Parts of a Hydroponic System

All 14 parts on the diagram

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Parts of a bucket system 10

Reservoir It holds the water and the nutrients. Here it is a bucket; larger systems feed several growing containers from one reservoir.
Nutrient solution Water with nutrients dissolved in it. The roots take up both, so the plant needs no soil.
Lid It supports the plant, with a hole cut for each one. A floating sheet of foam can do the same job.
Net pot Its open sides let the roots grow out through it. They also let water and nutrients reach the roots.
Growing medium (substrate) It holds the base of the plant. Clay pebbles are drawn; perlite, gravel, coconut coir and rockwool are also used.
Roots They hang down through the net pot into the nutrient solution. They take up water and nutrients there.
Airstone A block full of pores. Air pushed through it comes out as tiny bubbles, which keep the water oxygenated.
Airline (tubing) Joins the airstone in the water to the air pump. The pump sits outside the reservoir.
Air pump It pushes air through the airline and out of the airstone. The same pumps are used for aquariums.
Grow light Indoors it gives the plant light in place of the sun. LED and fluorescent bulbs are both used.

Kinds of system 4

Deep water culture The plants sit in a lid or float on a raft. Their roots are in a deep tank of nutrient solution. An airstone can add oxygen. The simplest kind to set up at home.
Nutrient film technique Plants grow in channels set on a slope. A pump lifts solution from a reservoir to the top, it runs down past the roots as a shallow stream, and goes back to the reservoir.
Ebb and flow Plants grow in a tray of growing medium above a reservoir. A pump floods the tray with solution, and the solution then drains back down.
Drip system Solution is pumped through a hose with holes or drip lines. These sit at each plant's base. In some systems the extra runs back to the reservoir.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30 and kept only where two independent sources use it: a state university extension guide to small-scale hydroponics (https://extension.umn.edu/how/small-scale-hydroponics) and Wikipedia, Hydroponics and Deep water culture (text only), with a second extension publication for nutrient film, raft and drip systems (https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS405). Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; no maker's product, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

A hydroponic system grows plants in water and nutrients with no soil. The first drawing is the simplest kind, a deep water culture bucket, cut through. The second shows four kinds of system.

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Inside the bucket

The reservoir holds the nutrient solution: water with nutrients dissolved in it. The plant sits in a net pot, held up by the lid, with a growing medium such as clay pebbles round its base in place of soil. Its roots hang down into the solution. An air pump pushes air down the airline to the airstone, which gives it off as small bubbles.

Four kinds of system

Deep water culture keeps the roots in a deep tank. The nutrient film technique runs a shallow stream down a sloping channel. Ebb and flow floods a tray of growing medium and lets it drain. A drip system feeds each plant from a line above it.

A net pot is not filled with soil: its growing medium only holds the plant in place.
With no airstone, keep part of the roots above the water so they can get air.

Questions and answers

What are the main parts of a hydroponic system?

A reservoir of nutrient solution, a lid or raft to hold the plants, net pots filled with a growing medium, and the plants' roots in the solution. Many systems add an airstone with an air pump, and a grow light indoors.

What does an airstone do in hydroponics?

It is a block full of pores on the bottom of the reservoir. An air pump pushes air through it, and the air comes out as tiny bubbles that keep the water oxygenated for the roots.

What is a net pot?

A small plastic pot with open, net-like sides. It holds the plant and its growing medium in the lid, and lets the roots grow out through it into the nutrient solution.

What are the types of hydroponic systems?

Four common ones are deep water culture, the nutrient film technique, ebb and flow (also called flood and drain) and drip systems. They differ in how the nutrient solution reaches the roots.