What is Hydroponics?

The name “Hydroponics” was produced from a latin word which stands for “Working Water”. To many of us, it in reality means growing plants without dirt by furnishing all needed nutrients in the plant’s water supply.

Contrary to  soil gardening, with hydroponics, there’s no need for a shovel, hoe, or plow for planting and harvesting crops. After a good deal  of researching and investigating with soiless gardening, scientists discovered a method consisting of combining a chemical mix with water, placing the plant seeds in plastic tubings filled with some sort of soil-like material (growing medium), and inserting these tubes through a cardboard placed directly above the chemical solution. When scientists found this new and easy way to raise plants, farmers and gardeners started to grow more of their crops hydroponically. Since then, both farmers and scientists been experimenting with different techniques of hydroponics to discover a process which works best for them.

Nowadays, there are hundreds of different ways of hydroponic gardening. In creating a system one must debate:

* The hydroponic grower/hydroponic systems
* The watering system
* The media
While the system may vary, the basic needs of the different hydroponic systems remain the same.

History of Hydroponics.

Experimenting with plant nutrients began over 300 years ago. An English scientist, named John Woodward, experimented with plant life nutrients. He wanted to know whether plants got their nutrients from the soil or the water. He started out with plants in water and slowly added soil to the water daily. He ascertained that the plants improved in size and health. He reasoned that it was the soil, and the water which provided the nutrients for the plants.

However, his findings contradicted those of the farmers. Farmers thought that the soil only offered stability for the plants to take root on to. This belief was established on their experiences with droughts. Without water, the crops died, no matter how fertile in nutrients the ground was.

This was the start of many more experiments on plant nutrition. Breakthroughs and new wonderings which came after Woodward’s investigations, contributed to what we now recognise as the science of hydroponics.

Today, many of the different techniques of hydroponic gardening derives from the ideas of Dr. Gerike, a plant professor at the University of California at Davis. Dr. Gerike became renowned with producing tomato plants 25 feet tall through his process of soilless gardening. In fact, Dr. Gerike was the individual who named the science of soilless gardening, “hydroponics.”

Hydroponics, growing and cultivating plants without soil, has been in existence since ancient civilization. The Egyptians, Inca Indian tribes, the Aztecs, and the Babylonians are illustrations of ancient cultures which exercised hydroponic gardening without even realizing it,way before the word “hydroponics” was ever dreamt up. Although many of us believe of hydroponics as a relatively new method in agriculture, our ancestors, in their endeavours to always improve their technology in agriculture, have already been working and learning whatever their gardens could teach them, including soiless gardening. There, however, remains a good deal to be learned in the science of hydroponic gardening. Because of its affordable cost and easy workload, hydroponics captures the interest of many gardeners. Fresh methods in hydroponic gardening are always being explored and will continue to be studied by other gardeners.

Posted: January 23rd, 2009 under Uncategorized.
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Posted: April 29th, 2008 under Uncategorized.
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Putting it all together:

In wick hydroponic systems, plants control irrigating rates. Simply, the lower end of a highly-absorbent wick is placed in a reservoir containing nutrient-enriched water. The other is packed in the growing medium close to the plant roots. If you are using a bucket as your reservoir then you can set it aside for now. If you are using a tote for the reservoir you will want to take the lid of the tote and (depending on the size of the growing container) and decide where and how many holes to drill for the wicks to pass through. Generally in a normal rectangular tote two holes in the lid will be enough. Placed in the middle and spaced evenly to the ends of the tote lid.

Now you will want to choose how you are going to lay out the wick(s). You could use one large wick and just bring it up in the center a few inches (far enough into the growing media for it to start drawing water from the wick). I have also seen systems where they took 3 or 4 smaller wicks, braided them together then brought up into the growing container through a single hole. At that point they separated the wicks and laid them out in a “clover leaf” pattern to evenly disperse the nutrient soultuion in the growing media.

And lastly the growing containers:

For the 3 gallon bucket just drill a single hole in the bottom of the bucket just big enough to pass the wicks through. If you find your wicks keep falling out just tie in a knot in the wick(s) slightly bigger than the hole (leave enough wick on top to reach the growing media). Optional: Drill a second hole on one side just big enough to pass the fill tube through. Run the tube up the side of the bucket and leave it for now. This is what you will use to refill the reservoir without needing to pull the buckets apart. Optional #2: You also may want to drill several smaller drain holes in the growing bucket if it gets any watering from the top. Else the water wont be able to drain and you could end up with flooded plants.

For the tote you will also want to drill holes for the wicks in the bottom of the container, be sure they match the holes in the reservoir lid. Thread the wick(s) in like above with the bucket and your done. Oh I almost forgot, you also may want to put one last smaller hole in the reservoir tote lid. Place it just under the corner of where the growing container would normally sit to act as a reservoir refill. Just slide the growing container to one side a little. Refill the the reservoir. Slide the growing container back and cover the hole to keep bugs and pests out.

