A few years ago we got the bug to start working with growing vegetables hydroponically - a natural for me since I'm an avid gardener, and a natural for Pat since he loves to build things. Our house was in a gorgeous place with a large deck but little direct sun, since it was in the midst of redwoods. Wanting to be as simple as possible, we decided on a house gutter and Miracle Gro approach (although now I'm much more in favor of organics, and wouldn't use Miracle Gro.) It was inexpensive, easy and took up very little room. Here's how we did it.

Materials list:

• Plastic rain gutter and attachments (elbows, joiners, end caps, etc)
• Lava rock to fill the gutter
• Plumbers' tape to hang the gutter (or any other strong material)
• 1/4" drip plastic tubing, as used in garden irrigation
• 1/4" non-drip plastic tubing, as used in garden irrigation
• 5-gallon plastic bucket
• Miracle Gro (or, preferably, an organic or specifically hydroponic alternative)

The gutter was cut into appropriate lengths and hung over both sides of the railing of the deck, with a slope of about 18" over the ~45-foot length to allow for gravity flow of the nutrient solution. Plumbers' tape was fitted over the railing (and over a wooden block to keep the tape from digging into the railing) and looped under the gutter. The gutters tended to fall against the railing, so more small wooden blocks were inserted to push it out maybe 6". Individual pieces of gutter were joined to each other and corners made with standard gutter attachment bits.

Next, we filled the gutter not quite to the top with lava rock (usually found where greenhouse supplies are sold) and laid 1/4" drip tubing along the top. This tubing was for running non-nutrient water either for cooling in really hot, dry weather or just for adding water to the system.

For nutrients, we used a weak solution of Miracle Gro mixed into water taken from our fish tank during the weekly water change (so we got some fish poop and extra nitrates), approximately 3 tablespoons of Miracle Gro to a 5-gallon bucket. Usually 2 times a day, we'd move the bucket up to the top of the railing and let the solution gravity-feed through a length of 1/4" plastic tubing into the gutter. Since the gutter was slightly sloped, gravity also caused the nutrient to flow back to the bucket. Very manual, indeed.

Veggies were started in small rockwool cubes, then moved outside when the weather started getting nice, just like with a dirt garden. Here it's late summer and things are growing quite well. Tomatoes, basil, beans, peppers and melon. By now the taller plants needed support, so we just dropped string from our clothes line.

For us, this method worked well for tomatoes, basil, beans and jalapenos. The other peppers and melons that we tried were stunted and didn't produce much, if any, fruit. So it was either too little nutrient or the wrong blend for these plants. Since we're now using organic nutrients, I've not done any further experimentation with the Miracle Gro.

Since then, we've tried a few other hydroponic setups. Our latest includes a home-made dome greenhouse with new equipment, organic nutrient, and lots of promise.

Back to the Hydroponics Index.