Aerogarden Diy : How to Make Hydroponics Indoor Garden at Home
Plant requirements for germinating, growing, blooming and ultimately fruiting requires water and certain nutrients.
Sunlight, through a process known as photosynthesis, gives plants the ability to manufacture their own food.
And mostly, plants need to get these nutrients from the soil.
The process by which plants grow with all these nutrients but without the action or influence of soil on them is referred to as hydroponics.
And a garden that uses hydroponics as a system of growing plants is called an Aerogarden. Aerogardens produce blooming, healthy and really fruitful plants using hydroponics.
By the way, if the DIY method seems too complex for you, you can always buy high quality readymade Aerogarden system. That may increase the total cost but that’s the shortcut way.
The Process of Making Hydroponics Indoor Garden at Home
Aerogardens, being a relatively new advancement in agricultural and food production technology cost anything between a hundred dollars to several hundreds of dollars.
But what if you could make a perfectly functioning Aerogarden at home, yourself, using relatively cheap materials and materials that are very easy to come by? Here we go:
Materials Needed
With these materials, building your very own Aerogarden is only a matter of time. The lidded box is to serve as a water-resistant container for the Aero garden.
The seed pots, about four or five of them are for the purpose of starting the seeds indoors, without the action of sunlight on them.
The seed pots should have holes in them that give space for the roots of the plants extension towards the solvent tank, that is, the Styrofoam box.
A small pump, like those you might find in a fish tank, will help introduce oxygen into the nutrient solution.
In order to start, cut out little openings on the cover of the Styrofoam box to allow for space where the small seed pots will be inserted.
An extra hole should be cut on top of the Styrofoam box to give space for the introduction of the hydroponic solution.
The seed pots should then be inserted into the cover of the Styrofoam box and pushed down until the upper surface of the cover becomes level with the rim of the seed pot.
The substrate should then be mixed up to provide all the important nutrients that the plants need to support their growth.
To create a planting medium that is not soil, vermiculite and perlite should be mixed together in equal proportions.
A smooth layer of the substrate should be placed levelly beneath every seed pot.
You can get the hydroponic solution from a garden center or from an online store. According to the instructions on the package, mix up the hydroponic solution to provide the nutrients for the plants.
The nutrient solution should be set up in a sunny environment since there are no LED lights to function otherwise. Pour the hydroponic solution into the Styrofoam box to fill the bottom.
Position the pump into the nutrient solution already in the Styrofoam box. Adjust the pump to a low setting. Oxygen will be pushed through the nutrient solution to supply the plant roots.
Plant the seeds in the seed pots, and introduce a little quantity of the nutrient solution into each seed pot to boost germination.
Sit back, relax, and watch your seeds grow very luxuriously and bountifully.
Also
AeroGarden Basket DIY
Aero garden baskets are unlike any other baskets because they have relatively smaller openings than normal baskets.
The openings in the baskets are made smaller so that the action of evaporation on the baskets is reduced. They also have a more flexible design so that they can be suspended.
Materials Needed
A plastic bottle that has been recycled, with a hoop of plastic around the neck of the bottle, basically, you need a soda bottle.
A mesh of nylon or a sponge.
How to Make It
Cut the rope holding the sponge together, and the result should be a long sponge or a mesh tube.
Cut out part of the sponge and tie one end to close it up.
This will serve as the base or the bottom of the basket.
Remove the plastic hook around the neck of the bottle. Try not to get it out of shape. There will be use for it later.
Remove the top of the bottle to get the bottle opening.
Put the opening of the bottle to the sponge in such a way that the open end of the sponge is wrapped around the bottle’s opening. The bottle should be pointing inside the sponge tube.
Now, the plastic ring on the neck of the bottle should be replaced carefully over the sponge. The sponge should not be damaged. If positioned properly, the cap of the bottle should secure the sponge in place.
And there, it is done. The sponge seed pot and the aero garden itself!
Thanks
Can’t make head or tail of this. Needs pictures