Hydroponic Veggie Garden | Make:

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By Brookelynn Morris
Time Required: 3-5 hours
Difficulty: Moderate

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Hydroponic Veggie Garden

Why hydro instead of soil? Growing hydroponically has tons of advantages. It actually saves water! This project uses the same 5 gallons of water over and over again for a whole week. If you were watering into dirt, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to collect and recirculate the water.

Hydro also saves space. In a typical soil garden, the lettuce plant will only grow as big as the 4″ pot will let it. With hydroponics, the roots of the plants will actually grow right out of the pot, allowing the plant to get as big as it likes. Or at least as big as it can before you eat it!

April 30, 2014, 7:00 am PDT

Parts
/
Tools

Parts

5-gallon bucket with lid (1)
Water (1)
Plant food (1)
Something to set the growing tray on (1) like a stool, a ledge, a pair of sawhorses, whatever you have that may work
Drip emitters (2)
Growing tray (1) A 12-gallon under-the-bed plastic storage bin works perfectly.
Coco or rockwool starting cubes (1)
Perlite or vermiculite (1)
Coco fiber or peat moss (1)
4' plastic pots (1)
Seeds (1)

Tools

Fine-grit sandpaper
Nail
Pliers
Sharp knife

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Steps

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Step #1: Start the seeds.

Hydroponic Veggie Garden

Hydroponic Veggie Garden

Hydroponic Veggie Garden

Hydroponic Veggie Garden

Place 2–3 seeds (lettuce, in this case) into a moist seed-starting cube. Fill each cube. I used a seed starting kit, with a tray and lid, but it’s not necessary.
Set them in the sun, being sure to choose a place safe from slugs and birds. In 1–2 days, the seeds should sprout. Water them as needed until they grow leaves.
When the leaves are looking sturdy, carefully lift the cube to check for roots poking out from the bottom. When the roots are vibrant and the plant seems strong, it’s time to transplant. This first step should take 1–2 weeks.

Conclusion

This project first appeared in CRAFT Volume 09, page 58.

Brookelynn Morris

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14 Responses to Hydroponic Veggie Garden

Pingback: New Project: Hydroponic Veggie Garden | Salute
dan on April 30th, 2014 at 6:52 am said:

The images for ‘choose a flood table’ and ‘harvest’ are both missing…
- ccouden on May 14th, 2014 at 1:46 pm said:
  
  Thanks, “Choose a flood table” and “Harvest” didn’t have images for those steps. I also combined the last two steps to make the lack of image less noticeable.
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Ryan Lenz on December 9th, 2014 at 8:15 pm said:

I’m not sure that “wicking” is an appropriate term for this application. The water is being forced into the pot, through the ‘drainage’ holes in the bottom, because the level of water is higher outside the pot than inside the pot. Wicking implies water being drawn up against gravity, using capillary action. Still a good setup, however! (I’ve never loved wicking…seems like it would result in stagnation and very low nutrient-solution turnover)
Griz on May 16th, 2015 at 8:30 pm said:

Not only is this a wonderfully practical project, but the way you simplified everything as much as possible really demystified the whole hydroponics thing for me. I thought it was a LOT more complicated than that. Soon I will have all the basil I ever wanted. Thanks!
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