DIY "floating raft" hydroponic setup

The name of this system perfectly fits its essence - plants are planted into holes on a raft which is floating on surface of fertilized solution. Commercial growers are using big sized rafts floating in big sized beds.
I decided to build small and compact hydroponic setup because my main goal right now isn't business but experience. To make it happen I had to find following materials:

- Plastic container from household goods store - 4 €

- Aquarium aerator, aero-rock and plastic air-conduit from zoo-shop - 9,5 €

- Sheet of foam rubber from construction goods store - 1 €

- Clay from gardening goods store - 1 € for 1,5 l

Planting pots. I didn't find anything suitable in Jelgava. So I made pots myself by cutting holes in plastic cups which I found at home.
Building small floating raft hydroponic setup took following steps:
- I put plastic container on foam rubber and drew its shape.

- Cut out the raft with necessary shape. In manuals it's usually recommended to use electric fretsaw for this purpose. I don't have one so I used a knife instead.

- Put cups on the raft and drew a circle around each.

- Cut holes in the raft with 2 mm inside offset so that cups fit tight and don't fall out. It's recommended to use milling cutter for this purpose. It cuts holes accurately and fast. I don't have such a tool so again I used a knife instead.

- Put a cup into container and drew a fat mark above. It will be hidden in filled setup. When level of fertilized solution will become too low this mark will appear. It will tell me that it's time to add more fertilized solution.

- Put aero-rock into container and connected it to aerator outside with air-conduit. Purpose of this step is to add oxygen into fertilized solution when this setup will be filled and plugged in.

- And finally I put foam rubber raft with cups into container.

So building this hydroponic setup costed me less than 15 €. Theoretically after filling this setup with fertilized solution and turning aerator on I can plant something into it. Only moist-soil loving plants (basil, lettuce e.t.c.) should be planted into floating raft hydroponic systems. In my next posts I will describe how successful this hydroponic setup was.