hydroponic system

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5 Types of Hydroponic SystemsThere are basically 5 different types of

hydroponic systems. Deep Water Culture(DWC), Drip, Ebb and Flow, NFT (nutrientfilm technique) and Aeroponics. Eachsystem has it own pros and cons. Someare more forgiving than others while some

require more vigilant maintenance thanothers. Were going to touch briefly oneach one here.

DWC or Deep Water CultureDeep Water Culture, commonly referred toas DWC, is just as the name suggests. Itis basically letting the roots of the plantgrow down into a nutrient solution or waterculture.

DWC (Deep Water Culture) is the

preferred system of choice for growing leaflettuce, which are very fast growing andwater loving plants, making them an idealchoice for the Deep Water Culture


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hydroponic system. Many commercialhydroponic lettuce operations employ this

method, using floating Styrofoam rafts tohold the plant cups or just the plantsthemselves.This setup can be as simple as a bucket

full of mixed hydroponic nutrients(referred to as Nutes) with a hole in the lidto support a flower pot or it can be madelarge enough to support multiple plants.DWC hydroponics requires nothing morethan a simple air stone and air pump tokeep the nutrient solution stirred,oxygenated and fresh.The biggest draw back of this kind ofsystem is that it doesnt work well with verylarge plants or with long-term plants.

One of the good things about the DWChydroponic setup is that it has no drip orspray emitters to get clogged, thus making


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it a good choice for organic hydroponicsgrowing systems.

Because of its simple design and function,the DWC hydroponic system is a goodchoice for homemade hydroponicsystems. Being one of the easiest andcheapest to build and setup, it is great fora first time hydro grower requiring little

maintenance, plus it has very few parts forfailure. If you are just wanting to get yourfeet wet (no pun intended) in hydroponicswith a quick, cheap and easy method, Iwould highly recommend you grab a

bucket and air pump and give this one atry.Build your own DWC bubbling bucket.

Drip SystemDrip systems are probably the most widely

used hydroponic systems in the world.This is mainly because they are commonlyused in a lot of commercial facilities forgrowing long term crops like peppers or
http://www.simplyhydroponic.com/hydroponic-systems/5-types-of-hydroponic-systems/building-a-simple-dwc-bubbling-buckethttp://www.simplyhydroponic.com/hydroponic-systems/5-types-of-hydroponic-systems/building-a-simple-dwc-bubbling-bucket


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tomatoes. Drip systems never totallysubmerge the roots or the grow media

while also never allowing them to dry out.Operation is simple, usually a timercontrols a submersible pump. The timerturns the pump on and the nutes aredripped onto the base of each plant by asmall drip line. It works just like a drip

irrigation system in your yard. In fact, you

can use the parts for such a

yard system to build your own drip system.Nutrient solution is dripped onto the baseof each plant where it then trickles downthrough the grow media and into the rootsand finally drains into the reservoir where it

is reused. Different emitters can be placedon the end of each tube to make the dripslower or faster, depending on the mediaused.


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This system can be setup into what I like tocall Vacation Mode using a non-recovery

system. This method requires much lessmaintenance due to the fact that theexcess nutrient solution isnt recycled backinto the reservoir, so the nutrient strengthand pH of the reservoir will not vary. Thismeans that you can fill the reservoir with

pH adjusted nutrient solution and thenforget it, or go on vacation, until you needto mix more.The flow rate can be difficult to control on adrip system, and the emitters are well

known for clogging. Organic nutrients arefull of small particles that are quiteproblematic for the drip emitters. If youwish to grow fully organic this may not bethe best choice of systems to go with.

Ebb & Flow (flood & drain)The Ebb and Flow hydroponic method isthe most popular type of hydroponicsystem for home/hobby gardeners. This


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system is suitable for, and used by,beginners and experts alike. The Ebb and

Flow hydroponic system works bytemporarily flooding the grow tray withnutrient solution and then draining thesolution back into the reservoir. This actionis normally done with a submerged pumpthat is connected to a timer.

A submersible pump is

placed in a reservoir to pump the nutrientsolution up and into a flood tray. The floodtray fills with nutes until it reaches theproper flood level determined by the heightof the overflow fitting. Once the pumpturns off, the nutrient solution still in the

flood tray drains back into the reservoirright through the pump.Your choice of growing media determineshow often and how long you should fill the


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flood tray for. For example, fast draining,expanded clay pellets may need be

flooded for a 25 minutes 4 times a day,while the slower draining rockwool wouldbe flooded for much less time and maybeonly 3 times a day. Generally speaking,the pump should flood the tray for about

15-20 minutes every fewhours or more; this is known as the floodcycle.

The Ebb & Flow hydroponic setup is aversatile system that can be used with avariety of growing mediums. The entiregrow tray can be filled with clay pebbles,grow rocks, gravel or granular rockwool.

