How to Make Your Own Hydroponic Planter

Short-season, low-growing plants such as lettuce grow well in hydroponic systems.

The scientific interest in hydroponic gardening as a means of food production grew from the scarcity of farmland during the dust bowl era of the Great Depression. During this time, scientists discovered that plants would not only grow without soil, but would grow larger and produce more vegetables. Although professional hydroponic systems may cost several hundreds of dollars, you can create a hydroponic planter for a crop of garden plants using inexpensive products from a hardware store.

Things You'll Need

• 24-foot long lumber, 2-by-4-inch
• Circular saw
• Measuring tape
• Pencil
• 16 wood screws
• Cordless screw driver
• Plastic sheeting
• Carpenter's staple gun
• Carpenter's staples
• Aquarium tubing
• Aquarium pump
• Air stone
• 6-by-4-foot Styrofoam sheeting
• Utility knife
• Styrofoam cups
• Marker
• Perlite
• Plant seedlings

Instructions

1. Measure and mark your board so that there are two 6-foot lengths and two 4-foot lengths. You will have a 4-feet board left over. Cut the board into pieces with the circular saw.

2. Assemble the wooden boards into a 6-foot long and 4-foot wide box by joining the ends of the boards with abutting angles. Attach the boards using two wood screws per corner. Place the box on a flat surface in full sunlight.

3. Spread plastic sheeting across the inside of the box. Staple the edges of the plastic sheeting to the outside of the box.

4. Connect an airstone to a fish tank air pump using plastic tubing. Place the air stone on the center of the plastic inside the box. Fill the box with liquid hydroponic nutrients.

5. Cut a Styrofoam cup in half width-wise. Place the bottom of the cup bottom-side up over the Styrofoam sheet in an area where you wish to grow a plant. Trace around the lip of the cup. Trace circles in each location where you want to grow a plant. Cut each circle away from the Styrofoam sheet with the utility knife.

6. Cut four slits in the bottom and sides of a Styrofoam cup. Fill the cup with perlite. Place the cup halfway into one of the holes in the Styrofoam sheeting. Repeat this process for each hole in the Styrofoam sheeting. Place the sheet into the hydroponic nutrients in the box.

7. Open a planting pocket in the perlite in the center of each cup. Place the root ball of each plant into the planting pocket. Cover the roots with perlite.

8. Plug in the pump to start the bubbler and oxygenate the water.

Tips & Warnings

• Select cool season plants such as lettuce or cabbage for your hydroponic garden. Cool season vegetables have a short growth cycle and low profile.

References

• University of Florida IFAS Extension: Building a Floating Hydroponic Garden
• Simply Hydroponics and Organics: Water Culture System
• Texas A&M Univeristy Extension: Hydroponics

Resources

• Alabama Cooperative Extension System: Hydroponics for Home Gardeners