In this article we will review systems that require no power built with inexpensive and common parts.  These systems are both great during drought conditions, since they use less water, and tend to produce food faster than in-ground peers.   There are several types of growing systems that vary in components and upkeep required.

Kratky Systems

Using just water, nutrient, and a plant suspended in a container the Kratky system is a simple, elegant, and low cost way to grow crops.  The concept of this system is that the young plants start partially submerged in nutrient water.  As the roots grow downward they will lower the water level and dedicate air exposed roots to absorbing oxygen.  One important detail of the system is to never fill the container back up fully but instead aim for around a 50% refill height for the duration of the plant's lifetime.

Variations of the system containers include mason jars, capped horizontal gutter downspouts, buckets, and other container types.  Shorter lived and faster growing crops like lettuce and other leafy greens do exceptionally well with this technique and are a great way to start learning the Kratky sytem.

Gutter Downspouts

Gutter downspouts are one of the the easiest ways to produce large amounts of greens with ease. Once out of frost conditions it's as easy as setting seeds or seedlings in a mini pot and placing them in a gutter with holes punched into it.  These systems are well suited for vertical layering up a wall for increased productivity in a small footprint and would be reminiscent of hanging gardens.

Downspouts are available at most hardware stores and can either be capped with a quick 3D printing job(source available below) or heatgun bent upward to seal well enough.  These systems can be no flow standing nutrient water, occasional manual refil, or used in a flowing aquaponics system.

Bucket Systems

Another type of system is the bucket system and it's also as simple as it sounds. Suspend a plant in a bucket of nutrient water and just watch it grow.  Peppers tend to do extremely well in this grow system.  Below are images of a poblano and jalapeno pepper both of which overwintered in an external small office structure and are into their second year of production producing well ahead of transplants.  Due to a learning curve these plants were not treated ideally but both now now early fruit sets equivalent to nearly half of a regular expected crop.  These lids have made it easy to convert a simple hardware store bucket into a grow system that pays off in year one - https://www.amazon.com/Hydroponic-Aquaponics-Twin-Canaries-Chart/dp/B09JB6GG52/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=bucket+grow+lid&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExTE5OQThWSFFVNjhHJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMjQ0MTAyQlhGOUVaOE45MzY5JmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAzNjY4NDAxV0VFUzhPQVU5SFdLJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

Growspike Systems

Growspike systems are a very low maintenance high production system well suited for growing fruiting vegetables drier and drought prone areas for maximum water preservation.

An adaption of the gutter downspout system this system uses a 3d printed pastic spike with some wick laced into it to transfer nutrient water up into a pot.  One upside of this system is that it is less prone to diluting the nutrient channel when it gets rained on since the pots have a layer of soil and side holes in the bottom to drain excess water.  Keeping the nutrient levels consistent like this helps maximize crops.

As shown in the above image the spike system uses basic components and can be expanded well past the current 3 channels.  In this system the following is growing:

• 2 Banana trees
• 2 San Marzano tomatoes
• 2 Serrano peppers
• 2 Cucumbers
• 2 Parsley
• 1 Sweet Basil
• 2 Mandarin Oranges
• 2 Marjoram

One of the benefits of this system is that all the above is growing in less than 10'x5' of space and for around $12 each more gutters can easily be added and only require and extra 1.5-2' between them.  Another benefit is that perennial plants in this system can be relocated during winter weather and placed back on the system in spring with no significant disruption.

Detailed build instructions, 3D design files, and templates will be opensourced in subsequent articles.

Summary

Gutter downspouts - perfect for greens and small fruits, can go vertical up a wall for major scalability in a small footprint

Buckets - Peppers and other light feeders can last years in the bucket systems

Spike systems - Greens, light feeders, and heavy feeders do excellent in this cheap and easily expandable system.

Notes:  

The spike system on display was created by the youtuber named Hoocho and is available on his patreon.  Associahedron will be adding open source versions of a spike along with multiple diameter (1.25",1",0.75") pvc fitting endcaps for flow (aquaponic) systems in the near future that will be introduced in subsequent articles posted here.

https://www.patreon.com/join/Hoocho

The nutrient used with all of these systems - https://www.amazon.com/MASTERBLEND-4-18-38-Complete-Combo-Fertilizer/dp/B072F2BL9D/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=masterblend&sr=8-2&th=1