Cheap & Easy DIY Hydroponics | Ditch the expensive stuff for a $1 Pool Noodle
This Video is from the Youtube channel: “Keep on Growin’ with Mike VanDuzee”.
Easy DIY Hydroponics. Kick the habit of traditional hydroponics which can be quite costly for the beginner. Today I show you how to start growing your own microgreens, herbs and leafy greens with out having to spend a lot of money on things like rockwool, clay pebbles, net cups, etc.
Killing it man !! Awesome production- awesome method. Just the vid i needed as im building this tomorrow (finished my markets for the week) Im going to link this vid in my next upload . You rock Mike . Thank you 😊🌱
All of you guys rock! It is so cool that we can all share what we are doing and learn from each other. Hope it works out for you Pepe, I don’t think I have had anyone in the land of Oz give it a go yet. Don’t forget to check out Dr Kratky for the basics, I am a twisted version, lol. Have fun, I appreciate the love!
After only 30 sec. of this video, I subscribed to your channel. Really love your ideas and since I’m on a budget your channel is now my gardening reference. Thank You So Much!
That means so much to me, makes me want to keep on creating. Thank you. Happy gardening!
How are you doing this without pumping the water through
I got to say, I’ve watched a ton of aquaponics videos. In fact I’m making a playlist called Gardening. But this is the first I’ve seen of the pool noodles method, and it is brilliant! Thanks much.
Thank you! I just purchased 2 pool noodles that were on clearance at the grocery store and the clerk kept laughing at me, lol. Nice to meet you!
Pool noodles turn to dust when left in the sun. Just wondering how far they break down and if the chemical constituents end up in solution. I think I’d like to see some sort of chemical analysis of the crops just to make sure that there are no nasty radicals present. Otherwise I’m excited by this technique and it’s economy.
@Redfish Incorporated That is my concern also.
As far as I know most pool noodles are made from EVA not PVC since kids will be playing with them. EVA is used in baby teething rings and medical supplies. They last pretty much an entire grow season and are cheap enough to replace often. In addition, the whole downspout is PVC and comes in direct contact with the water, probably more of a concern than the pool noodle that does not. There are always food grade NFT channels.
@Keep on Growin’ with Mike VanDuzee Thanks and cool idea.
This looks amazing! I cannot afford a whole lot of expense, but want to have a garden I can move when I need to. This would totally work! Truly brilliant!
Awesome! I hope it helps. Let me know how it goes! Have an awesome day!
Great ideas and method! I’m thinking of setting up a two-step process, such that the little plants can be grown in a dense arrangement, then moved to a different container with wider spacing, when it’s needed.
That is a great idea. That’s how commercial hydro ppl do it, maximizes space.
Why move it to a wider spaced container? I’m clearly a newbie !
@Angelica Oliver Just more room to grow — including roots and light…
The pool noodle is really cool, and much cheaper than other methods I’ve looked at, perfect for someone just getting started with it. The funny intro is what sold it for me haha, keep up the good work!
Thanks much! Gotta have fun, right? Appreciate you watching 😎🖒🌱🌱
Thank you Mike for showing us how to do this on a budget! Not knowing what I was doing, I almost splurged on the Aerogarden Farm XL at 600 bucks…..good to see that I can do this much cheaper.
Yes. Always overkill for trying. It’s a simple task if we don’t overthink it. And this just made it even simpler.
I just love to watch your videos. Practically everything you use I have in my home even the noodles. Who would have thought… My house is filling up with plants in all kinds of containers. I am going to buy a downspout to try. I will be filling up my small greenhouse. This is so easy it is amazing. Thanks for all your videos
You’re welcome. I love hearing this. Have fun!! 😎🤘
Love your money saving way of doing hydroponics, Mike. I built a couple of wicking microgreen containers from your videos. The lids on my containers aren’t as deep as your Dollar Tree lids. Hoping they are deep enough. I want to try to grow buttercrunch lettuce to start with and I’m wanting to put them in gutters outside in a small greenhouse. I am in central Arkansas and am worried about water temps in the gutters at night when it gets near freezing. Should I heat and humidify the small greenhouse with thermostat or try the plants in tubs that will allow me to thermostatically heat the water and what is the lowest temp I can get by with successfully. Thanks for your awesome info, especially the pool noodle money saver!
