Flexible or Rigid Irrigation Tubing

Flexible or Rigid Irrigation Tubing

Generally, growers who meet to talk about recommended hydroponics gardening practices stay with a few ultra-popular subjects including light distribution, bacteria control, and effective nutrient feeding. However, once in a while, a few of these veteran gardeners get off into the weeds and truly geek out on some of the smaller details around how hydroponic systems get set up.

One of these ‘insider issues’ where growers can each voice their own opinions is the idea of whether hydroponics grow systems should include rigid or flexible tubing for delivering water to plants. Both of these have their own distinct benefits and disadvantages, which is why it’s not guaranteed that two seasoned hydroponic gardeners will see eye to eye.

Rigid Hydroponics Tubing Systems

Many hydroponics grow box and grow tent models have small PVC pipes or other structures that deliver water in a ‘linear’ kind of way. One of the benefits of rigid tubing is that growers can run it along the perimeter of a reservoir or plant container structure, so that moving parts don’t get in the way when it’s time to maintain the garden. One of the downsides is that rigid tubing can be harder to take care of over time, especially if it’s made of less than stellar materials.

Flexible Hydroponics Tubing

Other growers lean toward flexible tubing, largely because they can fit these kinds of tubing designs into a wide variety of smaller spaces. For compact grow box and grow tent setups, this can be a big reason to go with these more adjustable kinds of tubing. However, flexible tubing may not stand up well to a lot of pressure over time. Growers will need to check the ‘bend radius’ or in other words, the practical types of pressure that a tubing product will support.

For more on the best way to set up any hydroponics grow system, ask your hydroponics retailer about all of the equipment that’s available to you for building your dream hydroponics garden.