Home made drip system question

This is my first try at hydro. It is just a bottom bucket as the reservoir and a pot over it with holes in the bottom. I transplanted a plant i previously had in dirt to perlite. A small pump runs water up from the bottom to the top and shoots a small stream at the base of the plant. Is this a sufficient way to grow hydroponically? I sort of just as a little experiment. Also, if this will work, do i have the pump always going or like on 5 mins off 5 mins or something? I'm not sure how i would do that, but what should i do?

I'm also wondering if i put a layer of stones over the top of the perlite will it cut down on erosion, because the stream of water seems to wash away the perlite a little after about 24 hours.

So right after that ^ post i went a'lookin' to see what i could find, and i found a bunch of my old marbles. So i put a layer of two or three marbles in the top of the pot, and it seems to distribute the water better as to not wash away the perlite. Do I need to run the pump on a timer, or let it run all the time? Please help.

I am pretty new to this myself, but I would not have it running all the time. I have mine set up to run for about half an hour 3 times a day during the light hours. From what I've gathered on the site you can run into problems with the water running constantly. One of which being root rot. I use rockwool as my medium though, it might be different. Hope this helps.

just keep it moist not wet. and use rock wool next time.

on m hydro system, my roots hang into the water. that has not given my roots rot. my clone is kickin ass now it has roots.

i used a 1 gallon PH drip for my first grow, but i got tired of it clogging up all the time and having to dig it out with a paper clip (organic nutes). Anyway i just took the things off now and it runs full stream about an 1/2 inch away from the base of the plant. I stuck the hose directly into the hydroton and let it go 24 hrs a day. I also have 2 airstones in the rez so the roots sit in oxygen water all day while the water is being pumped to the base of plant....everything is great and they are doing about 80% better in this setup than with any soil i have ever grown.

just make sure you have oxygen going in the water and all will be well....there is no "overwatering" with a hydro set up.

Edit: I have noticed that if the plants have problems with the nutes they show it RIGHT away.....so keep an eye on them with that amount of direct watering. If you over nute and walk away....they will show signs within 30 minutes, so make sure to check back if you make any changes to the environment.