HOME

Hydroponic Starter Kits

There are numerous choices of hydroponic starter kits for those who are considering hydroponics for the first time. Trying to determine the right hydroponics system can be overwhelming. We’re here to try and keep it simple.

LOCATION
Your first consideration must be location. There are three essentials to consider. First, your chosen location must be near an electrical outlet unless you don’t mind running electric cords all over the place.

Second, your chosen location must be in a light-tight area. You will need to make your hydroponic growing area completely dark for twelve hours a day once you hit the flowering stage. There are several solutions for this: A built in closet can usually be made light-proof with just a little effort. Additionally, you can purchase a grow tent, designed and built to be light-proof. For the advanced grower, there are many grow boxes on the market that offer a sealed environment, however you might find their prices prohibitive, especially if you are just starting out.

Finally, you need to place your location in an area that allows you to easily drain the reservoir. Every two weeks or so, you need to completely drain your hydroponics system and add clean water and fresh nutrients. You don’t want to be lugging around six gallons of water on a bi-weekly basis. The easiest way to drain your reservoir is by siphoning the water. This requires that the bottom of your reservoir is higher than what you drain the water into. I’m lucky, my place is built on a slope with the front door less than 12 feet from the reservoir….I just hook up the garden hose to the drain on my reservoir and let gravity do the work.

COMPONENTS
Hydroponic starter kits vary greatly, and sadly most of them do not contain everything you need to grow your own crop. At a minimum, you need to make sure you have a reservoir, air pump and air stones, water pump and feeder system, plant holders and grow medium, lighting system and timer, and nutrients, along with the necessary electrical cords and multi-taps, air hoses, etc.

So, while you’re comparison shopping between available hydroponics kits make sure that you are comparing apples to apples—in other words, make sure you know just what components are included in your kit when comparing prices.

KITS vs. DO-IT-YOURSELF
The biggest difference between buying a starter kit package and doing it yourself is convenience. While you may save yourself a few bucks the do-it-yourself way: assembling the components and modifying them to your needs, any savings will be negated if you have to buy additional tools besides those you already own.

My personal feeling is that unless you already have the light reflectors, the amount of work vs. the minimal cost-savings makes it not worth going the do-it-yourself route. You'll spend a lot of time researching, driving around and building when you could be sitting home waiting for your all-in-one hydroponic starter kit to arrive at your door.

Don’t worry, if you need to feel like a do-it-yourselfer, there is enough challenge in assembling a starter kit to make you feel like a craftsman. (I’d place the skill level at about that required to assemble any piece of Ikea furniture).

HYDROPONICS FOR DUMMIES REVIEW

The dual spectrum Bubbleponics kit from Stealth Hydroponics is very well thought out and comes with everything you need to get started growing your own (except water and seeds or clones).

Undoubtably, you could build your own system to closely resemble what Stealth Hydroponics has put together in this kit. But why bother. You'd have to deal with several different vendors as well as chase all over town buying components and at the end of the day, you're not going to save that much money and you're going to do a lot of extra work.

You'll probably find yourself springing for a second unit as soon as you discover how easy the Bubbleponics system makes growing. With two systems going, you can have one in flowering mode, and the other in vegetation mode. This way you'll be able to create your own clones and basically become a self-perpetuating growing machine.

Stealth Hydroponics makes a full line of products, and they are adding to them daily. Their customer service is great as well. I did a lot of online research looking for an inexpensive, full featured, all-in-one hydroponics kit--this is the one I personally bought and use.

Video of the "Bubbleponics" system,
our recommendation as the best of the hydroponic starter kits on the market.

Kit ships complete with reservoir, pumps, grow pots and medium, lights and nutrients.

© 2010 HydroponicsForDummies.net All rights reserved
Hydroponic Starter Kits	Ultimate Grow Boxes	How To Grow Marijuana	Grow Lights	Nutrients	Hydroponic Articles	Hydroponic Books	Contact Us