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Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 115:159-160. 2002.
OFF THE SHELF HYDROPONIC GARDENS
RICHARD V. TYSON
University of Florida, IFAS
Seminole County Cooperative Extension Service
Sanford, FL 32773-6197
Additional index words. salad crops, herbs, passive, low-tech,
non-circulating hydroponics
Abstract. An outdoor year-round hydroponic demonstration
garden has been maintained at the Seminole County Extension
office in Sanford, FL, for the past six years. Hydroponic green-
house trials and demonstrations were also conducted at the
Seminole Community College Horticultural Unit the past four
years. This describes the hydroponic systems that were test-
ed, using locally available building materials, and discusses
the successes and failures growing vegetables, herbs, and
flowers. Although geared to the home gardener because of
their simple, low cost design and maintenance, these systems
have potential for use by small farmers, u-pick operations, and
market gardeners.
A survey of the commercial greenhouse vegetable indus-
try in Florida showed a wide variety of cropping systems in use
during 2001 (Tyson et al., 2001). Among those were perlite
production systems, the nutrient flow technique, rockwool
culture, using upright plastic bags and nursery pots, floating
systems, and vertical production systems. Many of these crop-
ping systems can be adapted by homeowners using locally
available materials to make inexpensive hydroponic gardens.
Floating Hydroponic Gardens
One of the easiest and most successful systems to adapt for
home use has been described as the floating raft system in
commercial production (Resh, 1998). This system was adapt-
ed for home and small farm use in Florida (Tyson et al., 1999)
and is known as a passive, low-tech, non-circulating hydropon-
ic system. There are no moving parts, pumps, or electricity re-
quired to operate this low-tech system.
In Seminole County, growth frames slightly larger than 4
× 8 feet were constructed of 2 × 6 inch PT (pressure treated)
wood. Taller frames may be used but shorter frames require
more maintenance because of reduced water volume. Six mil
polyethylene plastic sheets were laid in the growth frames and
Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 115: 2002.
um, p. 99-128. In R. D. Munson (ed.). Potassium in agriculture. Amer.
Soc. Agron., Crop Sci. Soc. Amer., and Soil Sci. Soc. Amer., Madison, WI.
Stephens, J. M. 1999. Vegetable gardening in Florida. Univ. Press of Fla.,
Gainesville.
The Fertilizer Institute. 1982. The Fertilizer Handbook. p. 46. The Fertilizer
Institute, Washington, D.C.
water was added to a depth of 5 inches. The plastic sheets
were secured to the frame with 1 × 2 inch furring strips (not
pressure treated wood). No PT wood is in contact with the
water or plants.
A 2-inch by 4 × 8-feet Styrofoam insulation panel was
drilled with a key hole saw making 2- to 3-inch holes. Hole
spacing varied, but were mostly 12 × 12 inches on the square.
Vegetable and herb transplants were started from seed in oa-
sis cubes and peat pellets and placed in net pots or into plastic
or Styrofoam cups and placed in the holes. The bottom of
these containers extend no more than 0.25 inch into the wa-
ter. Slits were cut down the side and through the bottom of
the cups with a razor knife to allow air and water to enter.
Transplants from local garden centers can be used provided
the root ball is small. There is no need to remove the soil from
around the transplant roots. This system works best with short
season, small rooted plants such as leafy salad crops and basil.
Another passive floating system is to stack two Styrofoam
panels on the water. The top panel has 6 inch rows cut out of
it. The bottom panel has small ¼-inch holes drilled below the
cutout portion of the top panel. Perlite is added into the rows
and plants either seeded or transplanted into the perlite. It
may be necessary to keep the perlite moist until the plant
roots reach the water. This system can be used with a variety
of crops and is similar to planting in rows in the ground but
is a row crop hydroponic system.
Demonstrations have also utilized perlite-filled 4-inch cell-
size Speedling® transplant trays floating in the troughs. This sys-
tem works well with a variety of small rooted vegetables, flowers,
and herbs. To grow larger plants like tomatoes and peppers, it
was necessary to modify the trays to put one transplant in the
center of 4 cells and stake the plants as they mature. In general,
the larger the plant, the larger the root zone volume needed for
optimum growth and development of the plant will be.
Perlite Hydroponic Systems
Perlite is a versatile hydroponic medium made from vol-
canic rock that has been super heated and popped like pop-
corn. It is light weight and holds water well. It is used in a
variety of horticultural and hydroponic systems. Some hydro-
ponic systems adapted to homeowner use include the sub-ir-
rigation and the bench bed system.
