Miniature Deep Water Culture Hydroponics: A Pictorial Walkthrough

This is a step by step pictorial walkthrough of how to build and set up your own cheap, easy, and effective Deep Water Culture hydroponic system. It will work with any small leafy vegetables like herbs, lettuces, and leafy greens. It can also be placed at the base of a trellis and be used to grow vertically trainable plants like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and berries. It can be used outside under the sun, or inside under a grow light.

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Step 1: The babies

Here are three Ruby Red Swiss Chard seedlings that are about 3 weeks old. They were germinated in a paper towel, and then placed in Jiffy-7 peat pellets to root. I have them placed in clear plastic containers with vermiculite to begin their root system before putting them in the hydroponic system. I've given them plain water at a pH of 5.5 (more on that later), with two light feedings (at one week and two weeks from seedling transplant) to help them push roots and start leaf growth. I can see roots on the inside of the clear container, so they're ready to go!