Choosing Your First Hydroponic System
Growing food without soil sounds complicated. It's not. The right system makes hydroponics accessible even if you've never grown anything before.
What You're Actually Choosing:
Hydroponic systems fall into a few categories: passive (no pumps), active (pumps move water), and hybrid. Each has trade-offs in cost, complexity, and what you can grow.
Kratky (Passive) Systems:
The simplest entry point. A container, net pots, nutrient solution, and plants. No pumps, no electricity beyond lights. Roots sit in nutrient water with an air gap for oxygen.
Cost: Around £20-50 to DIY, or around £40-80 for ready-made kits. Perfect for lettuce, herbs, and leafy greens. Not ideal for larger plants like tomatoes.
Deep Water Culture (DWC):
An air pump bubbles oxygen into nutrient solution where roots sit submerged. More active growth than Kratky because roots get constant oxygen.
Cost: Around £50-100 for a basic setup. Handles larger plants well. The pump adds a small electricity cost and needs occasional maintenance.
Our Recommendation:
Start with Kratky if you're completely new. No moving parts means nothing to break. Grow lettuce and herbs successfully, then decide if you want to scale up.
Complete guide to all system types Read Full System Comparison
Grow Lights for Indoor Hydroponics
Plants need light. Indoors, you provide it. The right grow light is probably the most important purchase you'll make.
Why Lighting Matters:
Plants convert light into energy through photosynthesis. Too little light means weak, leggy plants that struggle to thrive. The right spectrum and intensity determines your success.
LED vs HPS vs Fluorescent:
LED wins for home growers. Lower heat, lower running costs, longer lifespan. HPS (high pressure sodium) is still used commercially but generates significant heat and electricity bills.
Fluorescent (T5) tubes work for seedlings and herbs but lack power for fruiting plants. They're cheap but limited.
UK Electricity Costs:
At current rates (around 28p per kWh), running a 200W LED for 16 hours daily costs roughly £25-30 per month. Factor this into your economics.
Budget Tiers:
Around £50-100: Entry-level LEDs suitable for herbs and small leafy greens.
Around £100-200: Serious hobby lights. Spider Farmer, Mars Hydro, and Viparspectra offer good value.
Around £200+: Professional-grade efficiency. Better heat management, more even coverage, longer warranties.
Complete grow light comparison Read Full Lighting Guide
Hydroponic Nutrients Explained
Your plants eat what you feed them. Unlike soil, hydroponic growing means you control every nutrient delivered to the roots. Get the formula right and growth is remarkable. Get it wrong and plants struggle, regardless of your system or lighting.
Why Nutrients Matter More in Hydroponics:
In soil, plants access nutrients gradually as organic matter breaks down. In hydroponics, nutrients are immediately available in water. This speeds growth but requires precision. There's no buffer. Mistakes show within days.
One-Part vs Two-Part vs Three-Part:
One-part solutions are simple. Pour, mix, done. Good for beginners growing leafy greens.
Two-part solutions (A and B bottles) are the standard across hydroponics. More flexibility than one-part, simpler than three-part. Examples: CANNA Aqua, Vitalink Hydro.
Three-part solutions offer maximum control. Separate Grow, Bloom, and Micro bottles let you adjust ratios for different crops. Example: General Hydroponics Flora series.
Top UK Brands:
General Hydroponics Flora Series (£15-25): Industry standard three-part system. Decades of proven results.
CANNA Aqua (£30-45): Dutch quality, designed for recirculating systems. Clean, doesn't clog equipment.
For home growers with 20-100L reservoirs, liquid nutrients are worth the premium over powder. Convenience matters.
Complete nutrient selection guide Read Full Nutrients Guide
