Building your own Growbox vs Buying one

No matter what you're trying to do, there are always a lot of DIY people out there, making the argument that you should never rely on others for your setup, and that sellers of more sophisticated or streamlined systems are just trying to rip you off.

With hydroponics, the picture is much more subtle than that, and, as with different kinds of projects, you can actually spend more on DIY solutions. Here are some basic considerations about going it alone or choosing to spend money on systems that other people already built.

Piping and Tubing

One of the most complicated parts of any grow box setup is the tubing that provides irrigation to plant pots. It's not hard for people to understand the complexity of routing tubing all over a large horizontal or vertical space with PVC pipes and other types of structures, but the reality is that even piping and tubing for a small grow box can be difficult. With a DIY setup, you have to have to have just the right connectors, joints, gaskets, flanges and other parts, or the whole thing is going to leak, cost you money, and take up a lot of your time.

Lighting

Yes, you can use any type of lighting for trying to get hydroponic plants to achieve photosynthesis, but the results may not be as good as you expected. Plants need a certain intensity of lighting and a certain spectrum of light waves in order to really thrive. Complete grow boxes come with these types of optimal lighting already included -- and if you want to build it yourself, you'll have to figure out how to get the specific types of light in place.

Security and Access

Many pre-built grow boxes come with specific lock and key security tools and other features that help growers to get the access they need for a space, without allowing others to come in and mess up what they've started. These are particularly valuable in high-traffic areas, for example, where there may be kids or pets, or in highly populated offices or commercial spaces. Again, in a DIY solution, you'll be trying to come up with homemade systems that effectively seal the grow space from intruders, while allowing growers to easily come in and maintain plants.

Cost

Again, people assume that pre-built systems cost a lot more, but by mass manufacturing these systems, manufacturers achieve an economy of scale, and retailers pass some of that savings on to customers. You can get a startup grow box for several hundred dollars, and work your way up from there, to get some practical experience in hydroponics without trying to become an engineer in a couple of days and build your own systems from scratch.

For much more on what's available for hydroponic gardening, take a look at the Dealzer web site to choose from neat grow box options that can have you producing your fresh fruits and vegetables in just a few days.