How to Build a Modular Flood and Drain Grow Bucket Hydroponic System

Hydroponic farming at home! How to Build a Modular Flood and Drain Grow Bucket Hydroponic System.
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Hoochos explores the worlds of Hydroponics, Aquaponics, Permaculture, Homesteading, Fermentation, Technology Vanlife and DIY Builds to look at the world through a larger lens that can incorporate the best of everything into a rich and rewarding lifestyle.
Through self sufficiency we can reduce consumption and increase our hyperlocal household production.
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A way to support the channel and get some cool stuff too.
There are two stores because dependant on where you live in the world one will be cheaper than the other (shipping) and it gives a range of design flexibility.
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If you have personal queries about hydroponics or other matters please join me on Patreon for limited individual support or post in the Hoocho Reddit community and there are a lot of friendly helpful likeminded people that may have answers for you.
Happy Hydroponicing!

[@raynabelle9397]

My husband both loves and hates me watching your videos. I keep making hydro systems. Loves the fruits of my labors but hates the amount of shit I buy from bunnings 😂😂 ‘That better not be hoochos again, I want my bloody shed back!’ 😬

[@crystalgarden5359]

Hello Miss , have you ever tried flood and drain table hydroponics. Might be a fun project for you

[@baydonrowe6211]

Awesome video... I am just in the beginning of setting up a very adhoc indoor home garden and this was great timing as its exactly the simple design I was needing to move to next. It's so easy to get caught up in the more complex solutions to simple problems and I really enjoy how your videos keeping it simple can be far better.

[@riverman4798]

Also, there is a product called uniseal. Its made in Europe I think.. But the demonstration I saw sold me on the idea. Try youtubing the uniseal, it gets rid of allot of little hassles. Its a through bulkhead connector.

[@corzerlowe3107]

Mate really enjoy your videos on Hydroponics. When the opportunity comes I’ll be going hydroponics I also like DWC systems which I’ve done in past. Like this flood and drain system too. 🤠👍

[@innocentbystander2673]

Bloody good, i'm inspired...again.

[@barbarastefani254]

Wow this is gonna be more convenient I just installed bucket system this would be great thank you

[@barbarastefani254]

Thank you for Showing me how to cut the pipe in half and get the drain not to get anything stuck in it

[@ericlavigne9510]

Thanks for the video. It inspired me a lot.

[@riverman4798]

Nice work young man.. Think I'll give your gadgetry a shot this year.

[@littlenugs9942]

I learned a rule of thumb was to have the drain hose and fittings should be at least 1 size larger to keep up with the drainage. I did learn the hardway

[@magnumjgjg]

Im surprised that this style isnt more popular. It seems to me that you get a little reservoir at the bottom, and you still get the benefits of flood and drain systems, but you don't have to compromise the bottom of the grow bed by drilling into it

[@markoxendine9748]

Great video but instead of shrouds, I think a 3 or 4 gallon fabric pot inside the bucket would improve the system plus you could then run any medium, coco , hydroton, peat , perlite & the fabric would filter the solution before being drained

[@JoelDehlin]

Thanks for your videos! I'm just getting started. What is the benefit of a flood/drain system v. a Bato/Dutch bucket system?

[@clivefrancis3546]

Quick question, what do you think would be better for tomatoes these flood and drain buckets or the air root pots with a dropper system?

[@joevile5328]

Great video 👍🏻

[@misterhide1979]

Hi! Good video! You are a genius!

[@charleskiplinger9904]

Good video. You seem to like trying various types of grow systems. Look up the Alaska Grow Bucket system. You might like it or create a version of it.

[@danielmaslany3379]

I'm building my first hydro right now and your videos are helping me BIG time! Great job :)

[@suburbanhomesteaderwy-az]

Great video, sharing on my Facebook.

[@insanecomicdude]

Would it also work to hook the reservoir up to only one bucket (both inlet and outlet) and then run single hoses from that bucket to the others from the bottom of the buckets? They would keep the same level and just fill and drain through that first bucket.

[@atomizer2665]

Just use a tank connector (15mm john guest ideally) , elbow and vertical piece of tube on each bucket. Rotate the tube up to flood the bucket via watering can, jug etc. Put you thumb over the end of the tube and rotate it down to drain the nutes back into the watering can. To prevent hydroton blocking the tube, position a 2" netpot behind the tank connector (inside the bucket) as you fill it with hydroton. Cut a short length of 1/4" RO tubing and place it into the tank connector so it butts up against the elbow and sticks out the tank connector a little. this prevents any hydroton going into the tube but allows water to pass. Position the tank connector 2" up from the bottom of the bucket to provide a small reserve of nutes in the bucket. No pump or electricity required.

[@marcipanzerfaust]

If I understand correctly you wouldn't be recycling your nutrients then. Also, how are you achieving a flood and drain without a pump and a timer?

[@atomizer2665]

@@marcipanzerfaust The nutrients are recycled and as the system is manual fill/gravity drain there`s no need for pump or timer.

[@ilampaulino]

Hey, you could improve your ebb and flow system by using a syphon to drain the buckets instead of just leaving it up to the natural flow. You can then leave the pump running 24/7 and have the buckets drain rapidly after a certain water level has been reached. You'll get more water flow and more oxygenation out of basically the same parts.

[@martinsafi8317]

can you explain the syphon? thanks

[@ilampaulino]

@@martinsafi8317just look for "bell syphon" on youtube, its easy to make and works like a charm

[@Jason.Goldstriker]

Because you need it to stay drained fully for 15 minutes there is enough time in that interval to just let it drain by gravity, and not add complexity and cost to the system

[@reinux]

Been thinking about that, but in my experience, a bell siphon that would be small enough to fit those 11L buckets and not get in the way could be a challenge to make work right.

