Are you looking for a more sustainable and efficient gardening method? Hydroponics allows homeowners, city dwellers, and renters to grow their favorite plants, herbs, and flowers without needing soil. Hydroponic gardening with 55-gallon drums is a space-efficient and practical way to watch your plants flourish year-round.
What is Hydroponics?
Hydroponics is an excellent method without the labor-intensive and messy traditional soil-based gardening. Growing plants without soil allows you to grow plants in a nutrient-rich water solution. This type of gardening still provides plants with the essential minerals and elements needed to grow and thrive without the need for soil. Hydroponics facilitates more efficient and controlled plant growth, especially in a 55-gallon drum. When choosing hydroponics for gardening, there are numerous options for plants, flowers, and vegetables, including:
- Lettuce
- Herbs (basil, thyme, sage, oregano, etc.)
- Celery
- Spinach
- Kale
- Tomatoes
- Peppers
- Green onions
- Peas
- Beans
- Cucumbers
- Strawberries
- Bok Choy
- Houseplants (spider plants, peace lilies, English ivy, philodendron, fiddle leaf fig, etc.)
- Flowers (marigolds, lavender, orchids, petunias, hyacinths, tulips, etc.)
The options for hydroponic gardening allow individuals with limited gardening or farming experience to grow various plants, herbs, and flowers. Growing herbs, flowers, and plants hydroponically offers many indoor and outdoor benefits. If you thought you needed the experience to grow hydroponically, you don’t!
The Benefits of Hydroponics
Whether you’re looking for a more sustainable gardening method or want a more space-efficient solution, there are numerous benefits of hydroponic gardening with 55-gallon drums, including:
- Space-Efficient: Hydroponic systems in a 55-gallon drum can be positioned vertically, making them excellent gardening solutions for urban environments or small living spaces.
- Faster Plant Growth: The nutrient-rich water promotes quicker and more efficient plant growth than soil-based gardening.
- No Soil-Borne Diseases or Pests: Growing plants without soil eliminates common soil-borne pests or diseases, reducing the need for herbicides and pesticides. Hydroponic gardening systems provide a cleaner environment for plant growth, which helps to prevent plant-related diseases.
- Year-Round Plant Growth: Hydroponic gardens can be placed indoors or in greenhouses, allowing them to grow and flourish year-round amidst weather conditions.
- Water Conservation: Hydroponic systems recirculate and reuse the water, using up to 90% less water than traditional soil-based gardening. Limited water usage reduces water bills, making hydroponics a more cost-effective gardening solution.
- Sustainable: Hydroponics requires minimal land, water, and chemicals, making it much more sustainable than traditional gardening.
- Accessible Urban Gardening: Many city dwellers believe they can’t grow plants, vegetables, or flowers without a yard—but that’s not the case with hydroponics. Hydroponic systems can be set up on balconies or indoors, helping to lower the carbon footprint and combat the urban heat island effect.
Hydroponics provides plants with everything they need. Its balanced combination of water and essential nutrients for plant growth delivers nitrogen, potassium, phosphorous, and trace elements directly to the plant’s roots while avoiding root rot and ensuring it remains healthy. When creating your hydroponic garden with 55-gallon drums, some systems require more materials and working parts than others.
How to Use 55-Gallon Drums for Hydroponic Gardening
When it comes to DIY hydroponic gardening with 55-gallon drums, you can expect faster plant growth and a cleaner, more sustainable indoor gardening experience. Getting started with 55-gallon drums for hydroponics begins with choosing the type of hydroponic system you want to use. Some of the most common types of hydroponic systems include:
- Nutrient Film Technique (NFT)
- Deep Water Culture (DWC)
- Wick System
- Ebb and Flow (Flood and Drain)
- Drip System
- Aeroponics
When choosing your hydroponic system, consider its unique benefits and applications. Let’s break down each of these systems and see how to use a 55-gallon drum to garden hydroponically.
Nutrient Film Technique (NFT)
Nutrient film technique (NFT) hydroponic systems include a thin film of nutrient-rich water flowing over the plant’s roots and recirculating. With a continuous supply of oxygen and nutrients, NFT systems allow for efficient water usage and easy monitoring of the roots. Using a 55-gallon drum for nutrient film technique (NFT) hydroponic garden requires installing a pump to circulate the nutrients through PVC pipes (channels) where the plants are. When transforming your 55-gallon drum into an NFT hydroponic system, ensuring the channels have a slight slope for the water to circulate correctly is essential.
Deep Water Culture (DWC) System with 55-Gallon Drums
Deep water culture (DWC) systems are one of the simplest types of hydroponic systems, as they have minimal working parts and are low maintenance. A DWC hydroponic garden submerges plant roots in a nutrient-rich solution with oxygen supplied through air stones. Repurposing a 55-gallon drum for a DWC hydroponic system, plants will suspend in net pots within the drum lid along with an air pump and air stones to supply oxygen.
Wick Systems
Wick hydroponic systems are both energy-free and low-maintenance for individuals looking to grow small plants and herbs. This type of system uses a wick to draw nutrient solution from the reservoir to the growing medium, such as perlite, coco coir, or vermiculite, continuously supplying the plants in the 55-gallon drum. Wick systems are also relatively simple regarding hydroponic gardening and do not require much maintenance or attention.
Ebb and Flow Hydroponic Systems
Ebb-and-flow hydroponic systems, or flood-and-drain systems, are suitable for many plants and herbs. To get started with a flood-and-drain hydroponic system, you’ll want to use 55-gallon drums as the reservoir for the nutrient solution. Connect an air pump to flood onto the growing tray above the drum, draining into the nutrient reservoir and repeating the cycle.
Top Drip Systems
The drip hydroponic system efficiently grows various types and sizes of plants, providing a consistent supply of nutrients. A 55-gallon drum serves as the reservoir for drip systems, and a pump channels the nutrient solution to the base of each plant.
Aeroponics
Aeroponics systems in hydroponics utilize 55-gallon drums to hold the nutrient solution, also known as the nutrient solution reservoir. The plant’s roots are suspended in the air to be then misted with the nutrient-rich solution from the reservoir, ensuring proper aeration and misting. Hydroponic gardening with 55-gallon drums requires a pump installation to mist the roots with the solution inside the drum.
Saying goodbye to messy soil is easy with hydroponic gardening with 55-gallon drums! This sustainable gardening method allows you to take advantage of hydroponics’ unique perks, such as faster growth, water conservation, and higher yields. By embracing hydroponic gardening with 55-gallon drums, you can enjoy the benefits of a cleaner, more productive, and more efficient type of gardening.
References:
- U.S. Department of Agriculture. Hydroponics.
- Livingetc, 2023. What can you grow in a hydroponic garden? Experts explain how to use them for lush indoor planting.
- Our Little Suburban Farmhouse. 18 Plants you can grow YEAR-ROUND hydroponically.
- Planet Natural Research Center, 2024. Hydroponic Flowers: The Best Choices for Indoor Gardens.
- Apartment Therapy, 2022. The No-Soil, Zero Maintenance Method for Growing Houseplants.
- Fresh Water Systems, 2024. What Are Hydroponic Systems and How Do They Work?
