| Building a Do-It-Yourself System |
| Building a Do-It-Yourself System |
From "Fresh from the Garden"
episode DFFG-210 |
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Joe and his guest, hydroponics expert Demetri Hubbard, are now ready to begin putting together a do-it-yourself system from parts they bought at a hardware store. This larger hydroponic system, which holds 24 plants, can be assembled from a kit (figure A).
A do-it-yourself hydroponic garden
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Figure A
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The hydroponic kit comes with the following items:- Rolling tray to make it easy to move the unit around
- Plant tray with sites for 24 separate plants
- Forty-gallon reservoir tank to hold water and nutrient mixture
- Air pump
- Lid for the tank
- Light kit
- Pipes, fittings and connectors for the plumbing.
The bucket system in the previous segment was a drip system; this kit, on the other hand, is what's called a flood-and-drain system (figure B). The pump is set on a timer that comes on every few hours or minutes, depending on the type of plants and the humidity. Nutrients and water flood the tray and submerge the roots; then the tray drains so air can circulate around the roots. Tomatoes, herbs, peppers are the best kinds of plants to grow in a hydroponic garden (figure C). Water quality is a factor in hydroponics: the pH level is important. You can buy an inexpensive test kit for about $5 (figure D) to keep the water at the right level (6.0 to 6.5 pH). You can also buy special nutrient and fertilizer mixes especially made for hydroponic gardens.
Here's how to assemble the pieces:1. Place the bottom part of the frame on a level floor or patio (figure E) and fit the legs into the frame by sliding them into the holes provided in each corner (figure F). 2. Set the reservoir tank on top of the frame (figure G) and place the lid on the tank.
3. Place the upper platform on top of the legs and press downward to secure it in place (figure H). 4. Set the flood-and-drain tray on top of the upper platform, making sure it fits snugly into the frame (figure I).
5. To finish the assembly, slide two tubes (figure J) from the tray down to the reservoir (figure K). One tube is for overflow and the other is for filling and draining the tray (figure L).
6. Attach the pump to the flood-and-drain tube and run the cord out the side. 7. Fill the reservoir with water (figure M). Reservoir water should be changed every two to four weeks to rebalance the nutrient levels and clean the water. - There are two different fertilizer concentrates that work together to make the nutrient blend; depending on what stage of growth your plants are in, you need more or less of each one. One formula promotes plant growth; the other, flower and fruit growth. In the beginning plants need more of the growth formula to build strong stems and leaves. As they fill out and get large enough to produce fruits and vegetables, they need less of the growth formula and more of the fruiting/flowering mixture. The key is to look at the plants for blooms; when you see them, you have to add more fruiting concentrate so the energy goes into fruit and not into more leaves and stems.
- To test the pH with one of the inexpensive kits available, simply add three to five drops of pH tester to a tube full of water (figure N) and shake the tube; within a minute the water will change color. Check the color with the chart on the bottle to find out what the pH level is. You may need to bring it up or down; you can use pH up or pH down to bring it to the right level.
8. Fill the pots half full of pebbles (figure O), remove each plant from its container and wash off as much soil as you can (figure P). Then place the plant in the new pot, finish filling it with pebbles and add the plants to the tray (figure Q).
9. Set the timer to come on every 60 minutes and plug in the system to a GFCI plug.- Light kits (figure R) keep indoor gardens growing when the plants don't get the sunlight they need. A good light kit can help a gardener have tomatoes, peppers and herbs year round. The plants you start outside can come indoors, or the seedlings you start inside can go to an outdoor system when it warms up.
- Use a metal halide bulb (figure S) instead of fluorescent lights because fluorescents are not strong enough to grow fruiting plants such as tomatoes and peppers. Metal halide bulbs put out a wide spectrum of light and colors needed for good plant growth.
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