I don't have experience with what you're attempting so take my advice with a grain of salt. Hydroponics and organic gardening, at least traditionally, are at different ends of the spectrum. Hydroponics uses soluble fertilizer and inert media like bags of sawdust or rockwool - the nutrients are all measured and mixed accordingly. Organic gardening uses manure, compost, and soil - nature takes care of the rest. I think the way you propose may be more challenging than either growing organically or 'standard' hydroponic. You can try the hydroponics forum here. You can also test this out on one or a few plants so you can see how it works without investing too much. Here is a link that might be useful: Hydroponics

Would this be a viable option for full-grown plants? (I just read up on vermiculite and I'm afraid of the carcinogens)... I saw a setup on Hydro Ideas for seedlings that uses sponge blocks to support the stems, then the blocks are placed into styrofoam cups (the roots exit the cup through a hole in the bottom of the cup and suspend in the nutrient solution,) then pebbles are placed around the stem-supporting sponge to sturdy it (the link to the Hydro Idea diagram is below :) Thanks again (I'm impressed by how do-able this is turning out to be!) Here is a link that might be useful: Hydro Ideas-Seedlings & Sponge blocks

Are you growing indoors? What kind of lighting do you have? Do you have an exhaust fan and oscillating fan(s)? As a sidenote, I agree with grizzman. For the number of questions you have, your system is far too large. While hydroponics allows for careful plant management and excellent rewards at harvest time, it is more difficult and time consuming to manage when compared to growing in dirt. Each plant has specific nutrient requirements (as mentioned by Cole_robbie), and this not only varies by species, it also varies based on whether it's flowering or growing vegatatively. Mixing a range of plants in the same system is a recipe for disaster. Larger plants require higher nutrient levels, and the NPK ratio changes during fruiting/flowering. Levels for a large plant would harm a small plant, and levels for a small plant would starve a large one. Some need additions like calcium or magnesium, while others don't. When you flower your tomatoes, peppers, (?peas?) you will have to lengthen your dark (night) cycle(plants don't care about length of day to trigger flowering, only length of night). This change, unless you have segregated grow rooms/chambers, will likely cause your spices and leafy vegetables to flower as well. I'm not sure of the effects to root vegetables, but flowering changes and sometimes ruins the flavours of herbs. Basil, as an example, becomes bitter when flours appear and they should be pinched off as soon as they appear if you aren't trying to get next crop's seeds. 1. The number of plants per tote depends on a few factors. Size of mature plant is the most important, although you can do much denser if you want to do an extended harvest of young greens. I'm growing 30 basil plants in a 15 gallon DWC with a 150w HPS and 2 42w (6400k) CFL. I'm using 2" net cups, spaced like a cloner. 2. Varies greatly by plant size, higher with larger plants. Add air stones in to every bucket and tub, as well as the reservoir. 3. This is the same question as 2, but I'll take this time to mention that all of your setup needs to be sterile before you use it, and all water bins, lids, and pipes need to be completely opaque. If it's translucent (any light gets through), you'll likely have a downhill battle with algae and/or root rot. Spray-paint it black then white, or return it and buy opaque stuff. Seriously. 4. Someone covered this, but you also have to keep in mind just how much water will be used on a daily basis. Having a reservoir that is the volume of the full system might not last for a whole day when your plants grow up. You need to maintain a high enough level to stay above the pump, and also to not cause the water to be toxic. Plants don't use nutrients and water at the same rates, so over time your solution will either increase or decrease in concentration. At high concentrations, some plants will die. Think of it like this, we (mammals) need salt to live. If we're stranded on the ocean, we will die of thirst because the water is too salty for us to drink. It would dry us out just like too-strong nutrients will starve and kill a plant. 5. Your pump just depends on your target flow rate. I've done 6 outdoor top-feed tomato plants, and a pond pump was more than I needed. I'm doing DWC now, but not recirculating, and I don't have relevant experience. 6. Net pot size depends on plant size. I'm using 2" for basil, but I would go for 4-6" for larger plants. The most important consideration is that you are able to block light to the roots with hydroton and maintain plant stability. e.g. basil would do just as well in a 6" pot as in a 2", but tomatoes in a 2" pot would destroy the pot and likely fall over. 7. Varies by plant, but they will grow to be as big as they need to be. In a DWC, don't worry about how big they will get. You'll be fine. You do need to make sure that the roots don't grow in to your pipes (they will surely try) and block the drainage. Think flood. That's another reason to not try to have everything on one system. A single failure could kill your entire crop. 8. For baby plants without roots outside of the net pots like clones and new transplants, water needs to be high enough to keep the plants wet. If you're starting seeds or clones in rockwool, put a layer of hydroton in the bottom of the net pots, then put in the rockwool. Fill beside rockwool cubes with hydroton. Water should touch hydroton, but not rockwool. When first roots start to hang down, water level should be lowered to a bit below the net pot bottom. Leave a bit more space if you're crazy enough to not put in an airline and stone to each bucket. 9. Both/All. 10. 1 stone in each bucket/reservoir will be enough, but some people will say that more is better. There is a saturation point where no more oxygen can be in the water, and it depends on temperature (colder = more dissolved oxygen). 11. The pump needs to put out enough for each stone, so you'll need a strong pump (or a few weaker ones). Don't quote me on this, but a rough estimate might be about 10w per air stone. You'll also need to take in to account the length of air tubing (longer requires higher pressure) and depth of water (deeper requires higher pressure). Separate pumps will help when one fails as well (and it will). Hope that helps! Here is a link that might be useful: DotCaDot - DWC Sweet Basil This post was edited by Seven_Six_Two on Mon, Jul 7, 14 at 22:28

Nice overview. I would also recommend BACI's hydroponic FAQs for more detailed information. These are available by doing a search in this forum for "FAQ".