Hydroponic System Visual Checklist
Green linked words will link to photos and descriptions of that item
1. Plant wilt or general lack of health.
If a pump (primarily the water movement pump) fails our plants will not be getting water for extended periods of time. Other plant health signals may be present (plant discoloration, fallen pots, broken branches, etc.).
2. Air pump on/connected?
There should be a constant hum from the air pump hung on the wire rack below the table. This pump has tubes connected to a manifold that run to air stones inside of the reservoir. If connected properly you should see bubbles in the water.
3. Does the main water movement pump work?
The water movement pump is the lifeline for keeping the plant table above the reservoir healthy if it fails the plants have 12-24h before the die. This pump is connected to a timer so it tuns on and off on a schedule. To visually confirm this is working you can view the time on the timer to ensure it is correct (this means the timer/pump is receiving power). Also on the right side of the timer you can manually turn on the pump to ensure it will work when scheduled to be on – please ensure you turn this off or back to scheduled on/off if testing. If you manually turn on the pump but do not see water filling the table please check to see if the tube is connected to the pump and plant table. If water is still not filling unplug the pump from the timer and directly plug into an outlet. If the pump has failed after all of these steps – a replacement is required.
4. No puddles = No troubles.
Look around the hydroponic system’s base for leaks. Some common issues include reservoir cracks, water line disconnects, bulk head leak or break (where the water enters and returns from the plant table), plant table crack, water return tube placed outside of the reservoir.
Hydroponics Visuals
This is the main view of the hydroponics system. The top portion is the flood table and the bottom is the reservoir. These two components are connected by tubs and powered by pumps. The top flood table fills with water at intervals to feed the plants then returns to the reservoir via gravity. If a pump fails or water floods below the reservoir there may be serious issues.
The reservoir lid has one window. There are two black tubes, two clear tubes, and one power cord that runs through this window. The black tube on the left feeds water into the flood table, the black tube on the right returns water into the reservoir, the clear tubes are connected to air stones and a pump to aerate the water, the power cord connects to the pump connected to the tube on the left.
This is the main air pump. It might be the item making the buzzing noise you notice – we have it suspended to reduce this vibration as much as possible. The pump has one main tube running from the front of the pump – this connects to a hub where multiple air lines can be connected. At the moment we use 2 air lines for the hydroponic system.
The knob on the bottom is where water will enter the flood table. The knob on top is slightly higher to allow a controlled amount of water enter the flood table (not too little and not too much). Each of these knobs can and will return water to the reservoir when the water movement pump is off.
The main water movement pump is connected to a timer. This timer runs in 15minute increments about 1 time per hour. This power supply also has our air pump connected to it – the air pump runs 24/7.
