Easy Hydroponics

Learn to make your own homemade hydroponics system to grow virtually any plant, vegetable and fruit without soil.

General Hydroponics:

• History of Hydroponics Growing
• Introduction to Hydroponic Farming
• Hydroponic Supplies 101
• Effects of Hydroponics on Vegetables
• Overview of Six Growth Systems
• Common Hydroponic Nutrients
• Types of Hydroponic Growth Media

Hydroponic Systems:

• Basic Concepts of Home Hydroponics
• Advantages of Major Growing Systems
• Finding the Best Hydroponic Systems
• Are Cheap Systems Worth It?
• Hydroponic System Buyer's Guide
• How to Save Money on Systems
• Pros & Cons of Ebb and Flow
• Hydroponics Drip Versus Ebb and Flow
• Advantages of Vertical Systems
• Lunar and Mars Hydroponic Systems

Hydroponics Growing:

• Hydroponic Tomatoes
• Hydroponic Lettuce
• Hydroponic Strawberries
• The Hydroponic Strawberry Revolution
• Pros & Cons of Strawberry Systems
• How to Build a System for Strawberries
• More Tips for Strawberries
• Using Hydroponics Year-Round?
• Florida's Hydroponic Strawberries
• How to Clone Plants with Hydroponics

Homemade Hydroponics:

• Why Homemade Hydroponics?
• Pros and Cons of Home Systems
• Making A Simple Hydroponics System
• 5 Free Hydroponic System Plans
• Building A Bottle Hydroponics System
• Make a 5 Gal Pail Hydroponic System
• A Build Using Hydroponic Planters
• 5 Steps to Building from Scratch
• What is The Cheapest System?
• 3 More Tips To Building Your System
• Building a Raft Hydroponic System
• The Beauty of DIY Hydroponics
• How to Build an Aeroponic System

Hydroponic Lights:

• Introduction to Grow Lights
• Types of Hydroponic Lighting
• Choosing the Right Hydroponic Lights
• Assessing Minimum Amounts of Light
• How to Maximize Light Efficiency
• Metal Halide Hydroponics Lighting
• Fluorescent versus HID Systems
• 5 Types of HID Hydroponic Lights
• Hydroponic LED Lighting
• Hydro Farm Hydroponics Grow Lights
• Importance of Color Temperatures
• Setting Light Timing Schedules
• Hydroponic Grow Lights Safety

PVC Hydroponics:

• PVC Hydroponics FAQ
• Hydroponics and PVC Pipe Tubes
• Advantages of Using PVC
• Using PVC in a Dutch Pot System
• How to Build PVC Pipe Hydroponics
• How to Build a PVC Hydroponic Tree

The Beauty of DIY Hydroponics

What drives people to spend thousands and thousands of dollars each year on a hobby like DIY Hydroponics? Is it just the desire for fresh fruit? Or the feeling of accomplishment it gives? Join me in the next few minutes and you'll find out exactly why DIY hydroponics are beautiful.

I guess it happened to all of us during our childhood, regardless if we were rich or poor, frustrated or happy, educated or not. We've all been to the point where we get a present that you don't just "get", it's one you have to assemble yourself. Sure, getting a wooden plane is nice, you play around with it, but afterwards it gets boring and for the most part, you don't have any sentimental value towards it. But think about what happens if the gift contains a DIY plane that YOU have to create! Not only is building it up from scratch so much fun, giving you a sense of accomplishment, you also grow feelings for that plane, or whatever it is, because YOU built it. Of course, people grow up, so we need new hobbies and wooden planes just don't cut it anymore. Hydroponics is one such "grown up hobby" and DIY hydroponics will replace that wooden plane you loved so much while you were young.

The major difference and the one you'll want to start off from is that a hydroponics system is a support for life, you're putting up the blocks for life, not just some dead toy. You'll see your plants grow, you will know that you helped them out, you created life. Remember the accomplishment feeling you got when you made the toy? Think one hundred times more powerful when a DIY hydroponics system is involved.

Of course, homemade hydroponics systems are nowhere near the toy-status, despite some of the similarities between the two fields. First and foremost, your hydroponic hobby will cost quite a buck, so if you're serious about taking up this hobby, best have your wallet prepared. Many will argue that a DIY hydroponics system is not really all that expensive, because you can use many household materials to get it up and running. True, you can create a simple hydroponics system from a bucket, 3 plastic cups and some stuff that you can get from your local pet shop (air stones, tubes, air pumps and the likes), but a hobby is not just about "getting stuff up and running". It's about getting it running perfectly and doing what you love to do at your best. I'm sure you wouldn't consider a bucket and some plastic cups the best you could do with your hobby.

One of the most beautiful aspects of having hydroponics as your hobby is, and I beg you to differ, the parental feeling it gives you. Just like with pets, you feel a sense of warmth when you take care of your pet, when you feed it, when you provide the best conditions for it, knowing that others like him or her are not getting 1/1000 of what your pet gets. Of course, that's not entirely true with plants. Even if a plant grows wildly in nature, it will still have light, nutrients, a balanced temperature and so forth and you would be tempted to say it actually has a decent standard of life out there.

But your homemade hydroponics system will not just be a replica of that standard of life, it will actually be an environment better than nature! No strawberry that grows in the wild will get as much light as it gets from your HID metal halide lamp, no tomato growing in the backyard will get as many nutrients from the rough soil than from your nutrient tray. And almost all plants will have to cower before the cold when winter strikes, unlike hydroponically grown ones that you can simply create the right temperatures for with the help of a thermostat. In the end, a plant that grows in your DIY hydroponics system is like an orphan getting adopted by Bill Gates!

All of these and more, give DIY hydroponics the beauty that makes this one of the fastest spreading hobbies of today. You can take the role of a kid, building his wooden DIY plane, a parent nurturing for his young and you can even have the strength of a god, saying "Nature, I'm better than you!". ;)