I bought these at home Depot yesterday and I was wondering if I could use them for a small hydroponics setup. They are 6.5 Quart, small, so I'm aware I can't use this for like long term but rather instead use them for growing seedlings to be bigger before I transplant them outside (peppers/tomatoes, or maybe other plants too). I am worried about chemical/plastic leeching since these are just generic totes and I highly doubt they would be food safe. They do kinda smell, I'm just wondering if cleaning them might do the trick, if there is some sort of liner I could use? Or anything else that doesn't involve just ditching these (I am a very hands on DIY kinda guy but I haven't done gardening of any sort for a few years and I wanna get back into it. I do have a bunch of like diy electronic parts too that I could use for it and my end goal is to eventually have an automatic system of sorts). Any and all feedback is appreciated. Thanks!
by ConsequenceSquare3
4 Comments
Should be ok as long as they are HDPE plastic. I use the larger versions for my nutrient reservoirs. They have held up well. I have no testing to back it up though.
People use them all the time. My only concern would be to use them inside only. These totes do not handle UV well.
I use these for my RDWC setup. They work well. I used plywood around the outside to prevent them from bulging when full of water but that may be overkill. I’m not terribly worried about leeching.
Yep. I have had 1 set up and growing for almost 2 months now.