deteriming witch method of hydro best suits YOU

there r systems to fit any ones lifestyle the bottom line is deciding..

- time u have to devote

- ur budget

- space

- plants u grow, lol.

once u know wat u got to put into it then u can decide witch system is for you. ebb & flow or drip systems is great fer first timers they r not complicated OR costly. advantages to hydro systems is how versatile it is with wat u have to werk with.

there r a few different things u should know of hydro, systems can be identified as..

ACTIVE- a hydro system that activly moves the current of water.

PASSIVE- a system that relies on capillary action of a wet wick.

RECOVERY- re-circulating systems.

non-RECOVERY- a system that supplies nutes to the growing system, witch is NOT recovered. (run-off)

BARE ROOT SYSTEM- a system that DOES NOT use a growing media.

SUBSTRATE SYSTEM- a hydro system that uses a growing media using such as rockwool, perlite, or vermiculite.

now that we understand the dinamics of hydro, lets apply it to sum of the hydro systems out today...

THE WICK SYSTEM-
this passive, non-recovery system does not require a pump. a candle wick (OR THICKER OIL LANTERN WICK) is used to move the nute solution to the roots. passive systems r generally laess expensive route, and also can be too wet fer healthy plant growth and thus tends to be less productive.

EBB & FLOW SYSTEM-
also called flood and drain, this is an active recovery system that uses a pump to move the nute solution to the roots of the plant where oxygen depleated air is exchanged with oxygen rich air. the pump stays on fer about 20 minutes and wen the nute solution reaches a certain level it is over flowed back into the res. due to low maintenance iis good fer the starter hydro grower.

NUTRIENT FILM TECHNIQUE-
charecterizes as an ACTIVE recovery system, an NFT consists of slanted grow tubes that have flow of nutes/water throo them assisted by gravity to the res, and fed to the top by a pump. it is one of the LESS forgiving ways of hyro, as the roots DEPEND on the flow of nutes.

CONTINOUS DRIP SYSTEM-
this NON-recovery OR recovery system (DEPENS ON WAT TRAY USING) has a constant flow fed by a pump to the top of the growing media (or net pots) and out drippers to the roots (A GOOD BEGGINER SYSTEM TOO).

AEROPONIC-
in aero systems the roots r hangin in the air constantly misted with the nutient solution. in this bare root system the nurient solution is 20% oxygen
and plants can acess the max amounts of oxygen for tremendous growth. this is generally fer the MORE advanced grower tho.


for flexibility, if your needs r growing small scale, and you want an uncomlicated system, EBB & FLOW or DRIP systems are right down ur alley. if your goal is bigger plants then the bucket system might be for you. as u become more experienced in hydro, u can upgrade to get a more challenging but HIGHLY productive AERO system.

<-----simplicity is the idea here....flood and drain all the way...