Kratky Hydroponic Basil

Here's some pictures of my hydroponic basil, using the Kratky method. It's very simple, no pump or anything. There is a constant air gap between the top of the water and the lid of the container, so the plants put out lateral 'oxygen roots' which can absorb oxygen from the air.  

The containers are jam buckets from the same cafe we get all of the coffee grounds from. I cut two holes in the lid just wide enough to hold the yellow net cups. The net cups are filled with clay pebbles which help to support the plant. The buckets are wrapped with aluminium foil and the lids with cardboard to prevent algae building up in the water and using up all the nutrients.

The nutrient solution is just a basic hydroponic nutrient made from two powders (A & B) I got off eBay quite cheaply (£15 for 1kg of each). You make a separate stock solution of both A & B because if you try to mix the powders together in water the calcium will precipitate out. I then add 7.5 ml of each stock solution to 1 L of water. Each bucket takes 5 L of nutrient solution. The water level drops as the plant grows, so I top them up once or twice a week, depending on the weather. You have to make sure not to fill the buckets right to the top because you don't want to drown the 'oxygen roots'. 

We've had almost 300g of basil (leaf, no stem) since the start of June from 6 buckets (12 plants). The buckets are on the window sill I used to use for growing chillies, but indoor peppers don't pollinate very well and the flowers drop off. Basil in the greenhouse often gets mould or just doesn't do very well for me. The chillies are now in the greenhouse instead. It's worked out very well! This winter I'll be trying lettuce in the grow tent.

That is very impressive. It’s something I’ve often looked into but never done. It the next step up from my chilli gown. which still uses soil and the A&B solution is wicked up rather than the roots actually being in it. ) when I have a spare 5 minutes I’ll be picking your brains on which A&B? as there’s so many makes and what clay beads and everything

A & B was just the cheapest powders I could find at the time. Any premixed liquid is much more expensive to buy and ship. This is the stuff I have - https://www.homeofhydroponics.co.uk/shop...d-complete - 1kg makes 10 litres of stock solution, which in turn (at 7.5ml/L) makes 1333 litres of growing solution. They and most others selling powders are just repackaging big 25kg bags of Yara fertiliser (like this https://www.yara.co.uk/crop-nutrition/fe...lon-brown/), but 1kg of each is probably going to last me years anyway.

The 55mm net pots I got 2nd hand off eBay from a cactus nursery. The clay pebbles also off eBay - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264204173260?...3763054316 - there may be cheaper available. There are alternatives to clay pebbles, but I like them because they are reusable.

I don't have a pH or EC meter (cheap ones are rubbish, good ones are expensive), or use any pH up/down solutions. The tap water here has been fine to grow in without needing anything else but the nutrients.

This guy - https://www.youtube.com/@Hoocho - has a lot of good videos about hydroponics.

Thank you. That’s very helpful.