Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about the topic:

‘The two main types of hydroponics are solution culture and medium culture. Solution culture does not use a solid medium for the roots, just the nutrient solution. The three main types of solution culture are static solution culture, continuous flow solution culture and aeroponics. The medium culture method has a solid medium for the roots and is named for the type of medium, e.g. sand culture, gravel culture or rockwool culture. There are two main variations for each medium, subirrigation and top irrigation. For all techniques, most hydroponic reservoirs are now built of plastic but other materials have been used including concrete, glass, metal, vegetable solids and wood. The containers should exclude light to prevent algae growth in the nutrient solution.’

What do I need for homemade hydroponics?

First of all you will need one tote that will work as the nutrients and mineral reservoir; then a water pump will be used for oxygenating the nutrients all the time. An upper container will be used to hold several other smaller plant containers, in the container’s bottom two holes must be made and used in the following way: one hole will support the flood and drain, and the other one must placed for the overflow pipe.

A short tube pipe must be taken from the water pump to the drain fitting, and the water pump must be connected to a clock. This is the basics of an effective homemade hydroponics. The pump must work four times a day about half an hour each time.

If you succeeded in putting together a functional homemade hydroponics then your job is half done, because the other essential part is to learn how to feed your plants, according to the type of crop you are growing certain nutrients and minerals are to be used to achieve a satisfying result.

One of the best ways to prevent failure is to acquire a Ph meter and an EC meter that will both help you in monitoring the amount of nutrients and minerals your system has. As it can be seen homemade hydroponics are not something very easily made, but with determination and a little effort, results will show.

The things you will need for homemade hydroponics

Building homemade hydroponics is neither impossible nor too expensive, you will just need two 32 liter plastic totes, an aquarium water and an air pump. You also need to buy some flood and drain fittings and finally some plastic tubings and a timer. Hydroponics has become quite a hobby for many researchers and the fact is that its importance is recognized even by NASA that use this technique in providing fresh vegetable and recycle air on the orbital space station. Good luck!

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Here is what you need to build a DIY deep water culture system:

- Reservoir (you can use fish tank, bucket or any water proof bin)
- Tubing
- Aquarium air stones
- Growing net pots
- Styrofoam (as floater to hold the plants)
- Air pump
- Growing mediums (recommended to use grow rocks or rockwool)
- Hydroponic nutrients
- Cutter or scissors

Step-by-step guide for building deep water culture system

1. Styrofoam is used as floater to support the plants above the nutrient solution. You have 2 options:
(a) Cut the Styrofoam with exact measurement of your reservoir and float the whole piece on top of the nutrient solution, or
(b) Cut the Styrofoam as individual floaters for the plants; so the individual floater will each supports a growing net pot.

2. If option (a) is used, transfer the measurement of reservoir’s length and width onto the Styrofoam. It should be cut about 1/4 inch smaller than the actual measurement. However, if the reservoir used is narrow at the bottom, it should be cut about 2 to 3 inch smaller.

3. Outline the growing net pots onto the Styrofoam. Cut out the marked area so that it securely holds the net pot halfway down the Styrofoam.

4. Fix the air pump at the bottom of the reservoir. Connect the tubing and air stones to the pump.

5. Transfer the germinated seeds into the growing net pots filled with growing mediums such as grow rocks or rockwools.

6. Fill the reservoir with hydroponic nutrients specifically for your plants. Prepare the nutrient solution following the instructions given by the type of fertilizer used.

7. Now, you can place the growing net pots into the holes on Styrofoam. Rest the Styrofoam on top of the nutrient solution.

8. Switch on the air pump to provide aeration to the nutrient solution.

Monitor the nutrient solution; make sure your plants are getting sufficient oxygenated nutrients to ensure rapid and healthy growth. The nutrient solution needs to be replaced every once a week with pH reading maintained between 5.5 and 6.5.

When replacing the hydroponic nutrients, make sure you wash the reservoir to get rid of any algae, mold, and / or other salt debris. The highly oxygenated environment in a deep water culture system will promote the growth of algae and mold inside the reservoir. Thus, you may consider blocking the light from penetrating the reservoir by painting it black. This will help preventing algae issue.

