LAPOND Hydroponics Growing System Kit for Vegetables,Flowers Fruits and Herbs, with 108 Plant Sites, Suitable for Indoor and Outdoor, Block Light Design

Easy to assemble and doesn’t leak if you assemble it correctly and use the rubber mallet to set everything. Using inside a grow tent and upgraded the pump/discharge, which took a touch of ingenuity but not difficult. Pictures are from three weeks in. Large growth is from the full three weeks. There are also plants from other stages with some nearly planted as well. Love the system!

4/3/2022 We ordered this system almost exactly a year ago. First off, it doesn't come with a reservoir, so we built one for it ourselves. Second, the sponges it comes with didn't work at all. We tried them in the first planting and all that happened was they developed algae which killed the plants. As a result we cleaned the system and switched to rock wool. Rockwool worked better, but only in the top row. We haven't had much success with anything in the bottom two rows and we have tried moving it to different places around the property to try and get it better light. The algae problem also came back, building up in the pipes due to the white pvc letting the sunlight through and water flow issues. We clean them out after each algae outbrak, which is also difficult due to the shape and nature of the pipes. In an effort to avoid this difficulty for the next season we decided to try and replace the white PVC with black, as this has worked in preventing algae growth in our other systems. However the PVC size is not standard and we haven't been able to find any matching sizes in stores and as a result we had to get more creative. Having seeds that are ready to be transferred into the system, and at this point having no system to transfer them into we decided to use black contact paper around the pipes to see if this helps. We are currently waiting on contact paper to arrive. Another note is there are no covers for the seed plugs, I tried to find some that would fit online and failed. Meaning the rockwool, or sponges if you're using those, is completely exposed to the light until your plants gets a little larger. We lost a lot of lettuce due to the algae issue that this caused, but I fashioned some myself by cutting plastic dividers to the correct lengths and slipping them around the plants to help prevent algae growth in those areas. I would suggest using EVA foam if you're going to do this yourself. My efforts were temporarily successful, but the growth of algae began happening within the tube itself, even though I had managed to prevent it in the rockwool. This season I'll be making covers out of EVA foam to try and prevent this, we will be covering the pipe with black adhesive vial or black contact paper, and we will be moving the system to a place with more sunlight to try and encourage the plants on the lower levels to live. Lids would do wonders for the parts of the system that we have nothing growing in. As it is I usually cover the empty holes so that sunlight cant get in, until the plants are ready to go in. As we have a mixture of crops we've tried to rotate in and out. Things which do better in the winter vs the summer. We've had the most success with black seed lettuce, though many types have grown well. Currently we are taking it apart again for cleaning before the next crop goes in. We've been using the leaves of the lettuce in the image all winter. However, as you can see in the image the hose pump has been corrupted with algae, and we'll have to either replace it or find a way to clean it. This is one of the most difficult things to fix as the material seems to have shrank around the pump, meaning it will likely need to be cut off so that we can clean it. On another note, I do not grow the rock wool inside the net cups for this system. That is near impossible as they will not stand upright like our other net cups do. Instead I grow them in the rockwool and put them in the net cups once they're ready to be transferred. However they also need to be cleaned from the algae build up, which is why some of them are missing in the image. As I said, we're taking it apart to clean. I was hoping we would be able to grow strawberries with it, but unfortunately none of them made it. We'll see how this next crop does, and hopefully I'll be able to update with a better review. Update: 4/12/2022 The black adhesive vinal worked great for algae prevention. We also managed to pick up a black hose that fits it at an auto parts shop, so we hopefully won’t have to worry about it building up in the hose anymore either. There was one thing I forgot to mention in my original post, that being that we didn’t use the original pump with this system, not because it failed but because we read others reviews on it failing and decided to get a slightly larger one and to save the pump it came with for another project. I also had the idea to grow peas on the bottom shelf since I’ve had a little success with them in Kratky systems before… The peas I picked were only supposed to get 2 to 3 feet tall if they grew at all. This was just an experiment I did for fun, with no expectation for them to get big at all… Currently the peas are about six feet tall, and I’ve had to build a secondary trellis out of spare pvc and twine. The roots have clogged the system a couple times. I’ve had to go in and pull out some of the roots, and to my surprise the peas just keep going as if nothing happened. This has inspired me to make another system, with larger pvc, and deep net cups, specifically for peas. Unfortunately I was unable to buy Eva foam to make covers with, but we’ve had such success starting seeds under grow lights inside that it hasn’t been necessary. Since we moved the systems to the front of the house and covered them in the black plastic, all three rows have been producing like crazy. We’ve gotten compliments from our neighbors on it and neighborhood kids have even asked us to explain how it works. When asked we let them know where we got the system from. Due to the fact that working on this system has helped inspire us to build other designs, and the fact that the peas have turned into a jungle through living in it. I’m going to give it another star. This is in spite of the extra efforts I had to put in to reduce algae build up. To be fair, that is out of the sellers control, humidity and region have a lot to due with the amount of algae build up any system will get, and as annoying as it is to clean, it’s because the environment is prime for growing. However, I will recommend to the sellers that they start working with black PVC and black hose, as it does reduce algae buildup and will help others who may have this issue in the future. I would also recommend an appropriately sized pipe cleaner with a long reach for those who are going to buy it. Plan ahead for the cleaning process, it is far easier with a pipe cleaner. You may even want to try a pressure washer, though I haven’t yet. The black covering is honestly the best preventative measure you could take for cleaning, though it is time consuming. Along with this update I will be adding in more pictures so you can see how much better the garden is doing now. We’ve had success with Collards, various lettuce species, kale, and peas. Though I wouldn’t recommend the peas unless you’re going to stay on top of them. They love it, but like I said, the roots keep clogging the system. In the end, thank you for a lovely garden. Please start selling this in black. ^.^