[@tdtrecordsmusic]

What about filters 4 debris ? How does nothing get clogged being outside ? ALSO , what about contamination ? do we have to change water all the time ? Sry noob questions, I'm just starting out. Absolutely done fighting with gophers.

[@mrneako]

i would love to know instead of using those half cut pipes couldnt you just insert the clay pebbles into a medical grade strainer bag? they make them to fit the lip of 5gallon buckets and im sure that they would do the job of preventing anything penetrating the drain and fill cutouts that is covered using cut pvc. a strainer bag insert would really work well i think for this setup. just an idea and would elimate any use for using sealant anywhere, thank you for great ideas and great content

[@PuLSezINation]

For those looking for cheap bulk head fittings Bunnings sell the ‘maze water tank link kit’ that can be used and are $3.90 a pair.

[@DalePeyton]

great video thank you for sharing, instead of using clay Stones do you think a person could use perlite?

[@Hoocho]

Dale Peyton it’s a lot finer, you’d need to redesign the media shroud.

[@DalePeyton]

@@Hoocho ok great

[@TacGKilgore]

Is there a benefit to this system over a Flood table setup? I was going to do a RDWC system but am now opting for something similar to you're Kids Pool flood table (slightly modified to suit indoors) I thought a flood table would provide more flexibility of switching between SOG and SCROG and be easy to take advantage of my 5x5 light footprint on my LED and expand if i felt like it later... some say the yield is less on Flood table, idk... anyone that can provide some comments or clarification would be much appreciated... Love you're channel Hooch, really clear information, appreciate it mate..

[@atomizer2665]

If you use separate buckets to hold the hydroton you can move / remove them complete with the plant without dismantling the system. Its handy for overwintering hot pepper plants, you just pull the buckets from the system and bring them in. When it warms up in the spring you just put them back into the system.

[@aussiesheriff7079]

👍👍 Hoocho for PM

[@ericlavigne9510]

Hey Hoocho; any tips on how you deal with water being too warm for outdoor hydroponics?

[@Hoocho]

Having a large res is the best way. But making sure everything is painted white, and insulating stuff helps too.

[@ericlavigne9510]

@@Hoocho thanks. I was thinking to replace my tank by an old cooler, I'll look for that.. But I don't have one right now. What insulation stuff were you referring to?

[@fizcsconnect]

You may consider lining the outside of your reservoir with styrofoam

[@johngodwin3828]

Does a flood and drain system need to run 24 hours a day

[@Hoocho]

John Godwin there are people who only flood and drain 4-8 times in a whole day. So it doesn’t need to run continuously. Depends on the media.

[@adroc9841]

Those MINItank's seem to be an AU thing. I can't find them on any sites in the USA.

[@richardkowalski9645]

adroc look at Dutch bucket systems

[@Hoocho]

I’ve updated the description, have a look at the product and perhaps you can find something similar locally.

[@thekingofcrazy1153]

Where do I buy the brown clay ball things Ps I’m from Tassie

[@retracted7157]

Hydro shop, most Bunnings stores will stock the clay pebbles

[@thekingofcrazy1153]

@@retracted7157 oh awesome thank you so much

[@No_soup_for_you]

I”it really frustrated me the other day.....” welcome to Bunnings

[@karmaomg]

HI, Nice explanation - I do have a question though. I setup my system pumping the solution into the bottom of the tray and my overflow tube draining directly back to the reservoir. The tray fills fine and overflow working fine but when I turn off my pump the tray stays full. Apparently my pump does not "Leak" enough to allow the backflow? Do other people have this problem?

[@Hoocho]

What kind of pump is it, generally impeller pumps don’t create resistance.

[@karmaomg]

@@Hoocho Interesting - it is just a cheap little pump I'm quite certain with an impeller. I had it going from 1/2 ID tubing tee'd off to 1/4 inch ID tubing (as the same pump feeds a couple bato buckets as well. I was sort of shocked. I waited about 5 minutes and the level did not drop by even a mm.

[@karmaomg]

Never mind - my pump drains fine, the problem come to find out is simply too much resistance with my 1/4" ID tubing and connectors which I happened to have a bunch of. I'll switch over to 1/2 inch ID and I'm pretty certain all will work fine.

[@Hoocho]

@@karmaomg Plumbing is a bitch haha

[@atomizer2665]

@@Hoocho The plumbing is pretty painless with push fit connections. A quick and easy way to get all the buckets perfectly level and raise them high enough so they drain back to the reservoir involves some creative thinking and an aluminium ladder ;) kzbin.info/www/bejne/fGfGg6uiYpqdr9k

[@sweetbonnieblu]

Are you black tubing food grade plastic or ABS.

[@Hoocho]

It's irrigation tubing. So it's fit to water vegetable garden plants. Which is what I'm using it for.

[@sgtace]

get cheap zalman microphone if you can plug in your recording device, or even try recording on separate device with second phone or something content 10/10 audio quality 4/10 :)

[@Hoocho]

I’ve looked into dual recording audio and other options but the way that I do it allows for quick editing. And allows me to put out semi decent content relatively fast whilst also having a full time job and acreage to maintain. If the channel ever becomes large enough to be a full time job I’ll definitely invest in some more professional equipment. (My recording device is an iPhone XS)

[@mkmartin559]

Respectfully disagree -- no issue with the audio at all for me! The guy's a gardening guru, not a grammy-winning recording artist. Hey, Hoocho -- somebody on Reddit made me aware of your KZbin channel. Thanks for showing me how to build my next hydro system. Simple, straightforward, and relatable. Instant fan here. Content: 10/10 Audio: just freaking fine/10