There are hundreds of different kinds of growing medium as anything that a plant can grow in is considered a growing medium. They range from organic (natural) mediums to man-made. What growing medium is the best?  The answer depends on the job you need it to do. The best growing medium for your purpose depends on many variables which include the type of system you are using, what kind of crop you are growing and local environment as some of the determining factors choosing a growing medium for your hydroponic systems.  Mostly it comes down to availability, price or personal preferences. The most popular types of growing are Rockwool cubes, Coconut fiber, Perlite, Vermiculite and Soilless mixes.

Rockwool cubes are lightweight pre-formed cubes designed for propagation. An extremely popular medium when growing from seed or from cuttings, cubes have a neutral pH and retains water very well. They are meant to be a starter medium and commonly come in three sizes starting at 2″ x 2″. They can be easily moved into just about any type of hydroponic system or growing medium – including soil.

Coconut fiber is moving into position as one of the primary growing mediums in the world. As the first totally “organic” growing medium which offers top performance in hydroponic systems, it is essentially a waste product (powdered husks of the coconut) of the coconut industry. The advantages – maintains a larger oxygen capacity than rockwool, superior water holding ability than rockwool (a real advantage for hydroponic systems that have intermittent watering cycles), coconut fiber contains high levels of root stimulating hormones and can offer some protection against root diseases such as fungus infestation. A mixture of 50% coconut fiber and 50% expanded clay pellets is the perfect growing medium according to Dutch growers. You must be careful when you purchase coconut fiber. There are lower grades of coconut fiber high in sea-salt and is very fine grained. Expect disappointing results should this coconut fiber be used in your hydroponic systems. (more…)

Let’s examine some of the basic Hydroponic Systems available to the home user.

EBB AND FLOW

Also called the Flood & Drain, this system works by flooding the reservoir routinely with nutrient solution and empties back to yet another tank to be recycled. Crops on this method are put into trays which hang over a nutrient chamber. The choice of growing medium will determine how often and how long you flood the container for. To regulate your ebb-and-flow cycle a water pump is utilized. This system is considered the most typical of all hydroponic systems.

DRIP

Having the identical set up as an Ebb & Flow system with a reservoir and trays that hang over the nutrient chamber, this hydroponic system works by a constant drip of solution pumped in the growth tray. Flow rate can be difficult to control on a drip system as well as the emitters are prone to clogging. These problems can be magnified when you try to make your own drip system.

WATER CULTURE

This setup will work well for beginners as it is widely considered the easiest arrangement for small scale hydroponic systems. Crops drift on top of nutrient tanks with dangling plant roots within the solution. An air pump can be employed to oxygenate your nutrient solution. Water Culture is one of the oldest examples of hydroponic systems; however it can be a bit tough to control. You must make an effort to keep light from getting to the nutrient solution as it promotes the growth of algae. Algae will eat the nutrients you are trying to feed to your plants, and when pieces of algae die they attract pests leading to many other problems.

WICK

This technique needs no pump and little upkeep. Wicks, usually nylon rope, soak up the nutrients solution to the plant roots inside the growth tray. The solution will not cycle out of the trays so you may have issues with dissolved solids in the nutrient solutions crystallizing on the wick which results in a decline of water absorption. Should there be any pH issues they are slower to remedy because the wick itself harbors additional nutrients which would throw the actual nutrient pH off.

These simple, yet versatile, hydroponic systems allow the home user to pick and choose which method will work the best in spaces available.  After all you are not limited to just one way of growing. Each will have their positive and negative attributes and you may be surprised at what works best for you.  All these hydroponic systems allow for adjustments to make them capable of growing organic crops.

Well imagine one of these scenarios- you have a plant you really enjoy that you’d love to have more of like a rose, you have grown some really brilliant variety of tomato in your hydroponic garden and you want more of it, you have a herb you cook with frequently and need more of it or you simply just want to grow plants you as gifts for friends and family.  What do you do? You clone it in a hydroponic system.  In biological terms- participate in the process of developing similar producing populations of genetically identical individuals. Quite the mouthful?  Simply put – cloning is the process where you propagate or make copies of a whole plant from a piece of an existing plant.  This works really well in a hydroponic system.  You do this every time you take a cutting and place it in water – and as a fact plants propagate this way in nature rather easily- take strawberries and their runners as an example. (more…)

pH Testing invokes this image of a mad horticulturalist muttering an arcane ritual over a set of vials when nothing could be further from the truth.  pH testing is simple and easy to understand.

