Development of a Customized, Modular Hydroponics Chamber

In the changing world, agriculture is becoming increasingly difficult, with up to 70% of farmable land at risk of becoming unusable by the second half of the 21st century. Factors like this drive home a need to create innovative farming solutions, and one such method is hydroponics. This type of agriculture is characterized by growing plants without soil and is generally conducted in an enclosed environment. There has been a significant amount of innovation since the concept of hydroponics was invented in 600 BC Mesopotamia, and more recently with its réintroduction to modernity in 1938. However, there is little published work on a single chamber conducting modular and customized investigations into the effectiveness of different features. This paper serves as a description of our process for constructing a custom hydroponics chamber and the potential for future work.