Anyone interested in starting hydroponics gardening will find that a lot of solutions for basic growing hydroponics are out there. Whether you're planning to buy a pre-made kit or build your own setup, there are some things you'll want to know about how these hydroponics systems work.
At the core of it, there are two basic techniques for growing with hydroponics: solution culture and medium culture. Solution culture doesn't use a solid medium for the plant roots to sit in, only the nutrient solution either continuously or periodically. Medium culture uses a media such as rock wool or expanded clay to hold the plants and soak up or circulate the solution.
Each of these will use a subirrigation or top irrigation for solution circulation or replacement. These two types are just as they seem, one irrigating from the bottom and other from over the plants or medium.
This might all seem complicated, but it's really pretty simple, just the words are complicated. At its essence, the plants are either floating on a liquid solution or are Canna Nutrients "planted" in a medium like clay balls or rock wool. The nutrient solution and water are either fed in through the bottom of the solution container or "rained" over the top of the plants and drained through the bottom. The solutions themselves are the complex portion of the system.
Most home gardeners who use basic growing hydroponics systems buy their nutrient solutions pre-mixed from commercial sources. Experimenters will want to mix their own solutions, but that is an advanced technique that requires some skill to do correctly.
Setting up your first hydroponics garden will probably be done in the simplest way: a static solution system with manual irrigation and draining. At its most basic, this setup requires only a pot (or tray), nutrient solution, starter plants, and some sunlight. Coat hangers or wires can be used as the support matrix for the plants and cheap pH strips can be used to test the solution periodically for acidity levels.
For most, this setup will get you started, but eventually, you'll want both a larger, more scalable system as well as one that requires much less continual maintenance. For this, either an automatically-irrigated system for solution suspension or a media-based system with automatic irrigation or a static solution is the choice. For the most part, media-based solutions are easier to handle and require less effort to get started, since the plants can rest on the medium rather than requiring complex racks or support systems.
The media of choice will likely depend on what's available in your area and how you prefer to grow. At the lower end of the price scale is sand and gravel, both of which require thorough cleaning and maintenance to use. Sand, for instance, needs to be sterilized between crops and needs to be of a large-grain variety for good draining. Gravel can be either standard gravel from a hardware store (which requires thorough cleaning) or the gravel purchased for fish tank aquariums. Both sand and gravel will require sturdy trays or pots as they are quite heavy.
Slightly more expensive media like rock wool or expanded clay is a better choice for those who want less maintenance and something easier to work with. They aren't as heavy and can be used in much smaller individual containers or in large-sized garden beds. Other readily available mediums in many areas include coir (the "hair" from coconuts), which can be thrown out and replaced with each crop.
Grow lights for indoor growing vary widely in intensity and uses. When using an indoor hydroponic setup, it's best to use grow lights that are sized to fit your garden beds and that are intense enough to produce the amount of light your plants will need. Indoor growing tents, closets, and other enclosed spaces are popular for their heat-retention properties and sterility that can dramatically lower energy usage.
Drainage and circulation of the nutrient solution is usually accomplished through electric pumps on automatic timers (or continuously running) in most basic growing hydroponics systems.
Hydroponic gardening is available to everyone, it doesn't matter if you have a huge garden or a small apartment; it's still great fun. If you are interested in the subject and would like more information, take a look at my story for some inspiration and some handy tips - Hydroponic Gardening