Grow hydroponic greens

The Benefits of Gardening the Hydroponic WayPosed On October 2nd, 2008

Technorati Tags: garden, Hydroponic gardening, videos

A View into the Different Types of Hydroponic Growing SystemsPosed On October 20th, 2008

Hydroponic gardening is the way of the future for environmentally controlled agriculture.  Hydroponic gardening eliminates soil borne pests and diseases and maximizes water and nutrient uptake by the plant.  Incredible yields can be achieved in a relatively small space with hydroponic systems.  There are many types of hydroponic systems available for home and commercial use.  These systems include the Europonic Rockwood System, the Ebb and Flow System, Aeroponic Systems, Continuous Drip Systems, and Rockwool Based Systems. Hydroponic systems come in all shapes and sizes and can be adapted for nearly any budget.

Nutrient Film Technique, or NFT, is another popular system.  The plants are held in troughs with nutrient solution constantly trickling over the roots.  A reservoir with a pump that is submersible re-circulates the nutrient solution continually, pumping the solution to the top of the troughs to trickle back through the system.  Larger Nutrient Film Technique systems are used commercially, both abroad and in the United States.  When choosing a Nutrient Film Technique system, care must be taken to choose the correct trough size.  Large commercial systems use wider troughs with greater flow capacity.  Aeroponics is a system in which the plant’s roots are suspended in air.  They are excellent for growing herbs and leafy vegetables.  The plants are held in web pots with neoprene inserts to support the plant.  Different hold configurations in the top cover provide the proper spacing.  Aeroponic systems are also great propagators.  The seedlings can be germinated in rockwool then transferred directly to the web pots.  Aeroponic systems are also very popular at NASA research centers and other educational facilities around the world.

The Europonic System is modeled after commercial systems that are used in Europe.  A basic system has three trays and holds eight plants each.  The system may also be expanded to five trays if desired.  A nutrient solution is pumped from a thirty-gallon reservoir to individual emitters at each plant.  The solution trickles through the rockwool, over the roots, and back to the reservoir where it is re-circulated on a constant basis.  Rockwool, or mineral wool, is the most popular and highly used hydroponic medium.  It is made from spun material fibers and has a high water and air holding capacity.  It can also be cut and formed into many shapes and sizes that allow many diverse growing applications.  The Europonic System uses rockwool slabs with two slabs fitting into each tray.  Rockwool is easily able to support a relatively extensive root system so the Europonic System is ideal for vine crops such as tomatoes, cucumber, and peppers, plus large flowering plants.

In a continuous drip system, a single pot is used with a two-gallon reservoir underneath.  The system acts like a percolator as air is pumped down a vertical shaft, creating pressure, and nutrient solution is forced up another tube.  A drip ring constantly irrigates the substrate, and the nutrient solution drains back into the reservoir.  This type of system is easy to use, inexpensive, and great for individual experimentation.  However, it is impractical for most commercial applications.  Ebb and flow systems are also popular in hydroponics.  They are good for crops such as lettuce, pepper plants, miniature tomatoes, and potted flowers.  Ebb and flow systems can also be used as an herb garden to provide fresh basis, thyme, and oregano year round.  Ebb and flow systems do have a few drawbacks, one including the possible buildup of fertilizer salts in the substrate.  As the water evaporates between flooding, the salts are left behind as a residue and may rise to toxic levels.  It is best to flush the system with pure water periodically to take away any toxic salt buildup.

Technorati Tags: aeroponics, garden, gardening, hydroponic, hydroponic systems, systems

What to Expect When Attempting your own Hydroponic GardenPosed On October 9th, 2008

In order to know what to expect when attempting your own hydroponic garden is to know what a hydroponic garden is. Once you understand what this type of gardening entails, you will be more aware of what to expect when constructing a garden of this nature.

Hydroponics is the practice of growing plants in water without soil, and with the proper nutrients added. This process became considerable popular in recent years, and has been done experimentally for over a century. In the year 1929, new studies regarding the feasibility of hydroponics for growing commercial crops have taken place as well.

Nowadays, many home gardeners and farmers use this technique. This method enables plants to be grown closer together in a field, which helps increase the yield of crops. Not only that, but also several crops can be grown in the same hydroponic growth tank.

As far as what to expect from the process of using the hydroponic technique, you will experience both the advantages and disadvantages of growing crops in this manner. One major advantage of hydroponics (besides conserving space) is that it virtually eliminates all weed and pest problems. It is another form of pesticide-free gardening, in some cases.