First off – what is pH?  It stands for the rather cumbersome potentiometric hydrogen ion concentration. Simply put, it is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution.  The pH scale is from 0-14 and pure water has a neutral pH of 7.  Anything that would be considered acidic is rated lower than 7 and anything considered alkaline is rated higher than 7. Pretty simple. (more…)

Do you have some good window space in your house?  You can cover it with little plants growing in hydroponics with this unique idea.  What will people think of next?

From the blog posts, it seems that there are a few problems to work out yet but the idea is there.   Growing plants indoors is such a life affirming thing to do, I find.  Bring on the new ideas!

How to Build a Window Farm

The borough of the Bronx has sprouted a hydroponic gardening shop and will soon boast a watery rooftop farm.

Hydroponics, a way to grow plants in nutrient-rich liquid rather than soil, makes sense for Bronx neighborhoods where garden plots are rare and fresh vegetables in short supply.

When Bronx Hydro & Garden opened at 39 Bruckner Blvd. in November, neighbors’ curiosity knew no bounds, said partner Frances Fabian

Some people are wary of “grow shops,” she said. Many neighbors were perplexed by the wares on display at Bronx Hydro.

Isn’t it wonderful to hear about the spreading popularity of Community Gardens?  What are they? A community garden is a garden that has members of the community participating in planting, weeding and maintaining a piece of the land.  This may be community owned, owned by an organization, or even a privately owned site shared with others. It is often set up where each gardener has his own individual plot for growing, or it can be one large garden, with participating gardeners sharing the harvest as well as the work. Maybe one day this will include a community “hydroponic garden” where we can all gather together and keep gardening all through the winter as well.

More than 10,000 cities in the US have set aside spaces for the residents to garden and grow their own food. Participating residents share in the planning and overall management of the garden, giving them a sense of community, a learning experience they can share with others and their children, as well as fresh nutritious food that they can take pride in growing. It is a growing trend all over the world.

Do you know about Lemongrass? It is a tall, hardy plant which grows in clumps up to a height of about three feet.  It is known for its fragrant flavor that makes it a popular herb in Asian cooking. It is also an effective remedy for various ailments including fever, stomach cramps and arthritic pain. I heard about someone who saved the life of a seriously ill street cat with juice extracted from lemongrass.

This popular tropical grass is very easy to grow and a novice gardener can grow lemongrass without much problem. It is perfect for a kitchen garden and can also be planted in pot or tub in semi-shade conditions. Generally the plants prefer full sunlight so this make it ideal for growing in hydroponics.

The easiest way to propagate the plant is to cut a few stalks of fresh lemongrass and put the slips in water for about 10 days. Prune off the long leaves but make sure that a short stump of the rhizome remains at the end of the slip. Roots will emerge and then the slips can be planted right away.

I’m considering growing my own hydroponic strawberries. They are delicious and I hope to make money from them. Here are some of the reasons why hydroponic strawberries beat traditional soil grown strawberries.

No matter where you live you can grow strawberries in an hydroponic system.  So even if you live in a crowded city centre apartment block, you can still grow them. Because you are not using soil, no soil borne diseases will be passed on to the plants. There will be no need to eliminate any soil loving pests. You will have no need to use any expensive or controversial pesticides.

Once you have your strawberries growing, your running costs will be around 20% lower compared to soil based gardening. You can grow more hydroponic strawberries in a smaller area. This is due to the decreased size of the roots as they do not have to spread out to find nutrients. So you will be able to grow more in your growing trays.

Maintenance time is greatly reduced from as soon as your system is set up. There is no need to water your strawberries as they will already have access to all the nutrients. There is also no weeding involved as there is no soil. All you really need to do is pick the strawberries as and when they are ready.

The strawberry yield will be year round. You control their environment and you will have everything set to their optimum growing conditions so they will continue to produce 365 days a year.

You can grow hydroponic strawberries anywhere; greenhouse, cellar, kitchen, conservatory, rooftop, window ledge, living room or in the garden. Th strawberries grow on average 40% larger than their soil born brothers. This is because you have created their ideal growing environment and they have full access to all the nutrients they need. Could be money in the bank!

As hydroponic gardening becomes increasingly popular more and more ideas are coming to the forefront. With growing plants in water and a nutrient solution, you can save time, money and space and enjoy year round fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers. Although there are many commercially produced nutrient solutions available to nourish and grow your plants, it is possible to create your own homemade hydroponics nutrients solutions, even if you have no previous experience.

Creating your own nutrient mixtures can be nearly as enjoyable as growing the plants themselves. It is quite possible to produce various kinds of solutions. Doing some homework is essential to determine which nutrients you need and in which concentrations to best suit your plant’s needs.