Twelve plant Hydroponic Flood and Drain System

This is a easy to build

hydroponic system, as well
as a relatively inexpensive
system, and it works
beautifully for a lot of
different type's of plants. I
built it to hold 12 plants, but
you can space them as you
like. You can also always just
cover up any unused
openings if you have to
many.

Parts List
• 1 ten foot long, 4 inch wide ADS tube (Advanced Drainage Systems tubing)
• One 10 foot length of 1/2 inch PVC tubing
• 2-3 feet of 3/4 inch PVC (for overflow side)
• 2 end caps for the ADS tubing
• 1 water pump (submersible fountain pump)
• 2 bulkhead fittings, also called through hole's (ours are from the electrical department)
• 1/2 inch black (or blue) vinyl tubing
• 5/8 inch vinyl tubing
• Minimum 18 gallon storage tote (for the reservoir)
• Two, 1/2 inch PVC connector's (threaded on one side, slip on the other)
• Two 1/2 inch barbed and threaded elbow connector's (found with gardening and
irrigation)
• One 3/4 inch "T" connector
• One 3/4 inch end cap
• One 1/2 inch barbed "T" connector (found with gardening and irrigation)
• Timer with pins all the way around the dial

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The 4 inch ADS (Advanced Drainage System) tubing is easy to find. It's sold at any Home
Depot and Lowe's, and other home improvement stores. Usually near the PVC tubing, but it
can vary from store to store. It's irrigation tubing used to used to direct rain water away that
could otherwise flood an area. The ADS tubing comes with a quick connect coupling end
already attached, used to connect one tube to another. You want to cut that off first, you can
easily cut ADS tubing with a hack saw.

Once you cut off the coupling end, you want to cut your holes for the 3 inch baskets. But you
need to make sure you have them in a straight line before you cut them out. To do that first you
need to draw a straight line on top of the tube. Make sure the tube is held securely on top of a
table so it wont roll around while you
draw the line. Then have someone
hold a tape measure or string at the
top of the tube one side, and secure it
in the same position on the other side.
Then take a pen or pencil and draw a
straight line all the way across the
tube.

Next make a mark about 6 inches in

on each side on the line. You'll make
your holes for the 3 inch baskets
between those marks. But first you will need to make a template for the holes. Find a plastic
margarine lid, or some lid like it from the trash. The plastic lid is flexible and will allow you to
bend it around the tube to make a good circle. Draw an outline of the top of your 3 inch basket
on it. Now cut it out, but make it just a little smaller than the circle so the baskets don't fall
through. Ounce you did that, test it to be sure it's the right size. Use the template to make a
circle on a piece of cardboard (or something) and cut it out, place your basket in the cut out to
make sure it goes in nicely without falling through.

Now make an "X" on the template to mark the center of it, and drill a small hole on the X.
Now you can either draw your circles by eyeballing the spacing, or measure it out and place a
mark on the line exactly where you want them. If you measured it out, then place your
template over each spot and align the hole in the center of the template on your mark. Then
draw your circle. If your eyeballing the spacing, place your template where you want the hole,
and align the center hole of the template on the line across the top of the tubing and draw your
circle.

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You could cut the holes out with a hole saw if
you have one the exact size you need, but it's
much easier and simpler to use a rotary tool with
a small drill bit tip. Just fallow along the circle
you drew to cut it out. It will cut through the
ADS tubing very easily.

Now that you have the main tube ready, it's time
to install the through holes in the end caps. That
is where the water will enter and exit the tube from. Use a small
hole saw to cut a hole just big
enough to slide the threaded
side of the through-hole
through. Make the hole near
the outer edge of both of the
end cap's, but in just a little
(about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch)
from the edge to give you some working room.

Once you have the holes cut out, install the

through holes. Make sure the O-ring is on the
outside of the end cap, and tighten down the
locking ring good and snug on the inside of the end
cap. You don't need to glue it the O-ring will make
it water tight. If you accidentally made your hole
to big and the O-ring wont seat flat, you can
replace it with a larger O-ring, or take it out and
use pluming goop instead.

Installing the end cap's is easy, but you don't want to glue them on. We made this mistake the
first time. If you glue them on you can't adjust them, and you can't get the root mass out and
clean the inside when you want to reuse it to grow more plants later. You can make a rubber
gasket using some flat rubber bands. Find some flat (wide) rubber bands that fit around the 4
inch ADS tube. You don't want it to be stretched real tight, just snug. Use two or three on each
end. Then rub some cooking oil on the rubber bands before sliding the end caps on. The oil
will keep the rubber bands from binding up as you slide the end caps on.

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 Supporting the Hydroponic System grow tube

There are a lot of ways you can support the growing tube. The best way for you to do it will
depend a lot on the space you want to put it, and what you have on hand. We will give a quick
overview of the support structure we built for the system, but you can do anything from using
cinder blocks, to crate's, a tabletop, to mounting it on a wall, or even along a balcony. It really
just depends on the spot you want to put it, and your
imagination. The only things you really need to worry
about or consider when supporting the tube are:

1. Make sure it can support the weight. When it's

full of water and plants, it can weigh 50-80
pounds.
2. Make sure it's supported evenly. If you just
support the ends, it will bow in the center from
the weight. Then you will have water spilling
out.
3. Make sure it's level. If it's not level you would
wind up with uneven watering to the plants inside
the tube, or even worse water spilling out.
4. Make sure it's secure. You don't want it rolling or
tipping over, and you don't want the wind
catching the plants pulling the tube out of place.
5. If the plants you grow in the system are vine like,
(as the peas we grew in it were) you will need
some type of trellis for it to climb up on

The support system we built for this hydroponic system

was thrown together from what we had laying around.
First we used scrap 2x4's we had, and made two boxes
about 2 feet tall. We also had some white paint laying around we painted it with. It didn't need
to be painted, but it just looks better, especially because it
matches the ADS tubing is white on the outside as well. To
cradle the ADS tube on top of the wooden box frames, we took a
coupler made for the ADS tubing,
and cut it into sections and screwed it
to the wooden frames. that way it
wouldn't roll around. Then just
strapped it down with a bungee cord
to hold it snug in place.

