A Hydroponic System Q&A with Richard Florey of Worm’s Way

Reader Contribution by Jessica Kellner
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I’ve been experimenting with a hydroponic growing system donated to our office by Worm’s Way. I’ve enjoyed the experience, and I thought I’d get some additional information from Worm’s Way Director of Consumer Operations Richard Florey. He shared some of his advice on growing hydroponically, ways to save money and more.

Photo by Fotolia/photokanok_1984

1. What are some of the key reasons someone might consider hydroponic gardening?

In my mind, the main reasons someone would want to move in the direction of hydroponic gardening is: increase yield, garden year round, the ability to regulate your environment (i.e. air, temperature, nutrients, ph), as well as full control over what is going into your plants from seed to harvest. 

2. Hydroponic setups are kind of expensive. How soon can that expense be recouped?

There are many types of hydroponic setups: ebb-and-flow, drip, aeroponic, nutrient film technique (NFT), wick, etc. Depending on what system you’re going to go with, the intricacy and ability to DIY fluctuates. So with that in mind, the price and investment is scalable with how you’re going to grow, the size of your setup, and how much DIY you want to do.  You could easily purchase a very nice 2’x2’ pre-fabricated hydroponic system for less than $250 that you could keep running all year round to grow different vegetables and herbs. A lot of growing media is reusable too, so even with a nutrient investment you’re looking at a relatively low buy-in.

Think about how much you spend at the grocery store; if you were even able to grow a small amount of your veggies and herbs, you make your money back relatively quickly. Instead of thinking about the cost of getting into hydroponics, which really can be reasonable, think about the cost of the produce at your grocer! Again, you’re in full control of everything in these setups.

3. What are three key things to consider before starting a hydroponic garden?

Ask: What are my goals?

Ask: What is my budget?

Be ready to learn (through continued research, failures, as well as input from local experts)

4. What are the minimal items one needs to start a hydro system?

Hydroponics can range from the simplest thing in the world, to the most intricate—such a breadth of possibility! That’s what is so great about it, and so very interesting. At its core, hydroponics is just growing without soil. Simple.

In starting a “real” hydroponic growing system at a basic, minimal, but functional, level you’ll want to have: some growing media, pots, a pump and an airstone, a raft/tray, and a reservoir…just add water! From there you need to work out how your system will flow, what nutrients you want to feed your plants, and (the fun part) what you want to grow!

  • Published on Apr 10, 2014
Tagged with: Reader Contributions
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