How to Make Hydroponics Easily

Hydroponic systems may seem technical, but you can build one at home easily.

Hydroponic growing systems may seem like space-age technology, but some historians believe that ancient civilizations as diverse as the Aztecs in Tenochtitlan (present-day Mexico City) and the ancient Babylonians practiced a form of hydroponic gardening. Although hydroponic systems may be in use today by scientists to grow crops in remote research stations, you can put together a simple hydroponic system using common items that you can find in your home.

Things You'll Need

• Styrofoam ice chest
• Ink pen
• Fish tank tubing
• Styrofoam cups
• Utility knife
• Perlite
• Lettuce seedlings
• Pre-mixed hydroponic nutrients
• Fish tank bubbler
• Fish tank air pump
• Grow lamp
• Timer

Instructions

1. Poke a tiny hole in one corner of the Styrofoam lid using an ink pen. This hole should be just wide enough to thread the fish tank tubing through it.

2. Push the fish tank tubing through the hole. Pull one-third of the tubing length through the hole in the lid.

3. Cut the Styrofoam cups in half crossways. You will use one cup for each seedling you plant. Place the lower half of the cups against the ice chest lid so that their bottom ends face upward. Trace around the cups with the pen. Cut the circles out of the ice chest lid. Each circle should be slightly smaller than the ink tracing so that when you insert the cups into the holes in the Styrofoam, the smaller holes prevent the cups from falling through.

4. Cut a series of slits into the bottom and sides of the cups for the roots to grow through. Place each cup into the round holes in the Styrofoam lid. Fill each cup with perlite. Open a planting pocket in the cup of perlite. Place the root ball of a lettuce seedling in each cup and cover with perlite.

5. Fill the Styrofoam cooler with hydroponic nutrients. Connect the bubbler to the lower end of the tubing and put it in the bottom of the cooler. Place the lid on the cooler. Plug in the pump to activate the bubbler.

6. Place a grow lamp over the hydroponic system so that the lamp is 6 to 12 inches away from the top of the plants. Plug the grow lamp into a timer and set the timer so that the lamp provides light for 16 hours daily. Lift the lights upward as the lettuce grows so that the light always remains between 6 and 12 inches away from the tops of the plants. The lettuce should be ready to harvest within 30 days.

Tips & Warnings

• You can grow any plants in your hydroponic system. Lettuce will grow best hydroponically in this system because it has low-light requirements, shallow roots, a low growing size and a short growing season.

References

• "Hydroponics: A Practical Guide for the Soilless Grower"; J. Benton Jones; 1997
• The Growing Edge: Cooler Float Grower
• Alabama Cooperative Extension: Hydroponics for Home Gardens

Resources

• UNH Cooperative Extension: Gardening Without Soil a Different Way of Gardening