And finally, if you want to dip your toes into hydroponics and get your very own hydroponic closet I recommend you get this very excellent guide - Hydroponics for the Home Gardener it contains all you need to know to get going with this awesome indoor gardening method.

Hempy Buckets are a simple DIY hydroponic system that can be set up by anyone who has a bucket and perlite (hydroponic growing medium).  Dark coloured buckets work best especially if you are using grow lights  as it helps to stop algae from growing.

About a inch from the bottom of the Hempy Bucket you will need to create a hole to let excess water drain out, this should be about half a inch in diameter.  You may want to put metal gauze or netting over the hole to prevent any perlite from falling through.

Once you’ve create the hole and covered it with metal gauze or suitable material you can fill your Hempy bucket with perlite and add water until the excess runs out of the overflow hole that you have created.  The perlite has capillary properties so it will absorb the water and spread the moisture until all of the perlite is damp.  It won’t feel wet to the touch but if you press a few pieces of perlite between your fingers it will leave a small wet mark behind.

Once you have damped the perlite, add in your plant.

You would water your bucket every day with a suitable nutrient solution, the aim is to let the water dry out from the bottom of the bucket, allowing the plants roots to come into contact with the air before you water again.  However it is nearly impossible to over water your plants with this DIY Hydroponic system as the perlite traps air within itself allowing the plants roots to always be in contact with oxygen.

You can scale down the hempy bucket by using plastic bottles cut in half, plastic cups, pretty much any thing you can find from around the house.  Remember though to scale down the water flow hole to compensate.

The Bubbler method is a easy way to step into hydroponics, it is very cheap to set up but requires constant monitoring.

The plant roots are feed via a nutrient solution which is mixed by bubbling air through it with the use of an air pump and air stone. The water nutrient solution should be at a level which is high enough to wet the air stone. Once the plant has developed a good root system the water level can be lowered enabling some of the roots to hang in the air between the net and the bucket. Air needs to get to the submerged roots constantly meaning that the air pump will need to left on constantly, otherwise the plants will be starved of oxygen.

Generally you will need a separated bucket for each plants otherwise the root system will cover the air stone preventing it from aerating the water and the plant will die.

The Bubbler system needs constant attention as plants take different amounts of water and nutrients from the mixture resulting a ratio that could poison your plants and dry them out. Constant checking of CF and PH of this water is essential for healthy plants.

Plants grown by using the Blubber system will need support and this system is not very suitable to growing large plants.

The two different types of Hydroponics are the solution and the medium cultures. In a solution culture there is no solid medium other than a nutrient solution to supply nourishment to the plants. The medium culture calls for presence of a solid medium though.

There are 3 types of solution culture, the static (nutrient solution is not agitated) solution culture, continuous flow culture and aeroponics solution culture. The different types of medium used in medium culture include sand, gravel and the mineral wool or rockwool. Sub irrigation method and top irrigation methods are used to supply nutrients and water for plants growing in medium culture.

Aeroponics is a method that allows growing of plants in a system that enables the root systems to be in an environment concentrated with atomized droplets of nutrients. It calls for no substrate and plants receive lavish aeration in this method.