Hydroponics

What is Hydroponics?

Hydroponics is a technique and art of growing plants from seed or cuttings to full maturity and harvest without any soil involved in the process. Instead plants are grown in an inert (chemically in-active, no nutritional content) growing media and regularly supplied with a nutrient rich solution.

Hydroponics Growing Media

Hydroponics requires a growing media that is inert (chemically in-active), having no nutritional content, as the nutrients will be supplied in the water constantly to feed your plants. Hydroponics growing media is used mainly to support the roots and the plants that are grown and will allow plenty of air, water and nutrients to be available to the roots. This is one of the main reasons for hydroponics cultivation being so much quicker and better than soil grown plants. A soil grown plant will divide its energy into root growth and plant growth to ensure it uptakes any available nutrients, but a hydroponically grown plant is supplied with all the nutrients it requires directly to the roots and with higher amounts of oxygen also available, allowing the plant to concentrate more on plant growth than root growth. The most common growing media used for hydroponics is expanded clay pebbles and rockwool fibres, these both hold oxygen, water and nutrients very well and contribute to the plants ability to grow very fast. There are several other growing substrates that can be used for hydroponics, such as perlite, vermiculite, gravel and foam, all of which can deliver some good results. Irrigation feed times will depend on the size of your plants, environment conditions and also the type of hydroponic growing media you have used, clay pebbles will need more watering compared to rockwool fibres as the pebbles will drain freely and the rockwool will retain a lot more moisture.

Hydroponics Liquid Nutrients

Hydroponics liquid plant nutrients are available in one, two or three part soluble formulas that contain all the essential elements for plants to be grown in an inert media without any soil. A good quality hydroponics nutrient will contain macro and micronutrients in a well-balanced form that can be easily absorbed through the root system and then broken down chemically within the plant. Macronutrients are the elements that plants require the most to grow, nitrogen (N), potassium (P) and phosphorus (K) are absorbed by plant roots in large amounts, secondary macronutrients such as magnesium, calcium and sulphur are also used by plants in large amounts. Plant roots absorb micronutrients in very small amounts. Zinc, manganese, iron, boron, cobalt and molybdenum are all micronutrients. Used correctly a good quality one, two or three part nutrient will provide fast growth and great yields from your plants.

Hydroponics Growroom Ventilation

One of the most important factors in any hydroponics growroom that sometimes gets over looked is the ventilation. The supply of fresh air into your growroom will increase the levels of Co2 available to your plants, which they all need to survive. The extraction of hot stale air is essential for your plants to flourish indoors in the conditions you provide, diseases are known to thrive and develop within environments where the air is still and humid and also your plants wont cope with temperatures that are too high. In addition to this it is also essential to supply good air movement and circulation throughout the growroom and amongst the plants with the use of an air circulating fan, there are fans that can be fixed to a wall or placed on a floor and direct air in only one direction or there are fans which can oscillate and spread the flow of air further around your garden, placed correctly the fans can provide a continuous flow of air amongst your plants, making it more difficult for insects to settle and damage your crops. The design and installation of your ventilation system for your hydroponics garden is very critical to ensure your plants receive adequate Co2 and grow healthy and fast, providing the highest quality yields from your crops.

Hydroponics Growing Systems

Hydroponics growing systems are designed to store all water and nutrients in a main tank ready to be delivered to the growing media and plant roots actively with a pump, and then the systems allow excess water and nutrient to drain freely and re-circulate back into the main tank, it's that simple.

We've listed below some of the most common methods that are used for hydroponics growing systems.

ACTIVE HYDROPONICS SYSTEMS
An active hydroponics system will require a pump or components to actively move the stored water and nutrients to feed your plants regularly.

PASSIVE HYDROPONICS SYSTEMS
Passive hydroponics growing systems use capillary action to draw all water and nutrients from beneath into the growing media to feed your plants.

RUN TO WASTE HYDROPONICS SYSTEMS
A run to waste hydroponics growing system will deliver water and nutrients to feed your plants and then allow the excess solution from the growing media to drain and be directed away from the main tank, normally to a drain or another tank for waste.