Thanks much. Don’t know what would work best with the heating. I am in Florida and only get a few days of below freezing temps a year. My small downspouts, I bring in for the night. Let me know how you do with heating, I get quite a few questions from our friends up north.
Love the inclusion of animals, both your editor/canine family member and others. Thank you very much for the introduction and references to Dr. Kratky dakineapproaches hydroponic method.
My space to grow is very limited and I want to make this work without buying saws & drills. Rather than getting seeds, I plan to start this using live herb plants such as mint, thyme, oregano, basil.
Do you suggest washing roots when removed from soil? To grow each patch of herbs (not aiming to maintain them as individual plants), could planter pots with drainage grids and saucers be used? Could black shelf liner be used to support root growth? Could Keurig “K” plastic coffee brewing cups, each which have a paper filter inside if really careful removing used grounds, with bottoms somehow cut be up-cycled&used instead of net pots? If I can’t find pool noodles, other alternative suggestions?
A pool noodle? That’s awesome! I like that it’s reusable. I’ll probably switch to using one of those once I go through my jiffy pots starters. I’m using a soldering iron to recycle used keurig cups that I take home from work into baskets. Just a few holes in the bottom and side and it makes a small basket just a little bigger than the ones used in an aerogarden.
Awesome, I love the idea of reusing the K cups, you rock!
What are KEURIGS!!??
You have truly inspired me. We now have 15 plants growing for a start. I can’t wait to get the micro greens growing. Thank you!
Awesome, happy growing!
Thank you, Mike. I have been trying to find a system which will actually work to grow greens hydroponically on my windowsills. This looks perfect, but I am going to use vinyl containers painted black from the hardware store. I will let you know how it goes.
Awesome, yes, keep me posted 😎🖒🌱🌱🌱
How did it go??
Painted black may heat up from sunlight while in windowsill. Did it work?
It’s been 2 years now since I employed this technique (using pool noodles). And it works! Thank very much for the idea!
Awesome! So glad it worked out for you! 😎🌱🌱🌱🖒
How much it need to be submerged in water?
@Keep on Growin’ with Mike VanDuzee yes, like how many cm must the water solution be from the bottom?
@Nik Keep between half and three quarters full at all times.
Will this work for lettuce?
I have watched probably 30 videos on growing hydroponics but at the end when I looked everything up on Amazon it was really expensive to start out I can totally do this!! I’m glad I found you… ❤️🤗
Awesome!! Let me know how it goes!😎🤘🌱
This should get more views. It’s so practical and frugal for people working with a small space. I actually think this may be cleaner and less costly than using soil.
Very cool, I appreciate you taking the time to create the videos and showing us a great way to do this on a budget!
My pleasure! Keep on Growin’ Chris
Great job! Three questions: What’s the container that you’re using to hold the water?
Is there a video on how you made that?
And how often do you have to change the water?
Yes, there is a playlist on my channel. Rarely change, just refill.
I was wondering what the container was that he was putting the pool noodle pieces in as well. Scrolling through the comments trying to find the answer lol.
OK I scrolled and found out it looks like he made those containers out of downspouts but not sure how
@Dianna Marie I thought that’s what they were. It looks like he just bent them into that position and cut holes.
@Dianna Marie If you go to his channel and click on playlists there’s a video that says how to make downspout containers.
I’ve recently stumbled onto your channel and I’ve got to say, Holy Cr@%! You have so much information and are super resourceful. I never would have occurred to me to use pool noodles and downspouts. Thank you for putting this out there! I’m working on downspout planters but in the meanwhile, I repurposed some of my trash to a static hydroponic containers. I’m pretty excited about the new opportunities presented in this type of recycling.
Keep it up man. This was definitely my type of channel when you took a sword to casually open a letter and accidently threw it at the dog 🤣
Lol, thank you. I am glad to hear that. I love when people repurpose things that would otherwise end up in a landfill. PS. doggie is fine, lol.
Your videos are so helpful in terms of making hydroponics less intimidating for this millennial urbanite 😅 Thank you so much for these!