First time, beginners DIY guide Ebb and Flow Table setup - Part 1 (Item list)

Here is a walk through that I did not have when I first started looking into Hydroponics. A complete, beginning to end documentation of the first Ebb and Flow table I built. It is a rough cost estimate as I waited for a lot of the items to go on sale prior to buying them. The prices below were just what the prices were when I looked them up during the creation of this post. 

This series is being created because I remember when I wanted to get into Hydroponics. I did lots, and lots of research into what I wanted, and needed. I thought that I had the list, and boom I started to buy items off of my list. It did not completely fit together correctly. I ran into issues, after issues. I wanted to make a guide to list out ALL of the items needed to not only get into hydroponics, but also build your first setup. 

Here is a simple way to create an ebb and flow (flood and drain)table. It is quick, easy, and cheap.

I used very specific items due to durability, and cost. You can choose other options, but it is up to you of course. 

Also location pending since you may not have the same stores near you.

1.) Hdx 27 gallon storage tote ($11.97) - Home Depot (Reservoir)
2.) Mason mixing tub 3x2 21 gallon ($12.98) - Home Depot (Flood table)

3.) 400 gph pump ($22.92) - Amazon
4.) Rockwool  ($10.33) - Amazon 
5.) Foam topper($5.99 a piece x 2) - I used something similar to this but it was 2ft x 2ft and I snagged two of them - Home Depot (Goes on top of the Flood table)
6.) 100 net cups 2 inch ($11.95) - Amazon
7.) Growstones ($29.99) - local hydro store, or Amazon 
8.) Bontanicaire ebb and flow fittings ($8.95) - Amazon
9.) Pipe for the pump ($0.10 per foot) - Local Hydro Store
10.) Timers (13.99)x2 - Amazon
11.) Grow light ($110.00) - Amazon
12.) Nutrients ($37.99) - Amazon
13.) pH up/down ($15.59)- Amazon
14.) TDS meter ($13.99) - Amazon

15.) Power Drill

16.) Whole saw kit (something like this Amazon)
17.) Seeds (Price depends on what you are growing)

Total: (Minus the Seeds, Power Drill, and Whole saw kit) = $327.62 

There is ways to go cheaper:

- Make your own light. DIY CFL setups can be very cheap. DIY LEDs could be a little cheaper.

- Use something other than Growstones. You could any inert material.(The sky is the limit)

- Only use 1 timer (this means you HAVE to remember to turn on your light, and shut it off.)

- Only buy only the "grow" nutrient instead of the three pack (only if you are growing vegetative items that do not bloom such as lettuce, basil, etc.) 

- Skip the TDS meter for now. You can go by how much they describe to put in the water, but these are handy if you start having any issues in your setup, what your water's base is, and what it is after adding your nutrients. It helps you solve too issues of too little nutrient, or issues if your nutrients are too high.

- Skip rockwool, if you have another alternative that is inert and retains water. 

**Do note, by changing these variables, you are going to affect the outcome, in which could be negative, or positive. 

There is cheaper ways to go about Hydroponics, and if you have the option of a local hydroponic store, they usually have nutrients, timers, pumps, airstones, etc cheaper than Amazon. 

If you are already growing hydroponically, or have some of these supplies like I did then it is far cheaper to build an Ebb and Flow table: 

1.) Hdx 27 gallon storage tote ($11.97) - Home Depot (Reservoir)
2.) Mason mixing tub 3x2 21 gallon ($12.98) - Home Depot (Flood table)

3.) 400 gph pump ($22.92) - Amazon

4.) Bontanicaire ebb and flow fittings ($8.95) - Amazon 

5.) Timer (13.99) - Amazon

6.) Pipe for the pump ($0.10 per foot (~$1) - Local Hydro Store

7.) Foam topper($5.99 a piece x 2) - I used something similar to this but it was 2ft x 2ft and I snagged two of them - Home Depot (Goes on top of the Flood table)

Total: $83.79

Part 2 
Part 3

High Pressure versus Low Pressure Aeroponics

High Pressure versus Low Pressure Aeroponics

First off, let's take a quick peek at the definitions of these two difference styles:

High Pressure Aeroponics (HPA) is defined as a form of Hydroponics in which the roots are suspended in a chamber with nozzles that delivers nutrients through a mist to the roots between 5-80 micrometers. Most argue that the range is smaller (20-50 micrometers). This mist is usually derived from some form of pump (typically a diaphragm pump such as a reverse osmosis pump). This type of system usually has a PSI of 80-150PSI to attain the droplet size. Also, it uses specialized misting heads to attain the correct mist droplet size. Research from NASA shows that at the 20-50 micron size, the roots can grab the water/nutrient solution right out of the air and instantly absorb them without any wasted energy.

