Not really a post about my IUT project but it occurred to me that many would not be familiar with hydroponic gardening. Hydroponics is basically a way to grow plants without using dirt. The method I’m using is called the “Dutch Bucket” method. The plants are placed in a neutral growing medium, perlite in my case, and specifically formulated nutrient solutions are pumped from a large container (sump) into the plan’ts container which is allowed to filter down through the growing medium, both watering and feeding the plants. The solution goes to the bottom of the container where it is drained back to the sump. I run the pumps three times a day for 30 minutes each time. When the pumps aren’t running the perlite maintains enough moisture so that the roots don’t dry out, but also allow the roots to get air so the plant doesn’t drown.

If you want to know more about Dutch Bucket hydroponics, mphgardner is where I discovered the method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXy32Dr4Z4A