The New Ebb and Flow Hydroponic Project

Design plans for the ebb and flow system. Our plan is to grow indoor hydroponics vegetables, in an ebb and flow hydroponic system.

We had a table that had been designed to hold aquatic creatures from Puget Sound. The table had been replaced with a large concrete version of an indoor aquarium. We cleaned it very well and drew up the above plan to build our indoor hydroponic vegetable garden.

The ebb and flow table on 2"X6" constructed frame.

We constructed a new stand (2" x 6" construction to support the weight of the nutrient solution.

There were two pre-existing one and 1/2 inch drains in the table. We retrofit those with four inch risers to enable the drainage once the fill level reached the appropriate level in the growing media.

Plumbing required two, one and 1/4 inch, holes be drilled and caution taken to be sure the new fittings for the pump would be flush and clean, to ensure it wouldn't leak nutrient solution.

Shut off valves were added later to enable separate
operation of each 1/2 of the ebb and flow table

The holes were perfect and the treaded fittings actually screwed into the plywood/fiberglass top perfectly and were sealed with a gasket.

The plumbing needed to "T" to feed two separate halves of the table (not ideal). We added separate shut off valves to each half of the T to enable either half of the table to operate independently of the other. These 3/4 inch hoses would also be the drainage for the trays (through the pump).

We tapped in to the pre-existing air system in our greenhouse with feeder lines to aerate the nutrient solution in the holding reservoirs. A series of air-stones were used to oxygenate the nutrient solution. This is important as a great deal of hydroponic success happens by delivering Ph neutral, aerated, nutrient rich solution to the root system of each plant.

Seeds were started in rockwool (peppers, lettuces, basil), with plans to move starts into small pots, filled with clay pellets, to be introduced to the system.

The system requires a large reservoir and we were not prepared to lay our nearly $300 for a nice commercial one. We opted to daisy chain reservoirs to save money. Now three reservoirs, allow us to maintain the 65 gallons (plus 10-12 extra gallons) required to run the hydroponic ebb and flow system. The daisy chain keeps the nutrient solution at an even level in each reservoir, and the drainage tanks will keep the pump tank filled with a sufficient nutrient solution level to feed the system.

That's it for now. I'm hoping to power the pump off my 180 watt solar panel, but I'll keep you in the loop.

More photos to follow as we progress.