The value of this hydroponics growing system is incredible! It costs almost half the price as it would have if I had tried to make it myself! I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the box and found a bunch of parts and manuals on how to set up a full hydroponics system! The manual accompanying the product was crystal clear, providing easy to follow instructions that made the whole setup process more fun than frustrating.The pump that comes with the system is dry-burning safe so it won’t bust if the water runs out. This seller is very considerate even including waterproof tape silicone foot covers and a hammer which I did not expect.It has a room for future hacking and modifications(install plant lights, climbing frames, etc.)I also noticed that they have recently launched a version that can block light, I will consider purchasing in the future. Tips 1. Ensure that your base is level to the ground and all accessories mounted in place, or your water flow will get impacted. All in all I am happy with it and I definitely recommend!

This system is pretty easy to assemble and works well enough, but there are some problems. Other reviews have brought up that it leaks. Mine ran fine for about 8 days before one of the channels on the top and the bottom started leaking. I had to drain the system so I could apply silicone sealant to the bottoms of the channels. You can tilt the system side to side to drain some of it, but getting the channels clear without dismantling the entire system is very hard. The channels aren't tilted to direct the flow downwards. They're all evenly flat and in total they hold like 2 gallons of water, so they can't be properly drained for reservoir changes. The system is far too low to the ground to put a reservoir for the drain tube. I bought 8" furniture risers to put the system on to make it work. The pump that is provided is a little on the weak side. It barely reaches the top & trickles so slowly that the roots are sitting in half full channels of barely flowing water. So make sure to have an air pump with a good air stone in your reservoir. The pvc channels could be a little bit bigger. There isn't as much room for the roots as I'd like there to be. My plants aren't big enough yet to know if clogging will be an issue. Just keep in mind that if you buy this you WILL need to buy a tube of silicone sealant, a container for a reservoir, an air pump with an air stone and a set of furniture risers. Buying a water chiller wouldn't hurt either if you're worried about algae growth. You don't want to have to clean algae out of this system. Since I had most of that stuff laying around it's not a big deal to me, but most people won't have all that stuff on hand. Also consider how you want to approach the drainage problem.

Also ich bin begeistert von dem gesamten System. Aufbau sehr einfach, aber kein Hammer mitgeliefert den man auch nicht braucht. Einfaches Stecksystem ohne Dichtungen. Es läuft kein Wasser aus den Verbindungsstücken, alles Dicht. Kräuter wachsen auch, siehe Foto. Bin Zufrieden.

Hélas à l'usage ce type de kit hydro PVC ne remplit pas son contrat et n'est fait que pour de toutes petites plantes type ciboulette, basilic... Même pour des petites salades (sucrine) l'alimentation du système racinaire est trop limité et le flot de nutriments bien trop faible pour un nombre d'emplacements aussi élevé, à moins de l'alimenter par un bac géant qui gâcherait alors l'aspect compact de l'ensemble. Par ailleurs, les rangs inférieurs sont par conception nettement moins éclairés que la rangée supérieure et le développement des plants est mécaniquement affecté. Globalement, les légumes placés dans ce système sont peu développés et même souvent rachitiques. Une fausse bonne idée en ce qui me concerne, les pots individuels type DWC s'avérant à mon avis nettement plus productifs notamment pour les plants importants. Un point positif : je n'ai effectivement constaté aucune fuite malgré le fait que les tubes et raccords soient simplement emboités.

despues de un mes....cuando han empezado crecer los vegetales, el plastico perdio su equlibrio y tira agua de todos los lados, mal calidad del producto!!!!!

Hola. Acabo de comprar el producto, me gusta, pero falta dos pieza de conexión tipo T. Ojalá me la puedan enviar para no devolver el producto. Nota. Ya use qué venía como respuesta, pero sigue faltando una. Ojalá me pueda enviar ambas. Saludos.

So far I really enjoy this "nft" system. The build quality is nice, it's very short between layers but it should do quite well for leafy greens and herbs. I wanted to purchase two but there is no more stock with the blue pvc. (It's nice on the eyes, keeps uv out and it matches my DWC systems so that's a bonus).