Low Pressure Aeroponics (LPA), aka soakponics is defined as a form of Hydroponics in which the root zone is suspended in a chamber with nozzles which delivers nutrients through a spray. The droplet size is not exact. These systems typically use a plastic spray nozzle, and a typical fountain pump to get their spray out of the nozzles.

High Pressure Advantages:

• Superior crop
• Of all current methods, this grows plants upwards of 20% faster
• Uses the least amount of water, of any system
• Uses least amount of nutrients of any system

High Pressure Disadvantages: 

• If issues arise in the system (power outage) you lose your plants in minutes
• Most finicky form of Hydroponics
• Super expensive
• Clogged sprayers

High Pressure Hydroponics is great for high dollar cash crops, or those seeking the highest quality crop in smaller scale environments / hobbyist

Low Pressure Aeroponics Advantages:

• Simple, easy to DIY
• Grows plants faster than other forms of Hydroponics.
• Cheap to build

Low Pressure Aeroponics Disadvantage:

• If issues arise in the system (power outage) you lose your plants in hours
• Clogged sprayers

There are not very many disadvantages to LPA as you can see above. These systems are not the best for larger plants, but can be used for such. The sprayers can get clogged from the plants roots. These are mainly used for cloning. They do a fantastic job at cloning plants. 

Soil / Hydroponics trade-offs

Keep in mind, soil to hydroponics has it's trade offs. What exactly do I mean by this? Well here are some examples: 

• Going from soil to hydroponics you are trading:
• Soil born illnesses for water born illnesses 
• Now you need RO (Reverse Osmosis) or Distilled water to eliminate that issue. 
• It is cheaper to make your own, but more expensive up front.  
• Introduction of pests from buying soil, versus introducing pests because they are on you.
• When buy new soil to switch out your old soil, you can introduce pests via that soil you are placing in your environment. You can also introduce pests bringing outside plants inside, and by you, yourself. You can carry pests inside which will then eat your plants. 
• With Hydroponics you can only introduce pests from bringing outside plants in, and you, yourself. 
• In soil plants can die slowly if not properly addressed for pH, and nutrient levels. It is much more forgiving.
• Hydroponics is not as forgiving. Depending on your setup, you could have days, hours, or minutes to resolve your issues with nutrients, pH,etc. Your plants can die must faster.
• Soil grown plants take longer to grow overall. 
• You are reducing the time (again depending on method) substantially. Lots of studies show getting in bigger, better yields in shorter amounts of time. You can also gain additional harvests per year if you have your setup configured correctly. 
•  Soil grown plants like to take up way more space for their roots. Their roots have to reach, and stretch for nutrients/water/oxygen. 
• Hydroponics gains a large advantage here. They can be grown in smaller containers, the roots do not have to reach/stretch to get the nutrients//water/oxygen levels they want. They can be smaller, take up less room, etc. 
• Soil is usually a run to waste setup. You get new water, water your plants, then get new water, etc. Each watering, the plant is only getting a percentage of the water supplied. 
• Hydroponics, you can recirculate the water, and utilize it, or still do run to waste. You can also take the run to waste/old reservoirs, and run it back through a RO system. You can re-utilize your water, over and over again. 
• Many options from cheap, to very expensive for different types/mixtures of soil. 
• Same goes for Hydroponics. Depending on the type of Hydroponics you choose, you can be completely medium-less, to growing in coco coir, and perilite. These range from very expensive, to very cheap. It just depends on your knowledge of the qualities you want in your growing medium, and how thrifty you are. 
• In soil you mostly do not have to worry about hardware/equipment failure. 
• With Hydroponics, your plants survive based upon your water/feeding schedules, your air pumps, etc. If you have an equipment failure, you better be able to fix it quickly. 

Why Chose Hydroponics Over Dirt.

So you might ask yourself, why would I ever stray away from the conventional, proven technique of growing plants.

Well, we figured we would continue from  an older post, and go more in depth this time from the older post found here. That blog was just a general overview of Hydroponics.

Why would you want to go the way of what seems to be a very complex way of growing plants?

Well here are some of the benefits to growing Hydroponically:

• Just as enjoyable as traditional gardening is, and can become so much more satisfying. 
• You will no longer have to take time to pull out weeds, use weed killers, pesticides, etc. 
• No tilling dirt, plowing dirt, pouring manure, and sometimes no animals to keep out. 
• You are controlling even more of the process, how much oxygen hits the roots, how much nutrients the plant will receive, 
• No more soil born illnesses, 
• You can recirculate your water, which means you are conserving 90-98% more water over traditional gardening. 
• Usually you can get more per harvest compared with soil, but you get yields 20%+ faster than soil. Your plant will use it's energy towards growing above the roots in a Hydroponics setup since it does not have to waste energy making a giant root structure to get the adequate amount of nutrition. 
• You can automate you setup as much as you would like. You can place an arduino controller for PH testing / EC / and TDS. These three things test water PH levels, water quality, and nutrient levels to make sure that you are in the correct ranges. You could then even setup email alerts, or text message alerts for when they hit certain levels. This is only the tip of the iceberg of automation. 
• You can combine your traditional methods of pruning to get an even larger yield. 
• Building your own system, automating it, and getting more crops out of less space is extremely gratifying. 
• Great project for adults, and kids. You will both learn a large amount of information. Even if it does not work out, you may learn how to become better at growing in soil from this knowledge. 
• Every time you buy soil, whether it be cheap soil, or super expensive soil you are potentially introducing new pests, mites, etc into your environment. 

