Building a Hydroponic Garden

Want to grow cannabis in your own home without soil? No problem! A hydroponic growing system gives you the power to grow plants anywhere. Even if you live in an area where water is scarce or the weather is unstable, a hydroponic system is the answer you’ve been looking for. With Grow Flow you can use the very best water to get the very best growth.

What Is A Hydroponic System?

To use hydroponics, you must understand what they are. Simply put, hydroponics is the growing of plants, cutting out the use of soil. Growing plants in soil provides vitamins and minerals, but hydroponics allows the grower to obtain the same said nutrients through water and nutrient solution, sans soil. Plants require the following:

• Light
• Carbon Dioxide
• Oxygen
• Water

Plant growth is possible by placing your plant in either rocks or coco coir fiber while being fed primary, secondary, and micro-nutrients. With hydroponics, plants can be grown closer together without the roots having to reach for nutrients. Thus, more plant yielding and water conservation.

Growing cannabis hydroponically can be done in multiple ways to maximize yields and growth speeds. The most popular method—the Nutrient-Film Technique—is standing your plants in a plastic trough and letting a nutrient solution trickle down their exposed roots.

Thanks to gravity and an air pump, hydroponics can be done with ease. By continuously sliding through the roots, it provides essential nutrients. However, if time isn’t in your favor, consider using roots supported by nutrient-rich mediums like rock wool, vermiculite, or sand; they offer an excellent substitute for soil. Define your budget and given space when deciding on your nutrient-rich medium of choice. 

How Can I Grow Using a Hydroponic System?

Growing with hydroponics doesn’t have to be expensive, nor do you need a huge grow room to take advantage of some of the automation and advantages to build your own marijuana hydroponic system. 

DIY hydroponic systems can range from beginner to advanced. Find one that will work for you. Professionals at Grow Flow can work within your limits to offer the best possible solutions. Here’s a simple guide on how to build one type of hydroponic system to grow your own cannabis.

Creating Your Grow House

First, you should decide on a convenient place to keep your hydroponic system. While this method of home cannabis growth doesn’t take much space, it’s important to consider it being disruptive to your household. Find a corner where your system will be out of the way and can grow in peace. If you have a larger space to work with, consider purchasing a greenhouse structure.

Using High-Quality Water

The clue is in the name Hydroponic. Growing cannabis using this system requires a lot of water. It’s important to know the best water for cultivating and growing high-quality cannabis. Oftentimes, hard or untreated water can damage your plants. 

With Grow Flow you can rest assured knowing that your cannabis is well cared for. Culligan offers a range of systems that will remove hard water minerals, treat your water and make it suitable for the best growing conditions.

Building Your System

1. First, set up your reservoir. Your reservoir is where your nutrient solution is held. A reservoir can come in all shapes and sizes depending on your grow space and size, and it holds the water pump and the air stone. It will have a line in from the air pump to the air stone and a drainage line in from the grow table. The reservoir will have a line out from the water pump to the drip line and the power cord for the water pump.
2. Next you will create your grow table. The purpose of the table is to contain and return the excess water from the plants to the reservoir. To do this successfully, the table needs to have a low point where all the excess water will travel to. This low point is where you install the drain that will take the water back to the reservoir via plastic tubing.
3. You can then add your five gallon buckets filled with clay pellets on the table. Before using clay pellets, soak the pellets overnight in your quality treated water to allow them to become fully saturated with water for your plants to drink. Also, the buckets need to have holes drilled in the bottom to allow them to drain excess water onto the grow table. It is important that the holes are about half the diameter of the clay pellets to prevent the pellets from passing through or clogging the holes.
4. Take the plastic tubing coming off of the water pump and run the line to the grow table. From here you can use drip line equipment to puncture holes in the plastic tubing and extend drip line to each bucket. Finally, attach drip line emitters to the end of the drip lines.
5. From here you can run your system without plants to see if everything is functioning properly. The system should not have standing water anywhere. The air pump should always be running to keep the water in the reservoir oxygenated and moving, while the 5 gallon buckets and grow table drains any excess water back into the reservoir.
6. At this point you are setup and ready to create your nutrient water solution in your reservoir. Below we will introduce information about nutrients and how to use them to grow your cannabis plants.
7. Once your solution is ready, can introduce your plants. Take the starts or clones that have begun growing in rockwool and place them into the clay pellets. Insert the drip line so that moisture is reaching the rockwool and roots of your starts.

Getting Help to Build Your Hydroponic Garden

While building a hydroponic garden can be easy, we’re here to make it easier! Grow Flow offers the most efficient systems, making the process easier than ever before. Another bonus? Better growing equipment equals higher quality plants. It simply makes sense for both home growers and business owners to use our professional services.