The major disadvantage of hydronponics is that the equipment used to garden using this methods is very expensive. You will also need to be prepared to provide extensive physical support for your plants when grown by this method. However, this growing method for the most part can benefit many gardeners and crop producers in many ways, if they know how to do it correctly. Those who are successful at this type of gardening can expect nothing but a rich harvest.

Another big advantage for small-scale hydronponic gardeners is the opportunity to grow plants year-round. This can be accomplished by the use of indoor lighting. The correct type of lighting that you would need for growing plants indoors using the hydronponic method would be a High Intensity Discharge (H.I.D.) light. These types of lights are designed to give off the correct spectrum of light waves, which are perfect for growing plants indoors-and in water no less.

The basic hydronponic growing system includes a variety of other components as well. For example, hydroponic-grown plants are held upright by wire supports or are rooted in substances such as sand or gravel. Furthermore, the growing environment for hydronponic-grown plants needs to be as sterile as possible for best results.

To get you started on using the hydroponic system you will need to keep in mind a few tips. For example, if you want to plant a spring garden, there are some things you will need to know, such as the effect of germinating your seeds ahead of time.

In order to germinate your growing seeds you can grow them a month early with an indoor grow light, and wait until after the last projected frost date to transplant it. Even if you decide to transplant your indoor plants outdoors, you will enjoy a longer production and/or blooming season.

The nutrient solutions added to plants grown by the hydronponic method require the correct concentration of various nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, and other nutrients that most plants need. One recommendation for growing plants indoors is to add liquid seaweed to them, which also supplies necessary ingredients to plants.

Other names for hydronponics are soilless culture, chemiculture, and water gardening. This type of growing has impressed many people during the experimental phase and is becoming more and more of a successful form of gardening. It is one way of producing organic foods on a larger scale as well.

Now that you know a little more about hydroponics and what to expect from attempting to construct a hydroponic garden it may be time for you to try it for yourself. You have plenty of free resources available to you online to help you get started. In addition, you can refer back to this article.

If you ever have any questions about the hydroponic growing process you can contact gardening or farming expert. They will help direct you to all the information and resources that you need to help you along.

To find out more about hydroponics see:

Homemade Hydroponics

Technorati Tags: growing system, hydroponics, plants

Indoor Hydroponic Systems Let You Garden Year RoundPosed On October 1st, 2008

Do you love gardening? There is nothing quite like going out to your own garden and picking fresh ripe vegetables for your daily meals. If you love gardening as much as I do, then you probably feel a little sad when it all comes to an end each fall.

Well. I have found a way to have fresh vegetable growing all year by growing them with indoor hydroponic systems. It takes a little work to get set up, but then so does traditional gardening.

Hydroponics means soilless gardening. That’s right. You can grow lush healthy plants and vegetables without any soil whatsoever. Hydroponics actually is not new technology. I has been in use many years on the commercial and research levels. It has only been the past few years that hydroponic systems have taken off in the home use sector. Now you can buy indoor hydroponic systems in kits so it is easier to get set up.

There are actually several different ways to grow plants with an indoor hydroponic system. Soil is not used, but other growing material is. This material may be water, gravel, sand, or vermiculite. Water needs to be able to flow through the medium so the more porous it is, the better it will be for they plants to grow. One could even use bran, moss or coconut fiber as a medium for indoor hydroponic systems.

The lifeblood of indoor hydroponic systems is the nutrient solution which is added to the water and bathes the roots. The nutrient solution was first developed in the 1890s and continues to be used today. It contains phosphorous, nitrogen, potassium, and trace minerals. This nutrient solution is used in the place of fertilizer.

The fun thing about indoor hydroponic systems is that you can design and build your own system if you want. If that sounds like too much trouble you can buy parts or entire kits. When you design your own system you can use whatever is available to you such as an old aquarium which can be used as a tank for the nutrient solution.

In addition to the tank or the reservoir, you will also need artificial lighting. Lighting that is specifically designed for growing plants, or grow lights, should be used. These can be obtained easily at any garden shop.

You will also need an air pump to maintain the proper levels of oxygen in the nutrient solution for the plant roots. An aquarium air stone works just fine. Anything can be used that aerates the water and makes bubbles.

A growing tray or tubes are needed to support your plants. Design them in such a way that the plant roots can hang below the tray to come into contact with the nutrient solution.

The easiest thing to do is to buy a kit that has all the indoor hydroponic system parts in one easy package. This is especially helpful if you know little about designing and building things, particularly hydroponics systems. Once you see the system in action and have a good grasp of how it all comes together, you may want to design your own system from then on.

If you are wondering what types of plants can be grown in indoor hydroponic systems, you will be pleased to know that you can grow anything you want from tomatoes, to mushrooms, to green vegetables, and anything else you want to try.