The finishing touches:
- Fill reservoir with water and nutrients. Mix according to directions.
- Put the wicks in the growing container.
- Set the growing container in or on the reservoir, making sure the wicks are in contact with the water.
- Fill the growing container with growing media.
- Wait a few hours / days for the water to wick up into the growing media.
- Plant your plants.
- Enjoy your build-it yourself hydroponic system.

Posted: April 27th, 2008 under Hydroponic Systems - Build It!, Wick Systems.
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The parts list:

2 x pails or totes with lids – you’ve some freedom here, basically you require a nutrient reservoir and a growing container. Many people use a 3 gallon pail ( the growing container) slid into a 5 gallon pail (the nutrient reservoir). Whilst other people employ two totes, one set on top of the other. It altogether depends upon how large of a wick system you desire and what space you have to accommodate it. Just as long as the two containers sit solidly upon each other and will not easily fall over. Oh and finally pick out a color or material that blocks out light, else you’ll wind up with a fit algae farm in your reservoir and not a lot else.

Wicks – The amount of these you need will change by the size of your arrangement. For a humble pot, a single wick will be ok, for a larger system 5 or 6 could be required. The most crucial matter is what they’re made out of. You want a material that’s extremely absorbent, such as braided polyurethane yarn or fibrous rope. Don’t use cotton (rots out easily) or nylon (not very absorbent).

Growing Media – more often than not this is a mix of perlite, peat moss, and vermiculite. Although Pro-Mix and Coconut Fiber are also popular. It boils down more to what you’ll be able to find at your local gardening center.

Nutrients – regular fertilizers won’t work. They don’t have a few of the trace components since they anticipate you to be utilizing dirt. You’ll need to use Hydroponic Nutrients.

Optional – 1 length of tubing to act as a reservoir fill tube.

Posted: April 27th, 2008 under Hydroponic Systems - Build It!, Wick Systems.
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The benefits of a build-it yourself hydroponic system are numerous. They’re easy to build and can be sized to accommodate almost whatever place you have got available. Although among the largest benefits is what you will be able to grow. You don’t have to think back too far to remember the recalls of Spinach for both Salmonella and E. coli contamination. With a hydroponic system you know where your food comes from, who handled it, and just really how fresh it is. I know of people who are growing , chilli peppers, lemon basil, parsley, and lettuce. And thats all in the SAME hydroponic system.

Posted: April 27th, 2008 under Hydroponic Systems - Build It!.
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The Ebb and Flow system works by temporarily  flooding the grow tray with nourishing solution and then draining the solution back into the reservoir. This is commonly done with a submersed pump that is attached to a timer.

When the timer turns the pump on nourishing solution is pumped into the grow tray. When the timer shuts the pump off the nourishing solution drains back into the reservoir. The Timer  is set to come on several times a day, depending upon the size and type of plants, humidity, temperature and the type of growing medium utilized.

The Ebb and Flow is a flexible arrangement that can be used with an assortment of growing mediums. The full grow tray may be filled with Grow Rocks, gravel or granular Rockwool. Numerous people like to utilize individual pots filled with growing medium, this makes it simpler to move plants around or even move them in or out of the system. The chief disadvantage of this type of arrangement is that with some types of growing medium (Perlite, Growrocks, Gravel, ), there’s a vulnerability to power failures as well as pump and timer failures. The roots may dry out rapidly when the irrigating cycles are disrupted. This problem can be alleviated somewhat by using growing media that holds more water (coconut fiber, Vermiculite, Rockwool or a good soiless blend like Pro-mix).

Posted: April 27th, 2008 under Ebb And Flow System, Hydroponic Systems.
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If your willing to put in a little planning and a few hours of work you can have a Build-it Yourself Hydroponic System of any shape or size, ready to grow what ever you want. There are only a few short guide lines to consider before you get started.

The first is, what type of Build-it Yourself Hydroponic System do you want to build? There are quite a few different system types and styles and some can be adapted to work in almost any location.

Another would be how much are you willing to spend on parts? Some of the more advanced systems require more parts to build. And as you might of guessed more parts will also mean you will have to spend more time putting it all together.

You will also need to decide what plants you want to grow. Larger plants will need bigger pots. Taller plants may need some additional supports built in. You would not want your nice tall tomato plants for instance falling over or out of the system since they don’t have the roots in the soil supporting them in a hydroponic system.

Posted: April 21st, 2008 under Uncategorized.
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The Wick system is far and away the simplest type of hydroponic system. This is a passive system, which means there are zero moving parts. This arrangement mainly comprises of one growing tray set on top of the water reservoir. The nutrient solution is absorbed into the growth medium from the reservoir with a wick. This system can use a variety of growing mediums. Perlite, Vermiculite, and Coconut Fiber are among the most popular. The greatest draw back of this system is that plants that are large or use large amounts of water may consume the nutrient solution faster than the wick or wicks can provide it.

Posted: April 21st, 2008 under Hydroponic Systems, Wick Systems.
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