To achieve a healthy supply of oxygen in deep water culture system, you can either use aeration devices (like air stones in the example above), or the water from several buckets can be connected and re-circulated continuously through them using spray nozzles.

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1. Arrange the rockwool cubes in a propagator.

2. Prepare the solutions with Roots Stimulator, and pH reading around 6.0.

3. Soak the rockwool cubes entirely with this nutrients solution.

4. Then, slot in the seeds into the hole in the centre of the rockwool cubes with a depth of around 0.5cm to 1cm.


5. Cover the propagator with a lid to maintain prevent nutrient solutions from drying out.

6. Illuminate the propagator with a soft or neon grow light.

7. Wait for the seed to start sprouting.

8. When you see signs of sprouting, transfer the rockwool cubes into a grow system.

9. Now, use a Metal Halide or HPS grow light to illuminate your grow system.

10. Fill the tank with water and fertilizer salts according to the irrigation scheme or with the help of an EC meter.

11. Start the system and set the timer for 1 minute of irrigation every 1 – 2 hours and 1 minute of irrigation in the middle of the dark period.

12. Set the timer to 18 hours of grow light per day.

13. Monitor the pH values and if necessary correct the solution with a pH+ or pH- corrector.

14. Monitor the EC values and if necessary correct the solution adding fertilizers or diluting it with water.

15. Always check that the solution in the tank is not damaged by sudden temperature changes and maintains the values between 18 to 26 degrees.

16. When you want to induce plants to flowering, change the daylight hours from 18 hours to 12 hours per day.

17. At the same variation of light, give a bloom fertilizer salt according to the irrigation scheme.

18. Monitor the pH values and the EC values whenever you have added or changed fertilizer, if necessary correct the solution accordingly.

(Images credit to www.hydroponic.eu)

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Concept of Ebb and Flow Hydroponic System

A reservoir filled with hydroponic nutrients and water is placed under a growing tray. The growing tray holds the plants pots, which are filled with growing mediums like rockwool, perlite, clay pebbles, or coconut fiber. The plants are flooded with hydroponic nutrients and water on the timed schedule by using a pump and a timer. When the timer is off, the nutrient solution is slowly drained back to the reservoir providing oxygen to the root system of the plant. To prevent overflow of hydroponic nutrients, an overflow drain is usually installed to adjust the maximum height for filling the nutrients.

Things you need to build an Ebb and Flow hydroponic system

1. Hydroponic tray
Plastic tray is more preferable as it is lighter and more durable to hold up the plants, growing mediums and nutrient solution. Take note that light should not shine through the tray in order to protect the roots system. The tray must be able to drain thoroughly to prevent root rot and mold problems due to standing water pools.

2. Growing medium
You can basically use any growing medium in an Ebb and Flow system. Though grow rocks or clay pebbles are more effective as this type growing mediums does not hold lots of water.

3. Support system
You will need a support system to hold the growing tray above the reservoir. The support system used must be strong and sturdy to bear the weight of your plants, growing mediums, and nutrient solution. You can use table, sawhorses, or milk crate as the support system in your Ebb and flow hydroponic system.

4. Plant pots
You can use almost any plastic pot as long as it has a hole at the bottom to allow the fill and drain of hydroponic nutrients.

5. Reservoir
Large plastic container works best as reservoir as it does not rust over time. Make sure the container is light proof to prevent algae growth problem.

6. Water pump
For a small scale setup, using an aquarium pump is adequate.

7. Drains
Basically there are 2 types of drain required in an Ebb and flow system. One for the filling and draining of the water from reservoir. Another drain is for controlling the overflow where you can adjust the maximum water level for your hydroponic system.

8. Timer
You can use any timer that allows the adjustment for an interval of 15 minutes or 30 minutes.

9. Flexible Tubing
Flexible tubing is required to connect the pump to your growing tray. Make sure you use non-transparent type of tubing to prevent algae growth.