Alternatively, another way you can do itand the way that I prefer is to useindividual pots filled with growing mediumand set these into the flood tray. Doing it


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this way makes it not only possible, butsimple and easy to move my plants around

or even move them in or out of the ebband flow flood tray altogether.

The parts and function of thishydroponics growing system are

pretty basic, making it anothergood option for a homemade hydroponicssystem. With a good strong water pumpthat can handle the heavier nutes, you canalso use this method for organichydroponics production.The main disadvantage of this type ofsystem is that with some types of growingmedium like gravel, expanded clay pellets,

or grow rocks for example, there is avulnerability to power outages as well aspump and timer failures. The roots can dryout quickly if the watering cycles are


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interrupted for very long. This problem canbe relieved somewhat by using growing

media or a mix of medias that retains morewater, like rockwool, vermiculite, coconutcoir or a good mix for example.

NFT (Nutrient Film Technique)

NFT is an ultra-resourceefficient method of growing plants byproviding a highly oxygenated, slowlymoving film (stream) of dissolved minerals

(hydroponic nutrients) to the roots of plantsgrown in a flat bottomed, light proofchannel. One end of the channel ispurposely left lower than the other toencourage the flow of the nutrient solutionwhich is then returned to a reservoir to be

recirculated through the process again.Plants are placed at intervals along thegrowing channel and grown with their rootends constantly moistened by the nutrient


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film. The nutrient film is kept shallowenough for most of the root mass to have

direct access to oxygen from thesurrounding air.The name of this growing method was socoined in order to stress that the depth of

the liquid flowing past the rootsshould be very shallow in order to ensurethat sufficient oxygen is supplied. A widerange of vegetables and ornamental cropsmay be grown in an NFT hydroponicsystem. Depending on width of thechannel, NFT can be a great choice forplants as diverse as tomatoes and lettuce.Nutrient Film Technique systems are someof the most productive available, and they

are often the chosen method ofcommercial growing operations. N.F.T.systems have a constant flow of nutrient


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solution so no timer is required for thewater pump.

There is usually no growingmedium used other than air, which savesthe expense of replacing the growing

medium after every crop. Normally theplant is supported in a small plastic basketwith the roots dangling into the nutrientsolution. In order to make sure the waterflowing through the bottom of the tray isnice and even, a layer of absorbent

material commonly referred to as acapillary mat is sometimes placed in thebottom.The parts, the design, and the function areall very simple. NFT is both easy for the

homemade hydroponics do-it-yourselferand also a good choice for organichydroponics growing systems since their


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are no small parts or sprayers to getclogged.

N.F.T. systems are very susceptible topower outages and pump failures as theyhave very little buffering againstinterruptions in the nutrient flow. The rootsdry out very rapidly when the flow ofnutrient solution is interrupted.

Another small problem with this method ofhydroponic gardening is that you muststart with plants that have a root systemlarge enough to hang down into yournutrient solution. Another option would be

to top feed the plants with a drip systemuntil their roots are large enough to reachthe nutrient film, thus making it a hybridhydroponic growing system.The main advantage of the NFT systemover other forms of hydroponics, asidefrom its simplicity, is that the plant rootsare exposed to adequate supplies ofwater, oxygen, and nutrients 24 hours aday. Because of its design, N.F.T.


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provides a system where all three of theserequirements for healthy plant growth can

more easily be met at the same time. Theresult of these advantages is higher yieldsof high quality produce.

AeroponicsThe aeroponic system is probably the most

high-tech type of hydroponic gardening.The growing medium is primarily air, butunlike the NFT systems shallow channels,

the roots are growing downinto a much larger container . The rootshang in the air and are misted with anoxygen rich hydroponic nutrient solution.

The mist cycle are usually done every fewminutes.A timer controls the nutrient pump muchlike other types of hydroponic systems,


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except the aeroponic system needs a shortcycle timer that runs the pump for a few

seconds every couple of minutes. Thesetypes of cycle timers are usually onlyavailable from specialty grow shops andwill cost around one hundred dollars.The pumps used in most aeroponicsystems is a high-pressure pump, and the

spray emitters are made specially todeliver a very fine, highly oxygenatedspray.Because the roots are exposed to the air,the roots will dry out rapidly if the misting

cycles are interrupted. The fine-sprayemitters will instantly clog if you try to useanything except high quality hydroponicfertilizers so this system is not at allsuitable for organic nutrients.Of all the hydroponics growing systems,this is the most difficult type to build,


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setup and to master, notto mention the most temperamental. pH

changes and nutrient imbalances occurmore quickly because of the increasedabsorption rates and high levels ofoxygenation. Furthermore, with no growmedia to protect the roots, the plants react

negatively to these changes much morequickly.On the flip side, because of the increasedabsorption rates and high levels ofoxygenation, this type of hydroponicsystem in the hands of a well experienced

hydroponic gardener will yield explosiveand absolutely phenomenal growth rates.

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hydroponic system