Hydroponics Made Easy Setting Up Your Own Home Garden

Hydroponics Made Easy: Setting Up Your Own Home Garden Traditional gardening methods require the use of soil to grow any kind of terrestrial plant. Whether you’re growing flowers, fruits, vegetables, herbs, or other crops, soil is absolutely vital to ensure that your plants get all the nutrients they require to grow and thrive. However, by using Hydroponics, it is now possible to grow plants without using any kind of soil.

http://www.hydroponic101.weebly.com What Is Hydroponics The term Hydroponics is actually a combination of two Greek words namely -˜Hydro’ which means water, and -˜Ponos’ which means labor. Thus, the method of growing plants using only water (a liquid nutrient solution), and no solid medium such as soil for supporting the roots, is known as Hydroponics. During research in the 19th century, plant researchers found that soil only acted as a kind of reservoir for the essential minerals that were needed for plant growth and was not really needed for much else. When the nutrients present in the soil mixed with water, the water then became a nutrient rich solution which could be absorbed by the roots of the plant. Further research showed that if such a nutrient rich solution could be delivered directly to the plants, soil would no longer be needed for plant growth. This is the scientific basis from which the system of Hydroponics evolved. http://www.hydroponic101.weebly.com Today, there are two kinds of hydroponics systems that can be used to grow soil-less plants. These two systems are: 1. Closed hydroponics: In a closed hydroponics system, the same nutrient rich water solution is circulated in the system repeatedly. The amount of nutrients in the water solution is examined and adjusted from time to time to enable optimum plant growth. 2. Open hydroponics: In an open system however, fresh nutrient rich water solution is added at the beginning of each irrigation cycle. Easy Setting-up Of A Hydroponics System Although hydroponics is extremely easy to set up and use, you will need the right equipment and gadgets for a hydroponics system. Initially, the different equipment may intimidate you a bit and cause you to believe that this method of growing plants is complicated and time-consuming. However, you will soon realize that hydroponics is in fact much simpler than traditional gardening methods. Different types of hydroponics kits are available in the market to choose from. Your choice will depend on what kind of system you want, active or passive. However, some things are common to any hydroponics system. These are: 1. Reservoir of nutrient rich solution: While soil may not be vital for a hydroponics system, fertilization still is. Plants do need nutrients and supplements to grow and those will be provided with the help of a reservoir of nutrient rich solution. You should always choose a high quality nutrient formula that is specifically recommended for use in hydroponics systems. While you could mix the separate minerals in the right proportions on your own, buying a nutrient formula takes all the hard work out of arriving at the proper concentration of nutrients. You simply fill the reservoir with the right quantity of water and add the prepared formula as per the directions on the packet. Once the nutrient reservoir is set up, it needs to be maintained as well. The right pH and nutrient level balance needs to be maintained for which you have to check the pH levels and periodically adjust the amount of nutrients in the solution. This does sound a lot more complicated than it actually is. Essentially what you need to do is check the pH level of the solution with just a few drops of a pH indicator solution. If the pH balance is not between 5.5 to 6.5 (appropriate for most plants) then you simply adjust the pH level by using readily available pH adjusting products. 2. Maintaining optimum temperature: As most hydroponics systems are set up indoors, it is important that the right temperature level is maintained so as to enable the plants to thrive. Temperatures between 71 and 76 degrees Fahrenheit are ideal for most plants. The exact temperature depends on the type of plant you wish to grow and also on the kind of grow lights that you use. 3. Grow lights: All hydroponics systems need at least 14-16 hours of light a day for optimum plant growth. Since most of these systems are indoors, it is important that you ensure adequate availability of light for plant growth. This can be ensured by using artificial lights such as LED grow lights and grow lamps. Grow lights with automatic timers are best as this ensures that your plants get the light as and when they need it. Make sure you only buy grow lights that are CSA approved so that you are not at risk of electrocution and the lights do not pose a fire hazard in your home. Once you set up your hydroponics system, it practically takes care of itself. The fresher tasting produce that you get through hydroponics and the amount of money you save on buying that produce will definitely make you glad you dedicated the time and effort to set up your own hydroponics system to grow plants in your home. Using Hydroponics By using hydroponics, you can practically grow any kind of herb, vegetable, and fruit in your home. Neither is there a restriction on what you can grow nor how much of it you can grow. Even plants that traditionally grow only in a particular season can be grown year-round with hydroponics. Using hydroponics is like having a fresh produce store right in your own home. You need not go to the market to buy your fruits and vegetables, but can simply get them from your indoor hydroponics garden! Benefits Of Hydroponics 1. Great horticulture technique: Hydroponics is thought to be one of the most clean and convenient ways to grow plants. Not just better tasting produce, but hydroponics makes it possible to grow your plants more economically than buying them from the market. Even if you do not have a large parcel of land for gardening, it is still possible to use hydroponics in a small area such as a room or a basement to grow healthy plants. 2. Decreased environmental wastage: No environmental wastage occurs by using hydroponics. Since the nutrients are re-used and re-circulated in a hydroponics system, the ecological balance is maintained perfectly. The plants that are grown using hydroponics are also much healthier than those grown using soil. Larger output of produce in the same cultivated area is also possible with hydroponics. 3. Organic produce: The biggest advantage of hydroponics is that no harmful pesticides are used to grow plants. There are no weeds to contend with and you don’t have to worry about natural predators destroying your plants. The fruits and vegetables thus produced are organic and have high content of essential minerals and nutrients. 4. Great savings: Even with the cost associated with buying hydroponics kits and all the various equipment needed for a hydroponics system, it is still a much cheaper alternative to traditional gardening or buying your produce from the market. And once you get used to the great taste of fruits and vegetables grown using hydroponics, you’ll never want to go back to eating traditionally grown produce. Hydroponics is thus a great new way to grow plants indoors. The system can be set up easily and without too much effort or spending too much money. Along with tasty produce and saving money, the fact that people can enjoy gardening all the year round without worrying about seasons and weather conditions, is a huge bonus of using hydroponics. http://www.hydroponic101.weebly.com

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