How to Build Hydroponic Ebb & Flow
As hydroponics grows in popularity among home gardeners, more commercial hydroponic systems are becoming available. These systems can be quite expensive, however, and the pumps involved in a regular ebb and flow system can be noisy. You can build a simple system out of inexpensive materials, some of which you may already have available. Another benefit of building your own system is that you can adapt it to fit your available space and your chosen plants. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- (2) 5-gallon buckets or plastic bins
- Table or other raised platform
- Drill with 1/2-inch bit
- Growing medium: perlite or vermiculite/perlite mix
- 1/2-inch diameter flexible tubing, 4 to 5 feet long
- 1/4-inch diameter flexible tubing, 4 to 5 feet long
- Window screening
- Scissors
- Aquarium pump and air stone
- (2) 1/2-inch grommets
- (2) 1/2-inch barbed connectors
- Gravel
- Nutrient solution
- Water test kit and pH adjuster
Instructions
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1
Drill a hole in each bucket or bin, 1/2 inch from the bottom.
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2
Insert a grommet into the hole in each bin from the outside.
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3
Insert the barbed connectors into the grommets and attach an end of the 1/2-inch tubing to each.
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4
Pour a few inches of gravel into one bucket; this bucket will hold your plants and the other will be the nutrient reservoir.
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5
Place the window screening on top of the gravel and fold it or otherwise mark it to cut off the excess with scissors. This screen will act as a filter to keep your growing medium from washing into the tubing and clogging it, so fit it tightly into the bucket or bin.
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6
Add your growing medium on top of the screen and plant your seedlings, then put the plant bucket on the table.
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7
Fill the second bucket with nutrient solution to a level that won't be too heavy for you to lift.
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8
Connect the air stone to the air pump with the 1/4-inch diameter tubing and place the air pump into the nutrient bucket.
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9
Test the pH of the nutrient solution and use liquid pH adjuster as necessary, then place a lid loosely on the bucket to prevent debris from falling into the solution.
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10
Feed your plants by lifting the reservoir bucket onto the table next to the plant bucket. The gravity-fed tubing will fill the plant bucket with nutrient solution.
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11
Wait a few minutes, then lower the nutrient bucket back to the ground to allow the excess nutrient solution in the planter to run back into the reservoir.
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12
Repeat this process periodically. Your plants will need watering more often as they grow or as the weather gets hot.
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13
Check the pH of your nutrient solution every other day and adjust as necessary.
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14
Add plain water to the nutrient solution when it is about half gone to bring it back to its original level. Do not add more nutrient solution to the water at this point or the build-up could harm your plants. Check the pH of the solution after adding water and adjust if necessary.
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15
Empty the reservoir when it is half gone the second time and mix a fresh batch of solution. Use the leftover solution on your houseplants if you'd like.
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