Hydroponics Dutch Buckets Growing Bato System

Dutch Buckets (also known as"Bato Buckets") uses a series of small media beds (in buckets) with a drip irrigation emitter delivering nutrients directly to the rootzone. The buckets are typically arranged in a straight line with one main drip irrigation and one drainage line for each row. This simplicity in design makes using Dutch Buckets one of the simplest techniques in cultivating crops.

Dutch buckets can be used in both hydroponics and aquaponics (although hydroponics is easier and more popular). The technique has been commonly adopted in areas with non-arable land or where conventional or sustainable field agriculture is not appropriate, and offers several benefits to gardeners and farmers.

A trellis net can be suspended vertically above each Dutch Bucket row to allow vining plants, such as tomato, cucumber, or melons, to be trained upwards. This makes it easier to prune off suckers on tomato plants while providing good support to the fruit bearing trusses.

Features:

• They work well in controlled environments for year-round growing;

• Most set-ups decrease labor for many crops;

• They save space compared to conventional techniques, especially for large and vining crops;

• Well-managed systems can conserve huge amounts of nutrients and water, even in a flow-to-waste set up;

• Great for fruiting plants, bushy, and vining plants like peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers.

• Flexible in size and setup. Can scale to any size growers want;

• Convenient for pest management in case it occurs in one bucket because each bucket can be replaced easily without affecting the whole system.

• Recirculation system. All the drained water and nutrients are not lost but return to the reservoir if you set up the dutch bucket with the return line.

• Great hydroponic technique for beginners. It is easy to set up. And unlike other simple hydroponic systems like the Kratky, wicking, where you should only grow green vegs, the Dutch Bucket allows starters to grow harder plants like tomatoes, peppers and enjoy great results.

Working Principal

1.A submersible pump is placed into the reservoir to pump the nutrients into the drip irrigation line and delivered to the plants through drip emitters.

2.The drip emitters are set to the irrigation line and are pointed to each bucket to feed the plants.
3.The siphoning elbows inside the Dutch Buckets allows draining the excess nutrient solution to the return line and then flow back to the reservoir.
4.Nutrient solution are not lost during the watering because of the closed-loop configuration.

5.This feeding process makes this method an effective recirculation and water conservation technique.
6.You can turn on the pump and let it run 24 hours a day uninterrupted. Unexpected brown outs will not impact the system as the roots are submerged into a low level of nutrient solution at the bottom of the Dutch Bucket.

7.Each bucket can carry one plant or up to four smaller plants.
8.The buckets must contain growing media (perlite, hydroton, coco peat, etc) to keep the moisture, ventilation as well as supporting plants to stand upright.
9.There should be a sub-surface reservoir that serves as the water and nutrient mixing tank.