Request for a general hydroponics overview and methods comparison

Hey folks,

I'm new to to rollitup, relatively new to indoor growing and have never attempted a hydro grow. I've been doing a lot of reading on here lately and have found this site to be a truely excellent source of information. One thing I've been searching for and haven't yet found (though it might well be here somewhere) is a general overview of the various hydroponics methods and terminology, with the pros and cons of each listed in one place and in a quick-to-read format.

I'm fairly sure that all the information I could ever want is here on this forum, though it's spread over a large number of threads and often buried very deep. The sticky hydroponics threads are a good example: there's some excellent information in there but the threads have gotten so long that I've read dozens of pages of posts but am still unsure on some basic questions like which type of hydroponics system and medium may best suit my needs.

Would anyone be willing to write a 2 page overview of hydroponics terminology, mediums and methods with a basic comparison between them? Ideally what I and what I think a lot of other noobs to this forum need is a good place to start, somewhere to get a good impartial overview of the various methods before diving into the rest of the forum to get more detailed information on the specific hyrdoponics method/system that is right for them. There are newbie and FAQ threads spread throughout the forum but none that are both specific to hydro and which cover all the basics in the first couple of pages.

Were such a thread to be made sticky it would be an excellent resource for noobs like myself, to get us up to speed quickly and to point us in the right direction for further reading. I don't want to just ask a string of noob questions here because I'd get many different answers to each question, the thread would quickly become long and filled with off-topic comments and some dodgy information, and would be hard for others to find and read quickly in future.

Any experts on for it? I know there'd be a lot of work involved but such a thread would be a goldmine for us noobs. P.S - there will be cake, delicious and moist

Types of Hydroponic Growing

1. Deep Water Culture (DWC)
2. Flood and Drain (ebb&flow, Table)
3. Nutrient Film Technique (NFT)
4. Aeroponics (low and high pressures)
5. Drip Systems
6. Wick Systems


1. Deep Water Culture

One of the most popular hydro systems DWC is probably one of the easiest and cheapest hydro systems to setup. It requires using air stones to add oxygen to the water which floods the roots of the plants. You could build this system rather easy.

You could also use 5 gallon buckets with net pots and a medium to setup this system. Hooking the buckets together with tubing, tees, and grommets and adding in a control bucket (with no plant) to check ppm/ph. To correct this problem some people add an inline pump into the system to circulate the water though out. When you add the pump you actually have what is called a recirculating deep water culture (RDWC).

Pros- Easy to use and fits many peoples needs and budgets. System has few parts to fail and failure of any part in the system is not a huge deal initially. Low maintenance overall.

Cons- High temperature in the system water is a common problem and sometimes water coolers are used. One down side to the multiple bucket style is your ppm/ph might be different in each bucket depending on how far it is from the control bucket.


2. Flood and Drain (ebb&flow, Table)

Includes having the plants in some sort of medium that gets flooded for a set amount of time and then drained. This process is repeated in when the medium is dry and normally controlled by a timer. A few variations of this type of system are used. One where the plants are in pots on a table and the reservoir below floods the table filling the pots. The other style is ebb&flow and normally has a 55 gallon drum as a main reservoir that is attached to a control bucket. The control bucket is then hooked to other buckets that hold the plants. Again the control bucket floods the plants for a given time controlled by a timer.





Pros- It is pretty cheap to setup a DIY and also fits many needs. Easy to maintain and use.
Easy to move plants around.

Cons- Power outages can cause problems since plants are not always in water. Flooding can also be a problem if the syphon hole becomes plugged on ebb systems.

3. Nutrient Film Technique (NFT)

N.F.T. systems have a constant flow of nutrient solution so no timer required for the submersible pump. The nutrient solution is pumped into the growing tray (usually a tube) and flows over the roots of the plants, and then drains back into the reservoir. There is usually no growing medium used other than air, which saves the expense of replacing the growing medium after every crop. Normally the plant is supported in a small plastic basket with the roots dangling into the nutrient solution.


Pros- No medium required. Easy to setup and maintain.

Cons- Power outages can kill plants rather quickly with no medium to hold water.

4. Aeroponics (low and high pressures)

Proven very effective at growing plant of all kinds aeroponics works by breaking the nutrient water down into smaller sized particles for the plant to uptake easier. Micro misters/spayers/foggers are used in combination with a water pump to mist the root area. The pump is ran by a timer normally 1 minute on and 5 mins off in lower pressure systems. In high pressure systems the on off times are much smaller.


Pros- Quick strong growth with minimum use of nutrients and water. Can be custom designed to fit different needs, many variations exist combining aero with other techniques.

Cons- System is prone to power outages and timer malfunctions. Sprayers tend to get clogged and need frequent cleaning in some cases.

5. Drip Systems

Drip systems are probably the most widely used type of hydroponic system in the world. Operation is simple, a timer controls a submersed pump. The timer turns the pump on and nutrient solution is dripped onto the base of each plant by a small drip line. In a Recovery Drip System the excess nutrient solution that runs off is collected back in the reservoir for re-use. The Non-Recovery System does not collect the run off. A recovery system uses nutrient solution a bit more efficiently, as excess solution is reused, this also allows for the use of a more inexpensive timer because a recovery system doesn't require precise control of the watering cycles. The non-recovery system needs to have a more precise timer so that watering cycles can be adjusted to insure that the plants get enough nutrient solution and the runoff is kept to a minimum.
The non-recovery system requires less maintenance due to the fact that the excess nutrient solution isn't recycled back into the reservoir, so the nutrient strength and pH of the reservoir will not vary. This means that you can fill the reservoir with pH adjusted nutrient solution and then forget it until you need to mix more. A recovery system can have large shifts in the pH and nutrient strength levels that require periodic checking and adjusting.

Pros- Easy to use. Can be adapted to different situations

Cons- Power outages can cause problems.


6. Wick Systems

The Wick system is by far the simplest type of hydroponic system. This is a passive system, which means there are no moving parts. The nutrient solution is drawn into the growing medium from the reservoir with a wick. Free plans for a simple wick system are available (click here for plans).
This system can use a variety of growing medium. Perlite, Vermiculite, Pro-Mix and Coconut Fiber are among the most popular.
The biggest draw back of this system is that plants that are large or use large amounts of water may use up the nutrient solution faster than the wick(s) can supply it.



Source: simplyhydro.com for most of the info