How to Make an Ebb and Flow Hydroponic System

Hydroponics is a special type of gardening system that uses no soil. Instead, the plants are suspended in a solution of nutrients. While there are many different kinds of hydroponics systems, the ebb and flow system is one of the simplest and easiest to build. You do not need prior experience with hydroponic growing or engineering to build one. The parts you need can easily be found in department, garden or aquarium stores. Does this Spark an idea?

Instructions

1

Drill 1/2 inch wide holes in the bottoms of your plastic flower pots. This will allow the hydroponic solution to seep up into the pots where the plants' roots can get at it.

2

Drill two holes in the bottom of your wide plastic tray. Make these holes the same diameter as your tubes.

3

Place the tray on the small table. With the marker, make marks on the table through the holes that you drilled in the tray's bottom. Drill through the table top where these marks are, making them the same diameter as the holes in the tray. Place the tray on top of the table so the holes in the tray and the table both line up.

4

Connect one of the tubes to the water pump, which you can find at an aquarium or pet store. Set the pump's timer and place it in the 5 gallon bucket. Thread the other end of the tube up through one of the holes in the table and the corresponding hole in the tray above it. Keep the end of the tube close to the bottom of the tray; do not let it stick out very far.

5

Thread the other tube through the hole in the table and the corresponding hole in the bottom of the tray sitting on top of the table. Let the end of the tube stick out a couple of inches above the bottom of the tray. Let the other end of the tube dangle into the bucket below the table.

6

Seal the junction between the tubes and the bottom of the tray with the silicon caulk.

7

Fill the bucket with hydroponic nutrient solution. Put the plants into the pots. Fill the plant pots with about 4 inches of hydroclay. Place the plant pots into the tray. Your ebb and flow hydroponic system is now complete.