Hydroponic Plans for the Do It Yourself-er

If you are interested in building your own hydroponics system in order to grow some plants either indoors or out, you will need some detailed hydroponic plans to get the job done and get it done correctly. Building your own homemade hydroponics system ranges in difficulty from easy as pie for the simplest of systems to in-depth and involved for the more complex systems. There are many different types of hydroponics systems, and each works in its own way. Fundamentally, there are six basic types of hydroponics systems: Wick, Drip, Ebb and Flow, Water Culture, Nutrient Film Technique (N.F.T.), and Aeroponic, with the first being the simplest of systems and Aeroponic being the most high tech of the lot.

The system you choose to build will depend on your skill level as well as what you want to accomplish with your growing. For example, while the Wick system is the easiest, it is not best suited to larger plants or plants that take a long time to grow. Aeroponic systems are very effective, but they are also the most complex. Regardless of which system you choose, however, there are a few basic things you will require for each one in order to grow happy, healthy, thriving plants.

Homemade hydroponics systems can be crafted from every day materials. In addition to the plans for the system of your choice, you will need starter cubes, a nutrient solution, a growth medium, seeds, and a good light source. For a very basic and very inexpensive system, for example, you can use a two buckets to create a Wick system. The plans for this system are as follows:

Get a five gallon plastic bucket and make sure it is clean. Punch holes in a ring about 1 and ½ inches from the bottom of the bucket. The ring of holes will create a small reservoir for the nutrient solution in the bottom of the bucket that will get wicked up to the plants and their roots by the capillary action of the growth medium. The holes should be about ½ inch in diameter so they do not get plugged up, but holes any larger than that make you run the risk of your growing medium drying out.

Fill the bucket with your growing medium. The growing medium needs to be washed or pre-soaked before you add it to the bucket. Next, plant your seedlings or seeds in the growing medium. For the hand watered version of this system, you should mix your nutrient solution according to the manufacturer’s instructions on the packaging. Once mixed, slowly add it to the bucket until you see a little overflow from the holes. Repeat as necessary.

To create an automated version of this system, you will need an additional clean five gallon bucket. This will now act as your reservoir tank. Fill it with your nutrient solution and then add a submersible pump. Plug the pump into a timer – you will need a short cycle timer that can be set for short periods of time. A good interval to start with is to have the pump turn on for a full minute once or twice daily. Run the air line or tubing into the other bucket to use it as a drip line. The nutrient solution will drip into the plant bucket whenever the timer goes off. Make sure the drip line runs right to the base of the plant for best results.

Once everything is set up and running, you will begin to see results! Enjoy your new hydroponics system!