Tomato plant in a Deep Water Culture
Deep water cultures are the simplest of systems; DWC as they are called are great for inside the home also good for outdoors and commercial applications.
I recommend DWC and NFT for inside the home, Use large DWC for large single plants, and for smaller plants small DWC or NFT, they are the easiest to maintain and least issues.
Strawberries in Nutrient Film Technique
(Nutrient Film Technic) or NFT as they are called are also great for indoor and outdoor use for small short term plants like lettuce, pak choi, herbs and much more; they are however not good for large plants like tomatoes, peppers and more. Large plant roots choke the flow of nutrients and clogs the drains. NFT systems are also great in commecial applications. NFT systems can be horizontal or vertical, in vertical systens larger and longer term plants like strawberies can be grown.
In the picture I am testing strawberries with low lighting.
Bell Peppers in EBB and flow
The picture to the left shows an Ebb and flow system that is easily converted to an NFT by simply removing a piece inside. The lower platform is a dual tank that holds 7 gallons of water. The top can hold 2 gallons continuously. When the pump stops the whole tank drains though the pump pipe leaving about an inch of water to sustain the plant. Ebb and flow systems require large reservoir's to fill the planting area. For this reason I do not recommend for inside the home. EBB and flow + NFT are great for outdoors
Aeroponics
This is where a picture of an Aeroponics system should be, sorry don't have one for you. Aeroponic systems have several drawbacks one being the nozzles getting clogged and pumps freezing due to the nutrients crystalizing, although good for growing some plants, not a good choice for inside the home.
Step 3: choosing a system
At this point I recommend choosing your first real system, below I have several systems that we make to accommodate your project
you can purchase them already built or you can make them yourself and I show you how.
Our systems are designed for purpose, functionality, practicality and low cost in other words nothing fancy but reliable functional and very practical.