First attempt at hydroponics

I got into hydroponics and built my first version of a “hydroponic tower”.

The build

A very simple setup using salvaged parts:

• 50mm diameter tube drilled with 40mm holes (to fit the net cups)
• elbow fittings to assemble 3 tubes into a triangle
• a pump to circulate the water upward
• a bucket to collect the water

The assembly was done by offsetting the angles to form a triangle, while making sure all the tubes had a slight slope. The high end sits above the bucket, water flows through all 3 tubes, and the low end also sits above the bucket — forming a closed gravity-fed loop.

After a few weeks

Pros:

• The plants (strawberries) grew well
• Water circulated fine — at the start
• Salvaged materials, so very low cost
• Quick to build

Cons:

• Root growth eventually blocks the water flow: the 50mm tube is too narrow
• Mechanically unstable
• Takes up more space than a vertical tower

The root clogging issue is a dealbreaker — you quickly end up with water everywhere. Time to move on to a proper vertical tower.