Hello everyone, this is my hydroponic adventure.

Why hydroponics?

The many benefits of gardening without soil

Though the benefits of hydroponic gardening are numerous and well documented, the commercial hydroponics industry has yet to truly hit the mainstream. Part of the reason for this is that governments worldwide continue to equate hydroponics with marijuana and have persecuted hydroponics companies accordingly (read about Operation Green Merchant for an American example). But as time passes, environmental concerns and a decline in arable land will inevitably foster a global awareness of the advantages of hydroponics for farmers and home vegetable gardeners alike.

Gardening without soil offers many other benefits:

• complete control over nutrient balance
• pH and nutrient levels are simple to measure and maintain
• significant reduction of soil pests and diseases
• greater spacing efficiency due to smaller roots
• concentrated feeding reduces water waste

My homemade system

16 pot drip system

Plants from left to right are Sweet banana pepper, Cherry tomatoes, Better boy hybrid and cucumber. I started all these from seeds in jiffy peat pellets, three week ago. the substrate that I am using is an expanded clay that helps aerate the plants roots, and because it is a porous material it absorbs, and holds the nutrient rich water for the plants roots. 

March 8, 2011  5 weeks later