Hydroponic Planter, 11 Cup Home System

Yes. It is the same eleven cup system, at the same price, with the same contents. It has two pages because people look for it two different ways: some search for a deep water culture system, others for a hydroponic planter or herb garden. Buy it from whichever page you found.

A container that grows plants in nutrient solution instead of soil. This one holds eleven plants in baskets suspended above the water, with an air pump keeping the solution oxygenated.

The basin and lid, an air pump, a silicone hose, a buoy and buoy deck, 11 planting baskets, 11 planting sponges and tweezers. You add seeds and nutrient solution.

Basil, coriander, parsley, mint, chives and dill all do well. Basil in particular is happier in a hydroponic planter than most people expect, because it never dries out between waterings.

Yes. Lettuce, rocket and spinach all suit it. You can mix them, though it is easier if the plants sharing a tub want similar conditions and grow at roughly the same rate.

Somewhere with good light and access to a socket for the pump. A bright worktop or a deep windowsill is ideal. Direct all day sun is worth avoiding: it warms the solution and encourages algae wherever light gets in.

In a bright kitchen in summer, often not. In winter, or in a room without a good window, yes. Herbs get leggy and pale when they are short of light, which is usually the first sign.

Top up the water when the buoy drops, change the solution every two to three weeks, and cut the herbs regularly. That is genuinely most of it.

Because roots need oxygen. In still water they run out and the plant drowns. The pump bubbles air through the solution and keeps enough oxygen dissolved to prevent that.

It hums quietly, like a small aquarium. Standing it on a cloth or a mat rather than a hard worktop takes most of the buzz out of it.

Check the blue valve. It fits one way round and backwards it tries to draw air rather than push it in. Turning it over is usually the whole fix. Weak bubbles rather than none usually means a blocked air stone.

The buoy shows the level through the deck, so you can see it at a glance without lifting the lid and disturbing the roots.

A general hydroponic nutrient for leafy greens and herbs. Follow the dilution on the bottle. Making it stronger does not make plants grow faster; it usually does the opposite.

Every two to three weeks, topping up with plain water in between. If growth slows or the leaves lose colour, a full change is the first thing to try.

It is not essential to get started, and it is the single thing that most improves results. Herbs and leafy greens like roughly 5.5 to 6.5. A pH pen costs very little.

Most people germinate seeds separately and move the seedling into a sponge once it has a root, using the tweezers supplied. Our seed starter trays are designed for that stage.

No. They are the growing medium and are used up with each crop. Eleven come in the box, which covers the first planting.

Salad leaves in about a month from planting, herbs a little longer before they are worth cutting from regularly. It depends on the crop and the light.

Not well. Eleven shallow sites suit leafy crops and herbs. Fruiting plants get heavy, want more root room and need supporting, which is not what this planter is built for.

Keep light off it. The lid and baskets are made to block light, so the main thing is not leaving it open and not standing it in strong direct sun with a gap showing.

Only carefully. It is a tub of water with plants suspended in it, so it is heavy when full and the roots dislike being sloshed. Choose where it lives before you fill it.

Empty it, rinse the basin, and flush the hose and air stone. Leave the detergent out: whatever stays behind goes into the next batch of solution.

About a week is fine if it is full when you go. There is no channel to run dry, so it is more forgiving than a flowing system, but the plants still drink.

Very little. It is a small air pump running continuously. A grow light, if you add one, will use much more than the pump does.

It is an open tub of water with a mains powered pump, so treat it as you would a small aquarium: lid on, cable managed, and the nutrient bottle kept out of reach.

Yes, and it is a reasonable way to scale up while keeping things simple, since each tub is independent. If you find yourself wanting a third, the 36 cup kit is the more sensible step.

The 36 cup kit is nutrient film technique: a pump moves a stream of solution through channels, and it holds three times as many plants. This is a single aerated tub with nothing flowing. Simpler, smaller, and easier to live with in a kitchen.

The cover and baskets are specified as light blocking, which is what the supplier states about the material. We do not have a food contact certificate to publish, so rather than imply one, ask us and we will put it to the supplier.

Across Europe in 5 to 7 days after a 24 to 48 hour handling time. Free over EUR 50, otherwise EUR 22. Express delivery is available at checkout.

Tell us and we will put it right. Check the contents against the list when it arrives rather than on the day you plant it.