The system is supplied as a working set rather than as a channel: trays, food grade PVC channels, a submersible pump, a timer and the fittings that join them. Solution is moved on a cycle rather than held in the channel, and the channels are set on a fall so they drain completely between cycles, which is what keeps roots out of standing water. Channel sections run 75x50, 100x50, 118x50, 120x80 and 100x100 mm in 1.8 to 2.0 mm wall, in 2.9 m or 5.8 m lengths, in one flat layer or stacked. Support pipes are galvanized steel.
Buying a solution system channel by channel is where most projects lose money. The channels arrive, and then the pump has to be matched to the head, the timer to the pump, the fittings to the channel section and the tank to the volume the crop will drink. Supplying the parts as one set removes that design work from the buyer, which matters most on a first installation.
A solution system is only as good as its weakest junction. If the pump moves more solution than the channels can return, the tank empties; if the return falls the wrong way, water stands in the channel and roots suffer. Both faults come from parts that were chosen separately, and both are avoided when the pump, tray, channels and fittings are specified together against one flow rate and one fall.
The set suits a house used for leafy crops, herbs or fruiting vegetables on substrate, and it is usually specified alongside the greenhouse structure rather than after it. The wider hydroponic range is listed on the hydroponic system range page on this site.
Solution is moved by a submersible pump on a timer, so the cycle is set by the crop rather than by whoever is free to open a valve. The channels are laid on a fall and drain fully between cycles, which is the property that matters most: a channel that holds a film of standing water keeps the lower part of the root zone wet continuously, and that is where root disease starts. Complete drainage also means the channel can be flushed and cleaned far more quickly between crops.
Deep water culture and aquaponic arrangements are both supported on the same channel set, and the pump flow rate is specified to the volume of the system rather than chosen from a catalogue. Where a crop is grown in a greenhouse rather than indoors, the same channels mount on a greenhouse frame, as described in the hydroponic greenhouse system.
Channels are supplied in 75x50, 100x50, 118x50, 120x80 and 100x100 mm sections, with 1.8 to 2.0 mm wall in food grade PVC. The section is chosen against the crop: a narrow channel suits lettuce and herbs, a deep one suits a plant with a heavier root mass or a crop that has to stand longer before harvest. Planting holes and detachable covers are available so the same channel can be run as a bare channel or as a covered one with net pots.
Lengths are 2.9 m or 5.8 m, or cut to the bench layout, and the set can be laid as one flat layer or stacked in multiple layers where floor area is limited. Support pipes are galvanized steel, so the frame under the channels is protected in the same way as a greenhouse frame rather than being the part that rusts first. A lettuce system on the same principle is described in the hydroponic system for lettuce production.
The table below is the standard set. Channel section, length, layer arrangement and irrigation type are set to the crop and to the house.
| Channel material | Food grade PVC, white |
| Wall thickness | 1.8 mm to 2.0 mm, or custom |
| Channel section | 75x50 / 100x50 / 118x50 / 120x80 / 100x100 mm |
| Planting aperture | 50 mm, or custom |
| Length | 2.9 m or 5.8 m, or custom |
| Layer arrangement | One flat layer, or stacked in multiple layers |
| Support pipes | Galvanized steel pipe |
| Irrigation type | Deep water culture, aquaponic; submersible pump on a timer |
| Optional | Planting holes, detachable covers, fittings and joints |
| Crops | Lettuce and leafy vegetables, herbs, flowers and microgreens |
The set is installed on the bench or the support frame first, because the fall of the channels decides whether the system drains. Levels are set from the far end back to the tank, the channels are clipped down, and the pump and timer are commissioned once the tank volume is confirmed. On a house installation the support frames are set out at the same time as the greenhouse base, so the fall of the channels and the fall of the gutters agree.
Maintenance is mostly water and cleaning. The routine is checking the pump and cleaning its strainer, confirming the timer cycle against the crop stage, and flushing the channels between crops, because a channel that drains fully is also a channel that cleans quickly. On a recirculating system the electrical conductivity and pH of the tank are the readings to watch, since the crop takes nutrients out of solution at different rates and an unbalanced tank shows up on the leaves before it shows up on a gauge.
Sets of this type are used for lettuce and leafy vegetables, for herbs and microgreens, for flowers and for strawberry work, both inside a greenhouse and in a controlled indoor room. They suit commercial growers moving from soil to solution, and operations that want a bench layout delivered as one matched package rather than specified from parts.
Research on controlled environment agriculture, including work on soilless growing systems, is published by the Controlled Environment Agriculture Center at the University of Arizona. Practical guides for agrifood buyers and growers, covering production and market information, are published by Wikifarmer. The question that decides the specification is normally the crop the system will be running in ten years, not only the first season.
Because they have to match. If the pump moves more solution than the channels return, the tank empties; if the return falls the wrong way, water stands in the channel and the roots suffer. Specifying the set against one flow rate and one fall removes both faults before they are built in.
A channel that holds a film of standing water keeps the bottom of the root zone wet all the time, and that is where root disease begins. Laying the channels on a fall so they empty between cycles also makes flushing and cleaning between crops far quicker.
The PVC channels and the galvanized steel support pipes are rated for 15 to 20 years under normal growing conditions. The pump and the timer are the working parts and are replaced on their own service cycle.
We provide a 10 year structural warranty on the support frame and a 5 year anti-corrosion warranty on the galvanized pipes. Details are set out in the contract for each project.
Send your bench or house dimensions, the crops you plan to grow and the number of layers you want. We reply with a layout drawing and a full quotation.
