Xandrew245x
Newly Registered
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Apr 30, 2017 12:57 pm

New to hydroponics

Hello everyone, I want to try out hydroponics. I am planning on starting it once I get all my seedlings moved out to my garden. I have a good T5 4'x4' grow light. I was thinking of doing a simple water culture system. From my understanding all I need is a tub, net pots, a growing medium, air pump, air stone, and fertilizers.

The plan was to use a piece of foam to hold the net pots on top of the water. I want to try growing some spinach and lettuce to start off with. I want to start the seeds on my own, and I'm not 100% certain on the proper procedure.

Any suggestions or info would be great, thanks!

amrap1956
Full Member
Posts: 26
Joined: Sun Feb 19, 2017 6:57 pm
Location: Cleveland,Ohio

:-() Welcome to Water World :-()

I was right where you are just 3 months ago. People here are pretty helpful when you have questions. My second source is You Tube. I learn more from seeing it and you can get info faster. The only problem is that you can't ask them questions. That's what this place is for.

Go to Home Depot and buy a Jiffy-Professional Greenhouse with Plant Labels Starter Kit to start your seeds. You can also find Romain & Salad Bowl seeds there. As far as medium I used Hydroton at first. My local Hydro stores only sell it in large bags, so I bought a 10 liter bag from Amazon. Nutrients are a whole different story. There are tons of different liquids and a few granular ones. The Hydro Stores tend to stick to the liquids, but there are so many different ones. Maxi-Grow is a very popular granular fertilizer.

I won't bombard you with a lot of suggestions except go to You Tube. You'll find a lot of information.

Ed

pepperhead212
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 2851
Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2014 1:52 pm
Location: Woodbury NJ Zone 7a/7b

Welcome to the forum! I grow herbs and some greens in deepwater hydroponics in the off season. One thing that I use in each tub, which I got from also keeping aquariums forever, is a powerhead, with a sponge attachment. This eventually makes a biological filter, and adds to the aeration of the water - the airstones do some, but the circulation of the water really helps root growth.

imafan26
Mod
Posts: 13961
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

With spinach and lettuce you can simplify further and do a Kratky system which does not require a pump, but an airstone would be a plus. Don't mix your veggies, only one kind in a system. Different veggies take up nutrients and water at different rates. Kratky can be done with a 4 liter bottle. You fill it once. You do have to use hydroponic solution. The water level is supposed to drop. There should be enough nutrients to sustain a plant that matures in less than 50 days.
https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/vc-1.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDYeffYcVkY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E49GgFGvqm4



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