A QUICK PROJECT
This past weekend I made my own Mason Jar Hydroponics system. Let’s walk you through this quick and simple way to get you started in homegrown DIY Hydroponics.
GETTING STARTED – What you will need:
Container (Mason Jar)
Yogurt cup or Net Pot
Plant
Rock Wool, Clay Pebbles or Perlite
Plant Nutrient
Newspaper or Aluminum foil
CONTAINER – MASON JARS
Any kind of food-safe jar or container will work – the common Mason Jar with lid is a good choice. I’m using Mason Jars for this project, the color of the Mason Jar doesn’t really matter.
YOGURT CUP OR NET POT
If you are going with a wide-mouth Mason Jar you need to go with a 3” Hydroponic Net Pot. As for the standard mason jar pictured here you’ll need to use a Yogurt or similar container. Opening in the lid is about 2 1/8 inches. Just big enough that a 2 ” Net Pot falls through. Suggest you do as I did, take the lid to into a supermarket and find a Yogurt container that would work. Fortunately, it was a brand that I liked. As for the standard Net Pot, you can get these from Amazon. A 40 pack of 2” and 3” is really inexpensive. The variety of sizes gives you a handy choice for different size containers. Net Pots are ready to use since they already have slits for plant roots to grow through. For a Yogurt cup – you will need to cut holes. I wouldn’t recommend drilling holes since Yogurt cups are very flimsy. You could use a sharp blade or even a soldering iron. I tend to like my fingers, so I used plain old scissors. As you can see from my work, it’s not a pretty sight – but hey, it works. A big plus is, I still have all of my fingers.
PLANTS/ROCK WOOL, CLAY PEBBLES or PERLITE
Any plant that grows well with hydroponics will work, see my post on Hydroponic Seeds – 5 Helpful Hints to Get You Started . In this post, I cover plants as well as the growing medium. For the Yogurt Cup, you are going to want to use either Rock Wool, Clay Pebbles or if you have purchased starter plants as I did, the soil already around the roots. In the following pic, the white material is Perlite. What is brown stuff, you may ask? No, they are not some rabbit dropping by, they are Clay Pebbles. I encourage you to buy local whenever you can – if there is not a Hydroponic shop near you, again Amazon is a good place to shop. They have all the material and variety that you will need to get started and I am not saying that because I am an Amazon Affiliate, it’s just true.
PLANT NUTRIENT
Standard plant food can work, but make sure you read the label and you use 1/2 what they recommend for continuous watering. It is also recommended that you use distilled water to prevent nasties from getting into the water. I didn’t have any distilled water that I could use – so I grab a jug of drinking water. When filling the jars, please do not fill to them to level that the pots are totally submerged in water. Believe or not roots need oxygen to grow.
NEWSPAPER OR ALUMINUM FOIL
You may be asking what’s newspaper or aluminum foil got to do with it? Well, nutrient eating algae like this environment. To cut down all algae growth you’ll need to wrap the jars in something that will cut off light from getting to the nutrient water. Either newspapers or aluminum foil will work and in addition, you, want to make sure you can peel it back to check on your plant roots and water level.
IN SUMMARY
Mason Jar Hydroponics is a quick and fun way to grow plants. Looking forward to your comments and please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. Please feel free to follow us on any of our Social Media Channels.
This looks like a very interesting project. I have done some home gardening in the past which did not go well. My daughter also planted an avocado, it did well for a while then it died. This time I would like to do some home gardening following the steps you have highlighted here. The net pot, Rock wool and plant food are items I will be using for the first time.
I’ve killed a few plants in my day – hydroponics has been the only thing that I have tried that has flourished. Especially cherry tomatoes, now that’s a topic for another time. The Rock Wool is great, just be careful that you are not handling a large quantity in a closed space. The fibers are not great for the lungs. The typical plugs used for Hydroponics shouldn’t be much of a problem. Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any additional questions.
This is the first I am learning about this wonderful method and am hooked! So will the plants grow faster as they are in direct contact with the necessary nutrients? Thats the first thought to cross my mind. It also seems to be relatively inexpensive – whats not to like! Loved the informative article! Excellent read.
Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment. It is a great hobby and can be even more if you really get into it. Want I trying to do is to give everyone some ways to get into a wonderful way to grow healthy food at a very reasonable cost. As for growing faster – that depends if you have the right combination of nutrients and light. Still working on that with my systems. The Mason Jar system seems to grow at a normal rate – with my outdoor vertical systems it is definitely accelerated, especially when it comes to cherry tomatoes. Having on hand fresh herbs for cooking is an especially good use for indoor countertop hydroponics. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any additional questions.
Hello, thanks for the post. I know about hydroponics. But i have learned how to do it.Hydroponics is a method of growing plants in a water based, nutrient rich solution. Hydroponics does not use soil, instead the root system is supported using an inert medium such as perlite, rockwool, clay pellets, peat moss, or vermiculite. This method is extremely useful for plants as well as people. I have never used this method.But your post make me mindset to do it.
Glad I could have been of help to introduce you to hydroponics. It is a great hobby to get started with. If you are interested in other types of systems please check out my most recent post
https://youcanhydrogrow.com/4-great-sites-on-diy-hydroponic-systems/ or any of my other posts from time to time. Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any additional questions.
first I wanna say thanks to for bringing such project , using a mason jar is a quick and explicit way for a plant to be prolific and easily adjustable placement,I really think that using this method will also save a lot of stress from the acute angle, is a method of growing plants in a water based, nutrient rich solution. Which is very good I really appreciate this method
You are correct it not only reduces the stress on plants but also if you are growing indoors you usually do not have to worry about bugs. It is a great hobby to start with and it doesn’t have to be expensive. Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions.
First of all, many thanks to you for giving us such a wonderful article .I love plants and Mason Jar Hydroponics is a quick and fun way to grow plants. 2 months ago I made my own mason jar hydroponics system .Amazon is my favorite brand and I purchased Mason Jar Hydroponics right here .I purchased starter plants and they have grown very well in this jar .Your article on fast and easy ways to get started on hydroponics is really informative and I have gained a lot of knowledge and hopefully it will be helpful for me. And another wonderful idea I found through your article is that I can plant yogurt containers .
I will definitely deliver your article to my girlfriend and she will greatly benefit and will definitely share with you her new experience. Also, I must share your article on my social media and recommend buying Mason Jar .
Thank you for dropping by and commenting. Glad to see that you had already discovered Mason Jar Hydroponics. Yes, I like Amazon too – you just need to make sure that you get or make the right Net Pot that fits. I have found that either Clay Pebbles or Rock Wool works best with the Net Pots made from plastic containers. When you have a moment would like to see what you are growing. Feel free to join one of our Social Media Channels and share. If I can be of any assistance in your Hydroponic journey, please do not hesitate to ask.
Though I love container gardening a lot due to the fact that it helps to save spaces a lot. However, this particular type of hydroponics is what I have never heard or seen. It makes sense if well done and could prove to be the difference when growing the plants. Thank you so much for sharing this out here. I’d make sure that I give a trial to it
If this was of interest to you check out my most recent post at:
https://youcanhydrogrow.com/4-great-sites-on-diy-hydroponic-systems/ As I have mentioned to others, hydroponics is a great hobby to grow healthy food that is fresh and that you have control over what goes into it. Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any additional questions.
This is awesome! We have run out of available space to plant in traditional planters and soil so my wife and I were looking for alternatives. She gets a kick out of growing vegetables and other stuff, very cathartic in this stressful world! Being able to shop for the material online is a huge bonus, especially with the coronavirus keeping everybody at home at the moment. Really informative and helpful! Definitely checking back in the future as we try this at home. Thanks!
Glad that I could be of help – when you have a moment drop by and check out some of my other posts. I have reviewed some really good ready to do starter systems and very inexpensive DIY projects if you like to be handy.
Again thanks for dropping by – come back soon. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any additional questions.
Hi, it is a great and nice feeling to know that someone will create a great website like this and also create a write up on an article like this. The exposure I have gotten from your article is great considering that I never knew Nothing concerning the Mason jar hydroponics. The process seems easy as you have explained. Thank you
Hello, Benny that was very nice of you to say. I appreciate your dropping and hopefully, you found a project you would like to try. Yes, the Mason Jar system is one of the easiest to get started with. It’s a great project for any age. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions.