I'm like you, I also started hydroponics recently. 2 weeks to be exact and I started with a water culture system. Real easy to maintain and build. I got myself a 10 gallon container, cut holes on the top and put in six 3 inch netcups. For the nutrients I use dyna-gro which works really well for me. Got myself some expanded clay pellets and coco for as a medium. An airpump, airstone, some tubes and a ph test kit. I have my container right by the window facing east and growing tomatoes, basil, peppers, oregano, lettuce and a sunflower in a separate bucket, and everything is going really well. This is the only system I've tried so far but I'm just giving you my 2 cents on how very easy it is to maintain a water culture system...

thaz it!!

You might have some fun with a bubbler system. It involves using an aquarium air pump, some aquarium air hose, and some 3/8" pex tubing. Several years ago, I used one of those large yogurt containers for the growing area, and a 5 gallon pail for the lower nutrient tank. There is a cover on the 5 gallon pail with holes drilled into it to allow nutrient to freely return back into the pail as it drains from the holes drilled into the bottom of the yogurt container sitting on the pail lid. The fun part is how the nutrients are pushed up the 3/8 pex tubing by air bubbles. Yhe pex tubing is placed so that it rests on the bottom of the pail and extends up through the lid and up through the yogurt container. It's length is set so that the top of the tube is about 1 1/2 inches higher than the top of the yogurt container. The bottom of the tube is cut at a 45 degree angle so that nutrients are able to freely pass up through the tube. The trick here is to make a hole in the lower area 1/3 of the tube so that the aquarium air tubing is a tight fit when it is inserted into the hole just far enough that the air from the aquarium air pump injects bubbles into the water filled pex tube. The result is like a perculator causing spurts of nutrient/water to bubble out of the top of the tube into the yogurt container continously. You should use a fast draining growing medium like gravel, or baked clay. My cats used to sit and watch the grower for hours. I grew cayanne hot peppers like this one year with good results. one other thing you might want to include is an aquarium air shut off valve. Sometimes, the air pressure can be too high, and adjusting the valve will help optimize the flow rate. The aquarium parts are inexpensive. I was able to power 4 bubblers with one small air pump. chuck

For all beginner hydro users I could explain it too you or I could just tell you where I learned most Of what i know. Website ...www.simplyhydo.com. It will weigh the pros and cons and all the in between of the different types of systems and how they all work. GOOD LUCK>