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 Reservoir and Pump System

You don't want your reservoir to be too small, bigger is always better. The type of plants you
grow in the hydroponic system, as well as how many of them there will be will make a big
difference in the size of your reservoir. Rule of thumb is a minimum of 1/2 gallons per plant
for small plants, a minimum of 1 to 1-1/2 gallons per plant for medium size plants, and a
minimum of 2-1/2 gallons per plant for large plants. Those are minimums, bigger is always
better. But even if you are growing small plants in this system, you will want at least an 18
gallon reservoir. When the pump goes on and floods the
tube, it will take about 10 gallons of water to fill it, and
you don't want to risk your pump running dry.

At the time the pictures were taken of this hydroponic

system, the reservoir had not been painted yet. But you
want to paint the storage tote you plan to use for the
reservoir with spray paint. First paint it black to block
light from getting in, then paint it with a few coats of
white paint. White will reflect light and keep your
nutrient solution cooler. Make sure to only paint the
outside, you don't want paint in your nutrient solution.

Now that you have the grow tube and reservoir

ready, you can set up the pump. You could run
the vinyl tubing all the way from the pump to
the other side by itself, but PVC is cheaper and
we had it laying around. 1/2 inch vinyl tubing
won't fit on the through holes we used, so we
created an adapter to connect them. First cut
about a 4 inch piece of the 5/8 tubing and slide
it on the barbed end of the through hole in the
end cap. Then slide some 1/2 inch vinyl tubing
inside the 5/8 inch tubing and cut it flush.

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You will see that our 1/2 inch PVC tube is painted black, you don't need to do that. It was one
we had laying around that we reused. The black blocks light, but keeps you from being able to
slide on the connectors. That's why we scraped off the paint at the end.
If you want to block the light inside the tube it's cheaper, and easier to
just put some pipe insulation on it.
Now glue on your threaded and slip
1/2 inch PVC connectors on both
sides of the tubing. Then just screw
on and connect the pieces. Make
sure that the through hole is at the
bottom of the ADS tube for this end.
You can easily align it by turning the
end cap tell it is where you need it.
That finishes the flooding side of the
tube.

Connecting the water pump is easy to do.

Just measure and cut a piece of the 1/2
inch vinyl tubing to reach from the PVC
connector to the pump inside the
reservoir. Our pump was to strong so we
added a "T" barbed connector and
another short piece of vinyl tubing. That
splits the water pressure in half. The open
end coming from the "T" connector stays
in the reservoir, pumping it right back
into the reservoir.

Setting up the Overflow

The overflow side is easy to set up as well. Cut a short 2 inch piece of 3/4 inch PVC tubing,
install it in the center opening of the 3/4 inch "T" connector. Cut about a 3 inch long piece of
the 5/8 inch vinyl tubing. Push it firmly into the same center opening of the 3/4 inch PVC "T"
connector. Cut a piece about 2-3 inches long of the 3/4 inch PVC tubing. Install it on one end
of the "T" connector. Install the 3/4 inch PVC end cap on it. Then drill some holes in the end
cap. This will keep bugs out while still allowing air in. The air allows the water to flow faster,
and also helps oxygenate the water flowing back into the reservoir.

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The opening is above the water line, so no water will leak out from it. Now attach the "T"
connector to the barbed through hole by slipping the 5/8 inch vinyl tubing end on it. Measure
and cut another piece of the 3/4 inch PVC tubing,
making it long enough to reach down 5-6 inches inside
the reservoir, then attach it to the bottom side of the
"T" connector.

Now adjust the end cap so the through hole is just

under the holes for the plants. You will probably need
to readjust it a bit later when you run water in it. You
can adjust the water height in the ADS tube by simply
turning the end cap.

Now just cut some openings in the lid of the reservoir

for the overflow tube, as well as the pump's electrical
cord and water line. Now your ready to grow some
plants hydroponically.

Timer
This hydroponic system is a Flood and
Drain (ebb and flow) system. Flood and
drain systems use a timer to turn on and
off the water pump. That keeps the roots
moist, and recirculates the nutrient
solution. Any light timer should work,
but there are a few things to look for when buying it for your hydroponic systems. First is look
for one that is a 15 amp timer, sometimes called heavy duty timers. Just check the back of the
package for the specs. Second is, make sure it has pins all the way around the dial. You'll need
a lot of on off cycles, and timers that have removable pins only come with a few pins. You can
use a digital timer, but they don't usually have enough settings either, and they loose memory
every time you unplug it, or the power goes out. Third, If you can, get ones with a weather
resistant cover. It will keep dust and dirt out, and keep it protected if it accidentally gets wet.
Even if your growing inside, you could still accidentally splash water on it.

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