Finishing the Deep Water Culture System For Lettuce

While my lettuce isn't ready to transplant out of the seed tray yet, I picked up a couple more supplies for the DWC (Deep Water Culture) system I will be using for them.  I'm going to recap what I've done and tie it into what I'm doing to complete this system.  Before I do, though, here is what a DWC system is:

Deep water culture (DWC) is a hydroponic method of plant production by means of suspending the plant roots in a solution of nutrient-rich, oxygenated water.  ~Wikipedia

 So, here is how I am constructing the Deep Water Culture system that will house 6 lettuce units and 2 spinach units.

Made a trip to Menards for a heavy duty tote.  Do not get the cheap ones unless you want to be mopping and pumping nutrient water out of your house when it cracks!

Next, we measured out hole spacing in the lid of the tote using the net cups we purchased.

Then, Heather went to work cutting out holes with her wedding present!

Here how the top looks:

And this is a net cup (maybe $.50 each) purchased from a hydroponics store.

They fit together so nicely!

 

As you can see, this system has room for 8 different plant units, and I will put 2 lettuce plants in each.

Also a necessity is air hose.  This is, I believe, 1/4" hose, also purchased from a hydroponics store, although I'm sure this can be found at a hardware store as well.  I have a lot more than I need at the moment, but it will come in handy down the road.

This is the pump I will be using to aerate the water.  This was a $50 pump, but they range in price from $10 to $100s depending on how strong you want them.  This was the size recommended to me.

 

 This may be the most important piece of the whole puzzle, the air stone.  Without this stone, the roots of my plants will drown and my plants will die.  This 2" air stone was only $2. 

I hooked my air stone to one end of my air hose(I cut my air hose to a healthy length)

Then, I dropped the air hose in through one of the net holes in the top of my tote.  I made a little notch in the side of the hole so the hose would go in and the basket would still set nicely.

 Then I hooked the other end of the air hose to the air pump's output manifold.

And here she is!  My 8 pot hydroponic DWC system for lettuce or small herbs!

When my lettuce is ready for transplant, this tote will be filled almost to the top with water and nutrients.  I will post again at that time.  Then, the whole unit will be placed under the light bank where it will begin to grow me salads!