What makes hydroponic gardening different from traditional in-ground gardening is a soilless growing medium. No dirt! All plants require support, to be held up. This basic requirement is dealt with by soilless growing mediums which are inert, meaning they neither add nor take away anything from the growing environment.  There are a perplexing jumble of growing mediums available for hydroponic gardening. Generally speaking, these mediums are porous, light and coarse, allowing oxygen and nutrients to be easy accessible  to the plants roots.

Some of the most common used in hydroponic gardening are: (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…)

Hydroponic gardening for later years in our lives makes a lot of sense. With hydroponic gardening, you don’t have to worry about weeding around your plants or watch for insects attacking the leaves and roots because you are not growing in soil.

This may be a new technique for you to learn since you’ve always gardened the traditional way.  However, hydroponic gardening has been around for many years. There are a lot of Seniors who are using this method for growing their plants these days. Also, it’s perfect for people who can’t be around herbicides and insecticides due to breathing problems.

For Seniors and physically challenged people who are unable to get down on the ground or bend very well, the shelves that the plants sit on can be set at a comfortable level to work with. The hardest activity you would have is harvesting your fresh vegetables and picking a bouquet of flowers.

If this method of growing interests you, there is an abundance of information about hydroponics for Seniors you can look into. It may fit in with your lifestyle very well. There are many different hydroponic systems available for all budgets and available spaces.

It is wise to keep in mind the growing conditions a particular plant needs to survive and thrive. Poor choices for hydroponic-style gardening are succulents, because they will only thrive in dry conditions and you are attempting to grow plants in the medium of water.

Water-loving plants love to grow in hydroponics because they will be growing in water. Melons are a good example of a fruit that grows well in this circumstance. Watermelons, cantaloupe, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries can all be grown successfully hydroponically because they are all water loving plants and can thrive in this sort of growing medium.

You can grow hydroponic lettuce in every variety that we would normally find at the supermarket or in a seed packet. It is one of the fastest growing plants to experiment with.

First, you will want to have a hydroponic nutrient solution that provides everything that a lettuce needs to grow and thrive.

Next you need to support the plants as they grow.  For this, you may want to use perlite, which is the most highly recommended substrate for the growth of hydroponic lettuce. For other types of hydroponic plants, you can use gravel or rockwool but perlite has proven optimal for lettuce. Hydroponic plants grow very fast so you will be able to replant as soon as you take the harvest.  If you don’t need a whole lettuce head at once, just cut a few leaves off the plant and leave it growing.  You will be able to repeat the crop over and over again without risk of rot, mold, or disease.

Who knew that planning a garden was a much better idea than just planting wherever the fancy takes you?  This was my system for a long time but now I’m growing vegetables and want to get the most out of my small patch, I’ve become a ‘planner’.

One of the first thing to do when planning your vegetable garden is to decide how big an area you have to work with and how much space you can allocate to each vegetable. I’ve had really good luck with growing in raised beds.  They seem to yield a much bigger harvest.

Make your selection of seeds based on what you like to eat.  It’s no good growing vegetables that you don’t like, except to make compost with. Then you should consider how much space the plant needs to fully mature. The easiest way to do this is often by reading directions on the seed packet; they should indicate how much space is required between plants and rows. It will also tell you how to propagate the plants.

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.

This is a bit technical but good information from my favourite magazine:

by J Benton Jones, Jr.

pH is defined as the negative log of the hydrogen ion (H+) concentration on a scale from 0 to 14, 7.0 being the neutral point, with less than 7.0 being defined as “acidic” and greater than 7.0 as “alkaline.”  The optimum pH ranges for plant root function growing in a mineral soil, an organic soil, a soilless organic rooting medium, or a hydroponic nutrient solution are not the same. In addition, there is no one explanation for the pH effect on plant roots growing in these four media. A pH range of 4.5 to 8.5 is the normal encompassing range associated with these rooting media with plants functioning best in “acidic” environments.

Read more……….

If roses are worth growing, they’re worth feeding with the best nutrient fertilizers.  If you want to grow quality roses, feed them quality fertilizers.

Generic fertilizers found at box stores and other gardening stores and supermarkets, generally lack two important things. One is the essential minerals needed to produce quality flowers. Even when a cheap product appears to have a complete formulation, don’t be fooled. Some manufacturers use cheap minerals which plants cannot readily absorbed. This will end up giving you disappointing results.

The other reason for shopping quality is to be assured of a well tested nutrient formulation that includes the proper balance of minerals. Too little or two much of a particular mineral can either starve the plant or set up a toxic condition.