Deep Water Culture (DWC) Hydroponic Bubbler Bucket Kit by PowerGrow ® Systems (4) 5 Gallon - 6" Buckets

This setup is great and comes complete with good quality durable equipment made for long use and can help you achieve high quality and abundant yields absolutely love growing Deep water. I prefer it to a flow system because it helps isolate problems and allows individual attention to plants that may need it . The five gallon size gives room for huge root growth . As another reviewer said the price point you cannot match buying individual component

$157 to buy separately, drill your own holes, cut your own hoses or $99 complete, just plug and play? I'll go with option two. I'm extremely happy with this DWC kit, it works as advertised, comes with everything you need to get up and running except nutrients and growing stones. My plants are doing great and are very happy in their DWC buckets. You couldn't build a system this cheap buying the parts at retail (at least from my local hydro store). Here's a rough estimate, using Amazon pricing: Elemental O2 Pump, 254 gph , Hydrofarm HG5G 5-Gallon Black Bucket , Hydro Flow Rubber Grommet 3/4 Inch, Bag of 10 , Deep Blue Professional ADB12296 Silicone Air Tubing for Aquarium, 25-Feet , Deep Blue Professional ADB12296 Silicone Air Tubing for Aquarium, 25-Feet , 6" WIDE LIP BUCKET BASKET LID - ROUND PLANT CONTAINER WITH MESH BOTTOM + Twin Canaries Chart - 5 BASKETS , Jardin Aquarium Cylinder Air Bubble Stones, 5-Piece, Blue , screws and piece to hold water level gauge $4 (??guessing). A grand total of $157 to build the same system yourself. You can't beat this package and it works perfectly. If you are even interested in experimenting with hydroponics, this is a cheap, easy way to get started. You will not be disappointed.

The water level is tough to read, I have to shine a bright LED flashlight to see it. And these are very expensive for what they are. On the other hand, this kit seemed better than most others.

This is a great system for the price! I'm a long-time indoor gardener and I usually build my own Deep Water Culture systems from parts. This time around I decided to buy this system to save some time and I'm very glad I did. This is one of the few high-quality Deep Water Culture (DWC) systems that I was able to find at a price (from this seller) low enough to compete with a scratch-built DIY system. And the parts in this kit are definitely high-quality. The buckets are impressive: Thick-walled, durable and utterly light-tight. If you're accustomed to using hardware store buckets you'll be surprised by the thickness of these buckets. Each bucket comes with its own Hydrofarm brand lid with built-in net pot and General Hydroponics grommets already installed- good stuff. The airline inlet holes are drilled through the sidewall of each bucket, near the top instead of through the lid. This makes lifting lids for a peek at the roots (in the early stages of growing) really easy. It's also really easy to lift the lid (plant and all) off of one bucket and move it carefully to another bucket. This is a nightmare if you're using a system where the airlines are plumbed through holes in the lids. If your growing project involves moving plants around, this is a nice detail. The included air pump is powerful and quiet. It features a dial to adjust air flow and runs the four airstones with power to spare. The airline tubing comes in pre-cut lengths, ready to install. The system is easy to assemble but some buyers may wish for more detailed assembly instructions, perhaps with diagrams. I noticed that the manufacturer's website has an area for knowledge and tutorials, which may be intended to provide better instructions but it's currently empty. Hopefully they intend to provide online assembly instructions there. I contacted the manufacturer (PowerGrow Systems - not the seller) via email to ask a question and they replied right away. Small businesses get huge points from me for providing personal service to their customers, and I felt well taken care of when I dealt with PowerGrow via email. If you are new to hydroponics you'll need a few more things to go with this system before you can start growing: -Grow Light (unless you're planning to grow in sunlight or a greenhouse) -Hydroponic Media (hydroton or growstone pellets) to fill the pots -Hydroponic Nutrients to feed the plants -pH Adjustment Kit to monitor and maintain proper pH levels As you can see, I'm pretty happy with my purchase. I hope this review was helpful for you :)

This worked pretty good but the bottom hole and the hose are kind of a pain, the hose is clear so it gets dirty and tries to grow algae and its not real easy to clean the hose. I ended up just removing the hose and taping up the bottom hole and haven't had any issues. Good starter set but you can make your own setup for less than half the cost of these.