You will want to remember, the above list seems like it makes perfect sense, and lets go get started on your Hydroponic garden right now! Let's take into account some of the disadvantages: 

• Cost, upfront it will be much larger. You will have to purchase equipment. Some equipment you can scrounge, or barter/bargain for such as buckets. Other equipment you will more than likely have to buy, such as a water pump. 
• When your system goes south, your plants go south with it, super fast. Depending on your system you may have hours, or minutes to fix your issues and get your setup back up and running. Otherwise, your crops will be gone in that time frame. 
• Your crops can be tasteless, and bland, if you do not give them the proper nutrition. If you skimp on the nutrients, your plants will be lacking. Do remember that if you over do it though, your plants roots may get "burnt" by the nutrients. 
• You may end up putting in more time for gardening. You will more than likely put in more time upfront at least. But on the counter, we did find it more enjoyable, and you learn so much more than with dirt. 

Dutch Buckets

http://trudat.info/2014/02/yield-tons-of-tomatoes-grow-bags-or-dutch-buckets/

I wanted to add a link to this website. It is very informative. He gives great ideas, and how to's on dutch bucket systems. This is one of the cheapest, and effective systems I have come across so far!

Check it out!

Thanks!

Aquaponics / Fishponics

Aquaponics / Fishponics - Hydroponics

Aquaponics (AKA Fishponics) is one of the few  more "organic" versions of Hydroponics. You can integrate Aquaponics into almost any Hydroponics system. The difference between regular Hydroponics and Aquaponics is the introduction of fish into the nutrient solution reservoir. Instead of using a nutrients bought from the store, the fish in the reservoir are what produce the nutrients needed for the plants. This can make Hydroponics cheaper, and more organic at the same time. This is a great learning experience for children as well as adults. This method is by far my favorite. You are building your own ecosystem. You take care of the fish, the fish take care of the plants, and your plants take care of you!

Aquaponics is typically accomplished using Tilapia fish as they give very good results for proper amounts of nutrients for the plants. This can be accomplished with other fish, however make sure you do your research prior to thinking any old fish will do. This could become costly to you. By using Aquaponics, this does not mean you will be 100% organic. You may still have to add nutrients every now and again. You can make compost tea however, if your goal is to stay 100% organic, instead of using store bought synthetic nutrients. 

Remember that just because you use compost tea, and Aquaponics, that does not mean you are growing organic produce. Just make sure that if you want to grow "organically" via some forum of Hydroponics to read every stipulation on what "organic" is defined as in your state, and federally. 

Aquaponics Advantages: 

• Great learning experience. 
• You will use far less nutrients overall, which will save money in the long run.
• Self sufficient. If the fish are happy, the plants should be happy. 

Aquaponics Disadvantages:

• Large learning curve.
• Must have knowledge on keeping fish (Tilapia) alive. 
• More costly upfront. You may need lights for the fish, and your plants. Most people buy Tilapia, which is a cost, plus the fish tank to hold them. (Depending on how much ingenuity you have, or how worried you are about looks.) 

Wick - Hydroponics Method

Wick - Hydroponics

Wick is another simple form of Hydroponics. This form of Hydroponics can be built from two buckets, nutrient solution, wick (cotton rope), vermiculite, perlite, and the plant/seeds such as lettuce. This method is really good for growing lettuce outdoors. Anyone can build this contraption. Essentially the nutrient solution is being "wicked" up from the bucket holding the nutrient solution, to the bucket on top that holds the vermiculite/perlite combination, and seeds/plants. That is all there is to this method. It is that simple.

Check out a quick how to on this method here:
Simple Wick Hydroponics Setup

Wick Advantages:

• Easy to create/understand
• Very cheap
• Made from readily available components
• Can use more than just a vermiculite/perlite combination. You can use a variety of growing mediums for this, but be mindful of how they will help/hurt your plant
• This system has very low maintenance
• Lots of oxygen

Wick Disadvantages:

• This system cannot support larger plants, or large amounts of plants per site. This is because of the nature of wick. You can only pull the nutrient solution as fast as the "wick" allows
• Slower growth than other Hydroponics systems
• Not very much room for improvement