Hydroponic gardening

Hydroponics Gardening Basics

By Suzanne S. Wiley

Hydroponic gardening uses water and aggregate media in place of soil when growing plants. It offers you more control over environmental conditions and nutrition. Hydroponic gardening allows you to grow fruit and vegetables out of season and in areas not normally hospitable to those you want to grow. The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service notes that hydroponic gardening does require skill and a bigger financial outlay than soil gardening. Hydroponic systems vary in setup and operation.

Physical Structure

Hydroponic gardens can have one apparatus or separate parts that hold the plants, media and nutrient solutions. The bottom container or portion of the apparatus holds a liquid nutrient solution and pumps to move the nutrients and air up to the roots of the plants. The top portion or container holds a growing tray or platform with the plants, plus a delivery-and-return system for the nutrient solution. The delivery-and-return system can involve tubes or hoses that drip the nutrient solution into the growing tray, where it drips off the roots and into a tube leading back to the nutrient pool, or a mister next to the plants' roots. The "wick" system places absorbent wicks between the nutrient pool and the growing media. One type of liquid system places the plants in a floating platform on the nutrient pool, with the roots immersed in the nutrients.

Culture Systems

Hydroponic systems don't bury the plant and its roots in soil. In a liquid culture system, the plant is inserted into a supportive tray, tube or thin layer of material like vermiculite or pebbles, with the roots hanging free. In an aggregate culture system, it is placed inside a medium like rockwool, gravel or vermiculite that surrounds the roots. The Virginia Cooperative Extension says liquid systems typically involve the roots sitting in a nutrient bath or film, or next to a misting system, and aggregate systems have the roots bound up in material that allows for good drainage but still manages to hold nutrients around the roots. If you've grown lucky bamboo that sits in a glass of water or a bed of pebbles and water, you've worked with hydroponic culture.

Food

Hydroponic systems deliver nutrients directly to the roots, and you can customize solutions. The University of Florida says "There is no one ideal nutrient solution," and that you may have to test the solution frequently to ensure proper balance. The Virginia Cooperative Extension advises changing the nutrient solution every week if you start to notice signs of a nutrient deficiency. Stunted growth is a sign of several mineral deficiencies, so look for secondary clues, such as papery leaves, which narrows your choices down to potassium and zinc, or curly leaves, which indicates copper is low. Contact your county extension office for suggested nutrient combinations.

Light and Temperature

You must take care to control light and temperature to mimic the sunlight and environmental conditions that the plant would need in soil. One issue with hydroponic systems is keeping the light a consistent distance from the plants as they grow higher--you do not want them growing into the lamp. The University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension recommends installing adjustable lamps with "standard, cool white" fluorescent lights that you can raise as the plants grow.

Share This

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Subscribe Here