This is a great setup! I wanted to expand this and buy either cheaper or better components. Buckets at the hydro-store were are about 1/3 of the cost. You have to drill the holes, which is harder than it seems because you are starting on a smooth convex surface. I got a top for very little money at HD. But I had to spend money on a drill bit that nearly snapped my arm off when the teeth caught the plastic (otherwise, you will spend about 1/4 of the cost of this rig, just on tops. Then I needed a pump. I listened to some of the high output pumps at the hydrostore. I'm just growing tomatoes for the winter and want to relax a little bit in the basement. The high output pumps are not as loud as jack hammers. The high output pumps sound like jet engines from inside the airport--not loud, but a high pitch whine that is not conducive to relaxing. So, I went with the Hydrofarm dual diaphram--which is half the power for twice as much (3/4 of the cost of this setup). The hydrofarm pump puts out only a little bit more that the Elemental pump that comes with this kit. But they are louder. So, why not just go with the elemental that is half the cost (which is about 1/3 of the cost of this kit). Then the airstones. I bought an air ring thinking it would put out a more even curtain of bubbles. They are larger bubbles and only come out of half the ring. The airstones that come with this kit are perfect in overall size and porosity. Why experiment with different components when this kit has exactly what you need at a quality that you will be happy with. Bottom line, if you just love to tinker with a system and experiment with different components, do it yourself is O.K. But if you just want to grow plants, you are not going to save money and probably will not get significantly better quality by doing it yourself. Just spend the $100 and enjoy an inexpensive system with components that are perfectly balanced with the other components. And get something that has enough quality to last you through a growing season (or several--I'm not implying low quality components. I'm sure they will last much longer than a growing season). But, being realistic about this, by next winter, I may have no interest in hydroponics. And five years from now, I will probably have forgotten that I ever did hydroponics. However, if I keep up the hobby, I'd probably be happy to spend $30 to replace the airpump with the same Elemental pump. I guess, what I'm saying is that there is no reason to consider an airpump an investment. It will probably last 3 - 5 years. To spend twice as much on similar output and louder sound is just not worth it. Who wants to pay up front for a break even point that is five years down the road. Buy this kit! You will be happy with it! Here's to $100 tomatoes:-).

This is a great starter system. My plan was to do tomatoes in 2, bell pepper in one, and herbs in another (with a wider basket, purchase separately). The tomatoes and peppers are doing awesome. I have these outside under natural sun, I do have to top the water off EVERY day, the tomatoes can lose 1 -1.5 gallons in a day. So don't think this is a set it and forget it system, water will evaporate. Had a little mishap with my herb sprouts, decided I liked to have an extra bucket even more than the herbs. I mix in the spare and then swap when it is nutrient change time, so it all worked out well. The blue plastic tubing "fogged" up pretty quick and it is hard to see the water level, better than algae though. This may be because it is outside and it is a nit pick. Overall, this is a great system and perfect for a starter.

Started from soil, moved to coir, wanted to give hydro a try before investing in recirculating system which my local hydro store builds for minimum $300. I knew the challenges of individual-site care and semi-easy flushes, but ultimately I failed due to lack of experience. After 1 week I had algae and showed up on my leaves. I am certain it may be nutes, Fox Farm, having high solids over say Sensi products, but just a thought. I recalled a system previously interested in, Smart-Pots, which are auto-feeders. My concern there was the schedule of Fox Farm (changes every week, so sucks w/ a 17g tank if you're OCD - I am). One of the add-ons of this product was an air-pump to feed the roots, surrounded by a mesh. It would be a switch from fabric 5g pots to plastic, but I took this kit and rebuilt a hybrid Smart-Pot $300 and this $100 product with 2 more purchases - the medium (you would have had to buy anyway - mine are expanded clay stones), and 4" mesh pots. As you can see I put together with same materials you would have had to use except the 4" mesh filter protecting the air stone. This setup allows for even distribution of air (at which the soil density and saturation take over) which you can see by my placing plastic bags over my pots (perfect size). 3/4 successful, the other I'd assume failed due to a loose cork. The cork - to prevent air from escaping from the drainage/meter tube, which has a purpose of checking for overwatering, I put a cork in the tube. Otherwise I'd expect air to escape. I need to measure the inner-width of the tube and order the plugs, but for now it's literally shaven corks :D Cheers. Cytan