System selector
Pick the system you actually have room for
Three families cover almost every home build. Choose one to filter the library below, or step through all of them.
- Build manualKratky still waterLeafy greens
Kratky Lettuce Bucket: a 12 L no-pump system that runs 35 days on one charge
The Kratky method grows lettuce in a bucket with no pump, no air stone and no electricity beyond a light. You charge the reservoir once, set the pots, and let the wate…
Open the manual → - Build manualKratky still waterHerbs
Kratky Herb Jars: three 1 L windowsill jars that beat a supermarket pot by week six
A supermarket herb pot costs more than the whole setup described here and dies in ten days. Three opaque mason jars, a bag of clay pebbles and one bottle of nutrient w…
Open the manual → - Build manualKratky still waterMicrogreens
Kratky Microgreen Tray: sunflower and radish in 12 days on 8 mm of solution
Microgreens are the fastest thing you can grow hydroponically and the easiest to ruin with kindness. The whole cycle is twelve days, the reservoir is 8 mm deep, and al…
Open the manual → - Build manualKratky still waterLeafy greens
Kratky Swiss Chard: two plants, one recharge, three months of cutting
Chard is the best long-cycle crop for a passive bucket. It tolerates a higher nutrient strength than lettuce, regrows from the centre for months, and unlike most leafy…
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Latest entries
- Maintenance calendarEnvironment
Winter Lighting Calendar: what to change each month from October to February
Every indoor hydroponic system loses light in winter and gains root-zone problems at the same time, and the two are handled differently. The monthly adjustments below keep a leafy crop pr…
Open the manual → - Build manualDutch bucketFruiting cropsIntermediate
Dutch Bucket Peppers: four plants on 80 L, pruned to two stems for double the fruit size
Peppers in Dutch buckets produce better than peppers in soil, but they punish two mistakes harder than tomatoes do: an early nutrient spike and uneven irrigation. Get the establishment ph…
Open the manual → - Nutrient chartLeafy greens
Chard and Spinach EC and pH Chart: the long-cycle greens that run 90 days
Chard, spinach and beet greens are cut-and-come-again crops that stay in the same reservoir for three months. That long residence time changes the nutrient problem completely: it is no lo…
Open the manual → - Build manualKratky still waterLeafy greensBeginner
Kratky Swiss Chard: two plants, one recharge, three months of cutting
Chard is the best long-cycle crop for a passive bucket. It tolerates a higher nutrient strength than lettuce, regrows from the centre for months, and unlike most leafy greens it does not…
Open the manual → - Maintenance calendarPlanning
Dutch Bucket Rotation: resetting the row between crops in one afternoon
A Dutch bucket row can be replanted the same week a crop finishes, but only if the reset is done properly. Perlite carries root fragments, elbows carry biofilm, and the drip stakes carry…
Open the manual → - Build manualNutrient film techniqueSoft fruitAdvanced
NFT Strawberry Gutter: 16 plants, 2.4 m of channel, and a slope that has to be exact
Strawberries in a nutrient film gutter outperform pot-grown plants by a wide margin, but they are far less forgiving than lettuce in the same channel. The root mat is denser, the drink is…
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