The bucket system from a previous post was difficult to maintain. This was due to the fact that a 5 gallon bucket full of water weighs roughly forty pounds. Hauling that up my basement stairs to change out the water was not a fun task. This lead to trying to find a system that used smaller modular components to grow plants.

Parts Needed:

• Wide mouth half gallon ball jars
• Wide mouth plastic ball jar lids
• 2″ net cups
• 2″ hole saw
• Tetra 77851 Whisper Air Pump, 10-Gallon
• Tubing 1/4″ OD 3/16″ ID. This might be thicker than typical aquarium tubing.
• Backflow valve
• T valve
• Small air stone
• Rain Bird TS25/10PS Drip Irrigation 1/4″ Tubing Stake with Bug Cap Diffuser
• rockwool cubes
• fertilizer
• 2″ hole saw
• drill
• drill bits

Assembly of the ball jar lids is pretty simple. Clamp the lid loosely in a vice and drill a 2″ hole with the hole saw for the net cup. Next drill a smaller hole so you are able to press fit the bug guard from the drip irrigation stakes. This part allows for the air tubing to be press fit into the jars for easy removal. After that plumb up the air pump add some water and the system is ready to grow plants.