Basil Box Build - Part 2 - Water Reservoir, PVC Pipe Lengths, and Bottom Base Frame
/I chose a DWC or deep water cultivation system design because of their simple setup and few parts. A basic DWC system uses a water container, a planting pot that is submerged in the water/nutrients, and an air pump placed in the water to supply the roots with oxygen. I started off the build by tracing a 5" pot outline on the center of the lid of my 2 gallon bucket. I then shrunk the dimensions by about 1/4" so the pot would sit nicely in the lid and not fall through. I used a Dremel tool to cut the hole and then some vodka and a paper towel to remove any leftover marker. I then drilled a 1/4" hole in the lid for the air hose. Next I drilled twelve 1/2" holes on each side using a grid pattern drawn by scraping a knife along the plastic. You may be able to by-pass all this if you can find a 2 gallon net-pot lid, but I had the square pot laying around.
To supply the roots with oxygen, I made a quad air-stone setup with 3 drip irrigation tees, some tubing, and a four pack of air-stones. You could alternatively buy a larger air stone and cut out the cost of buying the drip irrigation kit from Harbor Freight but these small air-stones were the only ones available at the time and I had leftover fittings from the cheap drip irrigation kit.
After the reservoir is complete, we can start cutting the PVC pipe lengths. Here is a chart of the size and quantities of 3/4" PVC pipe you will need. I used a cheap $7 miter box from Home Depot to cut nice straight lengths. I de-burred each piece with a craft knife to get rid of any rough edges. To construct the bottom frame, I used the four 12" sections, four 90 degree outlets, and four 1/2" Thread to 3/4 PVC adapters to make a square base. I then slid in the four 16" legs.
