RSS Feeds
File Under :
Did you know that not all plants have to be placed in soil in order for it to grow? Yes this technique has been around for hundreds of years and this is called hydroponic gardening.
Hydroponics comes from two Greek words namely "hydro" meaning water and "ponics" meaning labor. Some of the greatest examples happen to be the hanging Gardens of Babylon and The Floating Gardens of China.
This type of gardening made a come back in the 1950’s. Now, countries like Australia, Germany and Holland use it extensively for crop production.
What people should know hydroponic gardening is that there are a lot of benefits. Studies have proven that this technique makes plants grow 30-50 percent faster than planting in the soil. This is because the extra oxygen in the hydroponic growing mediums helps to stimulate root growth and makes the plants absorb nutrients faster.
These nutrients are already mixed in the water and goes directly to the root system unlike in soil where plants have to rely on the nutrients that are in the ground.
If you water your plants twice a day, hydroponic gardening delivers nutrients several times a day and with no obstruction around, uses up less energy to find and break down food causing it to grow faster and bear fruit.
Another benefit of hydroponic gardening is the fact that it will have fewer problems such as bug infections, disease and funguses. In short, you will most likely have healthier and happier plants all year round.
But doesn’t hydroponic gardening require you to consume more water? The answer is no because less water is used thanks to reusable nutrient solutions.
Plants grown through hydroponics occur through a medium. One of the fastest ones around is called the Hydroton or the expanded shale that works well in an ebb and flow type system. For the most part, it is light and expanded clay aggregate which allows sufficient amounts of oxygen to penetrate the plant's root system.
The nice thing about this type of medium is that it is reusable but shale, one of its components has a tendency to break down making hydroton a better option. But despite that, these are stable and rarely affect the pH of the nutrient solution.
Another option is the use of Rockwool. This is produced from volcanic rock and limestone. This is very popular because it is able to hold 10-14 times more water as soil and retains 20 percent air. Gardeners should be careful though because although it has a pH of 7.8, this can be harmful to the plants.
Other mediums available include perlite, vermiculite and different grades of sand. These three mediums are stable and rarely effect the pH of the nutrient solution. The downside though is that it holds too much moisture and can only be used with certain plants.
We mentioned earlier that hydroponic gardening uses nutrients that are mixed in the water to give the plants the food it needs to grow. Most of these happen to be highly concentrated and mixed with 2 to 4 teaspoons of water. You can choose to use the liquid or the powdered mix. Liquids are cheaper and dissolve quickly.
But none of these can work without a hydroponic system. You can use the ebb and flow that was mentioned before or use something like continuous drip, nutrient film technique or the wick system.
Now that you know more or less about hydroponics, the question you probably want to know is whether you should build it or just buy the system. If you know how to put everything together, then you can buy all the materials and build it yourself. However, if you are not sure that what you build will work, you should probably buy the system instead.
A lot of people believe that hydroponic gardening is the way of the future. After all, the Earth is made up more of water than land so people have to find ways to grow crops to feed the ever increasing population. As a result, the technique is being studied by local horticultural societies and in government funded research labs at major universities and NASA.
If gardening is your thing, then why don’t you try hydroponics. It is just as fun as planting in your backyard or in your greenhouse.
Hydroponics comes from two Greek words namely "hydro" meaning water and "ponics" meaning labor. Some of the greatest examples happen to be the hanging Gardens of Babylon and The Floating Gardens of China.
This type of gardening made a come back in the 1950’s. Now, countries like Australia, Germany and Holland use it extensively for crop production.
What people should know hydroponic gardening is that there are a lot of benefits. Studies have proven that this technique makes plants grow 30-50 percent faster than planting in the soil. This is because the extra oxygen in the hydroponic growing mediums helps to stimulate root growth and makes the plants absorb nutrients faster.
These nutrients are already mixed in the water and goes directly to the root system unlike in soil where plants have to rely on the nutrients that are in the ground.
If you water your plants twice a day, hydroponic gardening delivers nutrients several times a day and with no obstruction around, uses up less energy to find and break down food causing it to grow faster and bear fruit.
Another benefit of hydroponic gardening is the fact that it will have fewer problems such as bug infections, disease and funguses. In short, you will most likely have healthier and happier plants all year round.
But doesn’t hydroponic gardening require you to consume more water? The answer is no because less water is used thanks to reusable nutrient solutions.
Plants grown through hydroponics occur through a medium. One of the fastest ones around is called the Hydroton or the expanded shale that works well in an ebb and flow type system. For the most part, it is light and expanded clay aggregate which allows sufficient amounts of oxygen to penetrate the plant's root system.
The nice thing about this type of medium is that it is reusable but shale, one of its components has a tendency to break down making hydroton a better option. But despite that, these are stable and rarely affect the pH of the nutrient solution.
Another option is the use of Rockwool. This is produced from volcanic rock and limestone. This is very popular because it is able to hold 10-14 times more water as soil and retains 20 percent air. Gardeners should be careful though because although it has a pH of 7.8, this can be harmful to the plants.
Other mediums available include perlite, vermiculite and different grades of sand. These three mediums are stable and rarely effect the pH of the nutrient solution. The downside though is that it holds too much moisture and can only be used with certain plants.
We mentioned earlier that hydroponic gardening uses nutrients that are mixed in the water to give the plants the food it needs to grow. Most of these happen to be highly concentrated and mixed with 2 to 4 teaspoons of water. You can choose to use the liquid or the powdered mix. Liquids are cheaper and dissolve quickly.
But none of these can work without a hydroponic system. You can use the ebb and flow that was mentioned before or use something like continuous drip, nutrient film technique or the wick system.
Now that you know more or less about hydroponics, the question you probably want to know is whether you should build it or just buy the system. If you know how to put everything together, then you can buy all the materials and build it yourself. However, if you are not sure that what you build will work, you should probably buy the system instead.
A lot of people believe that hydroponic gardening is the way of the future. After all, the Earth is made up more of water than land so people have to find ways to grow crops to feed the ever increasing population. As a result, the technique is being studied by local horticultural societies and in government funded research labs at major universities and NASA.
If gardening is your thing, then why don’t you try hydroponics. It is just as fun as planting in your backyard or in your greenhouse.
No comments:
Post a Comment