Greetings to all

First of all I am new and have not build anything (yet), however I am
in the planning stages.


Here is my situation:
I live in Houston Texas so I am a little worried about the heat.
I have had a garden in the past in my back yard but it was on the side
of my house and it was always out of site out of mind, so I wanted to
bring the garden closer to me.
In my back yard I have a swimming pool that is surrounded by a screened

room (like you would see in Fl )


I am planning on building the 11 plant system. But to keep my back yard

looking a little nicer I am planning on building a box that contains
the unit inside, with the top of the plastic bottles being flush with
the top of the container.


Some of my questions a


What would be the best medium to have in the bottles


I plan on cutting slits into the back on the container for air flow but

wondering if it will still be too warm


Will I need to paint my plastic containers since they will be in an
enclosed area with no sunlight


Anyone seen any plans on anything like this? I have seen a table top
version but not an enclosed area


Should there be any problem with the over-flow pipe being under the
wood top


66 gallon container - what size pump should I use, how many gallons of
water do you normally use for the 11 containers


I am planning on running the solution every 20 mins during the day and
about once a hour at night - should this work, I do not want the roots
drying out


My main items will be tomatoes and peppers. I know that the PH level
should work for both of these together but anymore thoughts on what
might also grow well with them


Thanks for any and all advice I know that this is a large amount of
questions.