Vertical Hydrophonic System

Hello. In this instructable I am making a vertical hydrophonic system. :)

here is what you will need

• 5 gallon bucket with lid
• 4" diameter by 10' PVC pipe
• 1/2" diameter tubing (about 6 feet)
• 4" PVC pipe cap
• water fountain pump
• zip tie

this is the tools you will need

• electric drill
• 1/8" dia. drill bit
• 7/8" drill hole bit (sorry I don't know whats it's actually called)
• exact o-knife
• circular saw or a hacksaw
• marker

the PVC pipe I got was 10' but I only needed 6' so I marked it and cut it to the length needed. You can use a hacksaw or a circular saw, your choice.

Now with a marker I marked the areas where i will be drilling the hole for the plants. I had purchased a PVC pipe that had some already pre-cut holes. I think it's better to get it without the holes so you can put the preferred amount of holes to your desire. plus the pre-cut holes need to be bigger so to re-cut them makes it a little difficult. I just bought this one because they didn't have anymore of the solid ones.

Cut the holes. I used 7/8" but you might want to use a different size. maybe bigger. go slow, you will get a cleaner cut.

Now mark the location where you are going to put the PVC pipe through. Before you do make sure your water fountain pump fits nicely between the pipe and bucket wall. otherwise the pipe will tilt. I had to cut a little more offset due to my pump size. Once you got the location cut the hole with and exact o-knife.

my errors help to make sure to don't make the same mistake. :)

Run the tubing through the pipe to the top. I drilled two small 1/8" holes and zip tied the tube at the top. Make sure the tube is aiming to pour the water towards the middle and not the wall of the PVC.

Connect the tube to your water fountain pump. Place the pump in the bucket and slide the lid from the top of the PVC pipe down.

Before you close the lid, make a little cut so you can run the plug out from there. Then close the lid. If you want to secure the PVC more to the bucket I recommend applying some silicone to the base of the PVC pipe to the bucket inside at the bottom. Do not apply to the top because your going to want to lift the lid to add plant food. Finally add the cap to the top of the PVC.

You may want to fill with water and do a test run so you can see from the top if the water is falling properly.

And there you go. Im going to try growing strawberries and herbs in mine. nothing to heavy.

Also if you wanted, which i'm going to try, put some fish in the bucket. it would make it more of an auqaponic garden. so now you just have to feed the fish instead of putting plant food in the water. The fish will product nutrients for the plants and the plants will help filter the water for the fish. You will need to cut a little door so you can feed them.

You can put an air pump in there for the fish but I think from the water falling back into the bucket it should push air into the water.

Now when it comes to putting the plants in i was going to try using like a sponge by the roots to help secure them or maybe even those plastic women hair curlers. If you have a better idea then even better. shoot a comment if you got a better way I would love to try it.

thank you for checking out/ voting for my project.

happy building! :)