ratatattooey
New Member
My wife thought it would be "neat" to build a vertical hydro system using mostly recycled products. We built this...
well.. it's vertical in real life..
5 gallon bucket with a submersible pump. PVC pipe for stability. Inside the pvc pipe is the tubing the pump is pushing the water up to the top, then gravity brings the water back down into the bucket...
So.. guess what.. it didn't work. The weight of the hydroton squashed the milk jugs, and the water only drained down the pipe in the middle.
We kept the frame, and I came up with a better solution. Still recycled, we used old pots from plants we bought on clearance at the big blue home improvement store. They have holes in the bottom that should allow the water to drain "all over" the pot below.
In order to keep the weight of the hydroton from pulling the pots down, I bought some (well.. we always called it "donky %*#@" ) water pipe insulation and some hose clamps.
Now it works great... She's going to put some arugula and lettuce in it...
5 gallon bucket with a submersible pump. PVC pipe for stability. Inside the pvc pipe is the tubing the pump is pushing the water up to the top, then gravity brings the water back down into the bucket...
So.. guess what.. it didn't work. The weight of the hydroton squashed the milk jugs, and the water only drained down the pipe in the middle.
We kept the frame, and I came up with a better solution. Still recycled, we used old pots from plants we bought on clearance at the big blue home improvement store. They have holes in the bottom that should allow the water to drain "all over" the pot below.
In order to keep the weight of the hydroton from pulling the pots down, I bought some (well.. we always called it "donky %*#@" ) water pipe insulation and some hose clamps.
Now it works great... She's going to put some arugula and lettuce in it...