Making your own hydroponic system shouldn’t be hard. I will show you how to make your own mini hydroponic system. These mini setups are ideal for anyone curious in getting started with hydroponics and small spaces. They are able to effectively grow herbs and lettuce with little effort. All you really need is a container, a net cup, seeds and a growing medium. Put these together and in an instant you’ll have yourself a hydroponic system based off of the Kratky Method.
The Kratky Method is a simple passive non circulating way of growing that is effective for many plants and requires little maintenance depending on your plant and container size. As a container holds nutrient water, a plant is secured above the solution by a net cup, foam or sponge creating a small air gap. This air gap is what will allow the plant to breathe using its air roots while its water roots continuously absorb nutrients.
As the nutrient solution is absorbed through the water roots, a refill is likely if the plant is not yet to harvest age. Refilling the nutrient water is easy as long as you make sure to not overfill the original fill line. Overfilling will decrease the air gap and drown your established air roots creating root rot. Air roots can sometimes be super fuzzy, personally I think they are rather cute. Check out this video to see some awesome fuzzy air roots!
Now before we build a mini hydroponic system. Keep in mind, you can use any cut up bottle or container as long as you are able to suspend the seedling above the water. Here I will be using a clear plastic soda can as my container. After using many aluminum cans to create mini hydroponics, I switched over to plastic to prevent nicks and scrapes from the sharp edge created from the can opener.
Also, to prevent future algae growth, I will cover the can with a cooler wrap. You can substitute the wrap with aluminum foil, a brown paper bag or anything to block out light. I have also tried paint but it was not a preferred method as it gets a little messy. So algae growth in hydroponics is very common and having it in your system can hinder your plant’s growth if lightly looked upon as it can begin to fight for nutrients as well. The cooler wraps that I’m using are made for 16oz cans and are longer than needed but I found works better as the extra length creates full coverage and any remaining can be folded down.
Then to help secure my plant in place, I’m using a 2″ net cup. In some cases, a net cup is not needed and the plant can be secured into an container with a sponge or a sliced piece of pool noodle. Depending on what your grow medium is will influence this.
Here I will be using a lettuce plant that was sprouted in Oasis Horticubes and secured with a 1″ pipe insert foam. This size pipe foam is the perfect fit for the Oasis Horitcubes. They were purchased from a local Lowe’s. Below is the basic setup I’ve come to like.
Feel free to place your growing medium straight into the cup or prop and cushion it with clay pebbles like below. I personally don’t like placing the cube right on the floor of the net cup causing it to get wet but I occasionally will if I have no other choice. Keeping the growing medium too wet will create algae, mold and or fungi on the surface so keeping it slightly elevated has helped me with this problem.
If you are using a different growing medium, such as rockwool or peat pellets then foam or clay pebbles more than likely will not be needed as rockwool and peat pellets tend to swell up when hydrated and will fit into the cup just fine.
Alright, now to the fun! I have no intentions of growing lettuce right now in a can but for demonstration purposes I will be using one I have available as I’ve not sowed any new seedlings lately. Here she is nicely cushioned into a net cup already. She’s a little lanky but it’s all good!
I recommend covering your soda can or bottle before adding your nutrients but for picture sake, I covered it after. Here is the lettuce in the net cup placed inside the can. Fill your nutrient water just slightly below the net cup as shown. Remember this spacing is what will allow the air roots to breathe and notice how high my growing cube is from the water. It practically will become dry if not already but again this will help prevent algae, mold and fungi on the surface.
Look how beautiful the surface of this growing medium is. I love it when they look like this!
That’s pretty much it! Place your plant in a well lit area with good airflow and watch your plant grow making sure to refill the nutrient as needed. Simple right? This mini hydroponic system is great for herbs and peppers but from here, this idea can be applied to larger containers and larger net pots. You can even rig up your own apparatus. Have fun!
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