RE-CIRCULATING HYDROPONICS SYSTEMS
A re-circulating hydroponics system will actively deliver water and nutrients to feed your plants and then allow all excess solution to drain back into the main tank and re-circulate. This is a popular method for hydroponics as it produces very little waste.

DEEP WATER CULTURE HYDROPONICS SYSTEMS
Deep water culture is a very simple, yet very effective method for hydroponics. The plant roots are submerged into a deep solution of water and nutrients that is highly oxygenated by an air pump and stone. The flow of bubbles into the system and around the roots, allows the plants to flourish and grow quickly. DWC is becoming a very popular method with growers as it requires very little growing media to be purchased and transported.

NUTRIENT FILM TECHNIQUE HYDROPONICS SYSTEMS
NFT is probably the most popular method used for hydroponics. Your plants are grown in rockwool blocks, which are supported on the top tray of the growing system, this is regularly covered with a thin film of nutrient solution that passes over the tray and plant roots to feed them, and then the excess solution drains off from the tray and re-circulates back into the main tank.

FLOOD & DRAIN HYDROPONICS SYSTEMS
Flood and drain systems do exactly what they say, they flood the system with water and nutrients to cover the media and roots, and then they drain pulling in large amounts of fresh air into the media and roots of your plants. Flood and drain growing systems can be made from pots or trays.

HYDROPONICS DRIP SYSTEMS
Drip systems are a favourite with many growers. Water and nutrients are pumped through irrigation lines and into the top of the growing media (pots or slabs) to feed the plants, and then the excess solution can be drained and run to waste or re-circulated back into the main tank of the system.

VERTICAL HYDROPONICS SYSTEMS
Vertical hydroponics systems can be very productive as they can allow many more plants to be grown in a smaller space and with less lighting used than you could ever imagine. Vertical systems position your plants in a vertical position around the lighting rather than a horizontal position beneath the lighting. This design allows many more plants to receive the light provided and grow extremely well. Vertical growing systems are not designed to grow large plants, but as there are many more plants grown in such a smaller space and with less lighting used, the benefits are obvious.

When choosing your hydroponics growing system the main things to consider are the type of plants you want to grow and how many. There will be a system out there somewhere to suit your needs.

What's Better Hydroponics or Soil?

Hydroponics is definitely better when compared to soil grown plants, the rate of growth and yield from fruit bearing plants cannot compete from a soil grown plant to a plant grown hydroponically. Hydroponics supplies all water and nutrients directly to the roots of the plant and this means the plant does not have to develop a large root system to feed, but with soil the plant will divide its energy between growing upwards (plant vegetation) and also downwards (roots) to ensure a good supply of nutrients is available to the plant. To put it simply, a plant grown for ten weeks with hydroponics will be a lot bigger and stronger, yielding much more than a plant grown for ten weeks in soil.

Hydroponics is the Future

The population on this planet is increasing at a very fast rate and food supplies are in very high demand all over the world, most land available is being consumed rapidly for more housing to be built on and not for more food crops to be grown. Another problem for crops grown outdoors is the weather and pests or diseases. Bad weather and poor light can diminish the crops yield and pests or diseases can wipe out crops totally with ease. Hydroponics offers much more protection for crops, towards any of these problems. Artificial plant lighting is supplied when needed, so no lack of sunlight to diminish the yields, the chance of pests and diseases entering the growroom is unlikely but if it happens it can be much easier to treat and eradicate the problem, and best of all the nutrients required by the plants are delivered directly to the roots, providing fast efficient growth and extra big yields. Hydroponics is far quicker than soil and can provide more harvests per year, clearly a winning solution that has finally been recognised by many people as a way of producing crops regularly and efficiently all year round. It has been researched and developed so much over the last ten years by many people in many countries around the world, even NASA are using hydroponics as a means of supplying food crops in space, the future looks good for us all.


With artificial plant lighting, growroom ventilation and a hydroponic system and nutrients, you too can produce your very own crops, all year round and in the comfort of your own home. Go on give it a try you will be amazed with the results possible, you can buy all the supplies you will need online from GreenSea Hydroponics.