How to Build a Small Hydroponics Setup With Buckets

Place four or five drinking cups upside down on the lid of the bucket -- space them out evenly so that there is at least 1/2 inch of space between them. Trace around the rim of each cup, set the cup aside, and then draw a second circle inside each of the first so that the lines are 1/4 inch apart.

Drill a hole in the center of each cup tracing on the bucket lid. Insert your saw blade through the hole and cut along the inner line you drew for each cup. Remove the cutouts from the bucket lid.

Drill four to six air holes around the top of the bucket, approximately 2 inches below the rim of the bucket. Drill numerous holes through the plastic drinking cups -- they should look like Swiss cheese when you're done.

Fill the bucket with water, add hydroponic nutrients according to the manufacturer's instructions and stir until dissolved.

Connect the air stone to the air tubing and place the stone in the bucket. Run the tubing through one of the holes in the bucket and connect it to the air pump.

Insert the drinking cups into the holes in the bucket lid so that they hang below the underside of the bucket lid. Place the lid onto the bucket; the cups should hang into the nutrient solution.

Rinse plant plugs to remove dirt. Add hydroton clay pebbles to each cup, insert a plant plug and cover the roots with more hydroton.