If you're not careful, you're harvest will cost you a small fortune

With literally thousands of hydroponic websites, systems, nutrients, pumps, lights, etc., it is easy for someone to get overwhelmed with all the choices and price points. A good rule of thumb to remember is that hydroponics is a very old science and it has been around for thousands of years. Any bucket, some water and fertilizer and you should be good to go, after all the ancient people of Rome and Babylon didn't have access to all these whiz bang inventions. It's best not to over-complicate your hydroponic garden especially if you're just starting out. Start small and affordable, remember you have to add up the cost of the nutrients and other supplies you will use during your growing cycle for a good total cost of ownership and that is doesn't break the bank.

A simple Deep Water Culture system (DWC) is a great method for introducing you to hydroponics and they are very affordable to start. DWC requires only a few items for getting your system up and running and doesn't take up a lot of space either. Basically DWC's consist of a bucket for your reservoir, a lid with a hole cut out, a net pot with clay pebbles, a seedling in rockwool, an air pump, air hose, water aerator and a grow light. Most of these items are available at your local hardware store and aquarium shop with the exception of clay pebbles perhaps which can be ordered online.

The reservoir is filled just high enough so that the water bubbles from the aerator splash the bottom of the roots, you do not want to fill the reservoir all the way up as you don't want the rockwool holding your seedling to be soaked all the time, the goal is to wet just the roots. Most plants do very well using the DWC method and its a perfect method for someone just starting out in hydroponics.

Hanging out with our good old friend - Mr Algae

We sterilize everything, paint or wrap the buckets to keep the light out, mix perfect nutrients and presto five days later there is a slime starting to discolor the normally perfect white roots. Like it or not, algae is the ever present bane of the hydroponic grower. I have read a thousand different ways of correcting the problem and the best advice is to be diligent and take these few important steps to help you along the way.

Look at your reservoirs daily, make sure the pH is within acceptable ranges, top off with clean water if necessary and be ready to act at the first sign of trouble. There are three methods I have found that work best for my crops and you should add them to your maintenance schedules.

Always clean your tank, air hoses and aerator with a mild bleach and soap solution with each water change, do not take shortcuts or it will come back and bite you later. Do not skip this step.

As a preventative step prior to filling the reservoir, the first step I take is purchasing food grade hydrogen peroxide which comes in 35% strength solution which is diluted to 3% by using an 11-1 ratio, 11 parts clean RO water to 1 part H2O2. Plant roots love oxygen and adding the 3% dilution to your reservoir adds extra oxygen and this helps keep water clean and algae at bay.

Every other reservoir change I use FloraKleen for removing built up salts on the roots and growing media. Keeping your plants and roots healthy and water clean is the most important step in have a clean and rewarding growing experience.

Once algae is present in your tank or on your roots, its too late for H2O2. It's time to bring in the heavy hitters, billions of healthy microbes are added to the tank which use the algae as food and work to clean your tank and roots. The microbe tea is brewed for a day or two and then added to your reservoir at each tank change and every three days. This tea is a popular seller at the local farmers markets and keeps for about 7 days.

Happy growing and remember cleanliness is next to .......

Germinating seeds and a good reason to bottom water

There are many different germination kits for hydroponics and after purchasing the various models I instantly saw a distinct difference between systems that require top misting vs those that allow for bottom watering.

Basically what I and others have discovered long before me is that applying a mist or any water to the top of the rockwool promotes pythium or root rot and it spreads if left unchecked. You'll start noticing discoloration on the top of cube and sometimes you can treat it with hydrogen peroxide (not drug store type) but it requires you to carefully dilute properly so as not to damage the seedling. Any infected plants, seedlings or cubes should be discarded immediately and clean the growing trays as well. I use a mild bleach and soap solution to clean the air hose, aerator, bucket and lids.

Look for germination trays that allow you to lightly water them from underneath the rockwool and let the moisture wick up to the seedling roots. Once you soak your cubes in your initial planting you never want to soak them again. There is more than enough moisture already present, all your looking for is not letting them completely dry out. This helps keep the tops of the rockwool from growing algae and causing disease to your seedlings.

There are several varieties of germination trays we have found that provide us with the best results. Grodan sells a nice sturdy 72 cell tray that elevates the rockwool cubes and allows you to water from underneath. Burpee sells a tray that comes with a spongelike material that holds water and the rockwool slots have openings on the bottom which allows the cubes to wick up the moisture from the material. Since you just have to wet it, it prevents you from overwatering the cubes during the germination process.