159
 The sub-irrigation system is another low-tech method that
uses the same trough design described in the floating hydro-
ponic section. Plastic nursery pots or other plant containers
are set on the floor of the trough and a cover with holes cut
to accommodate the pots is placed over the trough to ex-
clude light from the nutrient solution. The cover does not
float but is stacked on top of and extends beyond the sides of
the trough. Slits are made up the sides of the containers for
air and water to enter the pots. The water is maintained at a
level of about 2 to 4 inches up the sides of the pots and in this
way the nutrient solution constantly feeds the medium in the
pot. Pots need to be big enough so they do not become super
saturated with water (at least a 2-gallon size pot). This system
will grow almost any vegetable and becomes a year-round gar-
den, as plants mature, new ones replace them in the individ-
ual containers. Just add water and nutrients about once a
week.
The bench bed system consists of a bench, board, or alu-
minum roofing panel with raised sides containing perlite.
The bench can be level and irrigated with a fill-and-drain irri-
gation system or it can be sloped and irrigated with a nutrient-
flow system. Either method could be done with a simple small
pond pump and timer or by hand with buckets. The hand
method would require nearly daily attention.
Nutrient Flow Technique
When a sloped hydroponic design is employed, with con-
tinuous pumping of nutrients from the high side to the low
side, then a PVC pipe or bench bed without perlite could be
employed to hold the plants. The latter system would require
a cover to keep the light out of the root zone. A nutrient solu-
tion tank containing the re-circulating pump is needed. A 30-
gallon garbage can works well as a nutrient solution tank. The
solution is pumped to the high side of the system and returns
to the solution tank by gravity flow. Plants are continuously
fed nutrient solution.
Vertical Hydroponic Systems
Growing plants in vertical columns made of PVC pipe,
elongated plastic bags, stacked pots, or other columnar con-
tainers at first look seems an ideal way to grow crops because
high plant populations can be maintained in small areas.
However, vertical systems have difficulty producing a uniform
plant because of competition for light and differences be-
tween water and nutrients as you go down the column. The
upper portions of the vertical towers tend to dry out first and
frequent intermittent flows of nutrient solution are needed to
optimize crops in these systems. A nutrient tank as well as
pond pump and timer are needed. Hand watering is possible
but would require almost daily attention. There are manufac-
tured vertical system kits that can be purchased. The most suc-
cessful is from Verti-Gro®, a Florida company.
160
Nutrient Solution and Growing Environment
The main reason home hydroponic systems fail is an inad-
equate nutrient solution. Since there is no soil, all the nutri-
ents required by the plant must be supplied by the nutrient
solution. Additions of nutrients varied during our demonstra-
tions but the homeowner units were mostly derived from Mir-
acleGro® for Tomatoes and magnesium sulfate added to the
growth frames in a ratio of two teaspoons per gallon and one
teaspoon per gallon, respectively. Any general purpose water
soluble fertilizer may be used in place of the MiracleGro as
long as it has a nearly complete minor nutrient package.
It is important to exclude light from the growth frames to
reduce algal buildup which will compete for nutrients with
the crop and sour the water. Wherever you have light, water,
and nutrients, you get algae buildup. After growth frames are
filled with water and nutrients, additional water and nutrients
should be added between multiple crops, however, where al-
gae were successfully excluded, complete water changes in
float systems were required only every 6 to 12 months or more.
The second most common reason plants fail in hydropon-
ics is growing a plant out of season or under conditions that
it would not thrive under in field production. It is important
to follow the recommended vegetable crop planting dates for
Florida (Stephens et al., 1994) when growing outdoors hydro-
ponically in unprotected culture. Vegetables can be classified
as cool-season and warm-season crops and will respond well
or poorly to outside temperatures. Also, some plants thrive in
wet conditions; others do not. Plants that prefer dryer condi-
tions would perform better in tall containers using sub-irriga-
tion but not in float systems.
Summary
The easiest off-the-shelf hydroponic gardens to set up are
the floating system and the sub-irrigation perlite system. Cost
and maintenance requirements of these systems are low. The
bench bed, nutrient flow technique, and vertical systems are
more complicated to establish and maintain, requiring
pumps and nutrient tanks, but when properly managed, can
provide high-yielding hydroponic crops. Using a proper nu-
trient solution mix and knowledge of the growing require-
ments of different plants are important for successful
production in hydroponic culture.
Literature Cited
Resh, H. M. 1998. Hydroponic Food Production, 5th ed. Woodbridge Press
Publishing Company, Santa Barbara, CA.
Stephens, J. M., R. A. Dunn, G. Kidder, D. Short, and G. W. Simone. 1994.
Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide, SP 103. Florida Extension Service,
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
Tyson, R. V., J. M. White, and K. W. King. 1999. Outdoor floating hydroponic
systems for leafy salad crop and herb production. Proc. Fla. State Hort.
Soc. 112:313-315.
Tyson, R. V., R. C. Hochmuth, E. M. Lamb, G. J. Hochmuth, and M. S. Sweat.
2001. A decade of change in Florida’s greenhouse vegetable industry:
1991-2001. Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 114:280-283.
Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 115: 2002.