DIY Indoor Hydroponic System
- 1). Place a Styrofoam box with a tight-fitting lid on a table in front of you. Remove the lid and set aside. Inspect the inner surface of the box for cracks that could provide an outlet for the contained solution. Seal smaller cracks with tape or replace the box with another one if it has large holes or cracks.
- 2). Place inverted 3- to 4-inch mesh pots on the lid, spaced evenly apart to prevent parts of growing plants from touching. Position the tip of a marker at a point around the rim of the pot and extend it all along to outline it. Cut a hole for each pot over the polystyrene lid carefully, ensuring it is slightly smaller than the marked outline, so the pot goes only halfway through. Ideally, submerge the lower 2 to 2 1/2 inches of each pot in the nutrient-dense solution.
- 3). Mix hydroponic nutrient-rich solution with tepid water according to label directions. Make enough to add to the box until 2 inches below the edge, and keep some for plant seeds.
- 4). Pour the prepared nutrient solution in the box until 2 inches below the edge. Replace the lid firmly. Lightly moisten vermiculite, perlite, wool rock or sand and add to each pot until just below the edge.
- 5). Lower four plant seeds 1/4-inch deep in the growing media in each pot. Douse each pot with the excess solution until it seeps out through the drainage holes. Insert each pot into the holes on the lid of the box, with the lower 2 to 3 inches submerged in the solution.
- 6). Prepare a new batch of solution every 14 to 16 days, and pour it into the polystyrene box to make up for depleted or evaporated nutrients. Drain the old solution from the box before filling it with the fresh batch. Feed the old mix to other indoor plants instead of discarding it.
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