We chose to use the Kratky or Floating Raft method for our first Hydroponics project. It was very easy to build and proved to be an excellent choice for us for several types of lettuce, spinach, kale and chard.
Here is a video that shows how to build the floating rafts.
Our Rhubarb Red Chard had those gorgeous pink/red roots also.
In addition to having the floating raft table, we also save all of our food safe containers like gallon miracle whip containers, medium and large size deli tubs, cottage cheese tubs etc... and used a hole saw (we used 2") to cut holes to fit our 2" net pots in the lids. We spray painted our water reservoir for the Hydroponics table and all the containers black to prevent algae growth and then put the nutrient solution in the containers and put the net pot with seedlings in the holes and we're good to go. We grow many different vegetable plants utilizing these containers. We had such an abundance of greens, we had more than enough to share :)
We also set up a dutch bucket system for our tomatoes but I will do another post on those in the near future.
As a side note, if you live in an area that gets really hot in the summer months you will want to cool the water down in your reservoirs (should be around 75 degrees) by adding bottles filled with ice and or insulating your tank in some way. We have a lot of 100+ days in the summer so that is a must for us.
Here is another version of Hydroponics using a simple rail system using pvc pipes with end caps or you can use pvc fence post with end caps. Many versions of this system can be found on YouTube just search using Hydroponic Rail Systems.
I hope this post gives everyone a little bit of insight into Hydroponics gardening and that you will feel inspired to try it yourself.
Happy Growing!
Blessings,
Lisa
I love hydroponics as well. I am not sure of the value of saving food safe containers and then floating construction grade foam board that has highly toxic flame retardant in it. I have not figured out a good substitute.
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