Watch this video to learn how to build Hydroponic Ebb and Flow System easily.

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1. Organic hydroponic nutrients
By making your own hydroponic nutrients, you able to ensure that they are purely organic by using only organic materials. As opposed to store bought hydroponic nutrients, you may not be sure about the ingredients that are going into your plants.

2. Customized hydroponic nutrients
Making your own hydroponic nutrients is the only way for you to customize the specific nutrient needs for your plant. You can grow your plants the way you want them to by using DIY hydroponic nutrients.

Make Hydroponic Nutrients

On top of the fundamental 3 key elements: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium; you need at least 10 other trace elements when making hydroponic nutrients. Each of these trace elements has its specific role in nourishing your plants. These elements include sulphur, magnesium, calcium, iron, manganese, zinc, copper, chlorine, boron and molybdenum.

Nutrients requirement of a plant changes under different conditions, weather and timing. Therefore, the nutrient solution must be in balanced ratio that contains all of the important elements in order to satisfy the requirements of the plant at any one time.

Formula to Make Hydroponic Nutrients

Combine the following ingredients in a container and set aside for later use.

- 15 oz superphosphate
- 10 oz potassium sulphate
- 10 oz sodium nitrate
- 10 oz calcium nitrate
- 5 oz magnesium sulphate

These are the trace elements to be added into our hydroponic nutrients in order to provide balance nutrients for proper plant growth.

- 1 oz iron sulphate
- 1 teaspoon boric acid powder
- 1 teaspoon manganese sulphate
- 1/2 teaspoon copper sulphate
- 1/2 teaspoon zinc sulphate

Combine the above trace elements in a different container. Mix them well before crushing them into fine powder. When they are completely mixed and in powdery form, add them to the formula prepared above and stirs well.

You can either
1. Use the ratio of 1/2 teaspoon to 100 gallons of water, or
2. Mix 1 teaspoon into one quart of water and use one liquid ounce to 3 gallons of nutrient solution.

Keep in mind that the remaining mix shall be discarded as it becomes bad after a day.

Tips for Making Hydroponic Nutrients

1. Use a large and clean bowl for mixing the trace elements.
2. Use a mortar and pestle to crush pebbly elements.
3. Add powdered trace elements in the last step and mix everything together gently.

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There are five main benefits of using Hydroton as your growing medium in a hydroponic gardening.

1. Hydroton is reusable.
Most growing mediums wear out over time and you have to replace them. Hydroton can be used year after year and need not to be replaced. It saves a lot of money because growing mediums are expensive to replace. The only thing that needs to be done with Hydroton is that the pebbles need to be rinsed with hydrogen peroxide to clean them each year.

2. Hydroton is very stable.
Hydroton is not only a stable growing medium, it also retains water much better than any other medium. This is important because as to insure that the plants are getting all of the water and nutrients that are essential for healthy growth.

3. Hydroton is pH balanced.
Most other growing mediums can change the pH levels of your plants. This is important because adding nutrient solution tends to alter the pH level. Being too acidic or too alkaline can damage the plants.

4. Hydroton provides plenty of aeration.
It is important for oxygen to be able to get to the roots so that they do not rot. The tiny pebbles are loose and provide plenty of space for oxygen to reach the hydroponic roots system.

5. Hydroton is the most affordable growing medium.
The final benefit of using Hydroton is probably one of the best. It is priced very cheap, it will help if you are financially strapped. You can still have your hydroponic garden and not have to pay through your nose for expensive growing medium.

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• 10 gallon tank
• Pump
• Check valve
• Bubble stone
• Styrofoam
• Poster board
• Air filter
• Clear caulk
• Bag of gravel, and
• Potted herbs

Watch this video to learn exactly how to set up or build your very own hydroponic garden the cheap way. Grow your favorite plants, fruits and vegetable all year long with hydroponic gardening. This saves you money in the long run.

Building a hydroponic garden is not complicated at all once you have master the skill and technique. Watch this video to get some rough ideas on how to go about building a hydroponic garden. You may call it DIY hydroponic garden.

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