be able to slide it into place (it won't make it past the bend). If you're not sure, you might want to put the air stones into the elbows before you glue them together.

I have a couple other suggestions if you want to be successful using this system. In my original article, I include instructions on how to fill the "cups" with clay pellets and how to transplant your plants into the system. Making sure you fill the clay pellets even with the water level, and making sure you fill around you transplants with pre-soaked clay pellets are both important to the survival of your plants in the first week.

Cool water will hold more dissolved oxygen than warm water....also, warm water supports many different pathogens. For both of these reasons, you never want your nutrient solution to get above 72*F. Keeping the reservoir on a cool concrete floor (as you might have in a basement) is a good idea. You may also want to pick up a floating thermometer for the nutrient reservoir....you can get these at a pet shop in the aquarium department.

Chlorine from tap water can harm your plants, but worse....I've seen a whole garden wiped out overnight from temperature shock when cold water straight from the tap was used for a nutrient solution change. Room temperature water is always best. I highly recommend using TWO nutrient reservoirs- fill one with plain water and set it off to the side, waiting for the next nutrient solution change. This will eliminate BOTH of these problems.

Make sure you have adequate temp control in the garden area....see my pages on exhaust fans and oscillating fans (both important). Make sure you have adequate lighting....a 4' x 8' system does well using one 1000 watt light on a light mover or two stationary 600 watt lights (for most crops). Be sure to maintain your nutrient solution properly- see my how to grow hydro page. Finally, most crops require a dark period (12 hours) every day in order to trigger flowering- learn more about this on my flower forcing page.

Running this system, I tried to keep the water level as high as possible. This might not be necessary (it led to occasional small leaks for me). Once your plants have rooted well, you should be able to drop the water level just a tiny bit without harming the plant growth. This will also help you run the system without having any leaks.

I know this is more info than you asked for, but I would really like to see you succeed with your efforts. Feel free to write again if you have any other questions, and Happy Growing!