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The concept of hydroponics is perplexing to some. Maybe it's the technical sound of the word itself that brings waves of unanswered questions and surges of mysterious curiosities that make people cower and run. Sit down, take a breath and relax, I'm here to help. Hydroponics is the cultivation of plants in nutrient solution rather than soil. There are many kinds of hydroponic gardening that range from the basic, one or two container patio set-up to sophisticated, fully automated greenhouse operations. If you pot a plant in a medium such as perlite or coco coir and use a simple hand watering system to feed the plant, this is considered hydroponics. The plants get no nutrient from the medium itself so it relies entirely on the nutrients you provide. This may work on a very small scale but proves to be impractical on a large scale due to the fact that soilless mediums dry out extremely fast. This is where consist ant automation comes into play and a timer becomes crucial. There are a couple different ways to fully automate your garden making the watering process a snap. First of all, the nutrient supply needs to be established in a reservoir of some kind. The size of the reservoir needs to be large enough to accommodate the number of plants you are working with. A submersible or inline pump is connected to a feed line. A timer controls the watering times. Set the watering times for ten or fifteen-minute increments one to five times a day, depending on the absorption of the medium you are using. When the timer turns the pump on, water is pumped either to a tray containing the plants, or through a drip line that runs to the base of each plant. Mediums that retain less water such as Hydro ton, which are clay pellets that have been fired and expanded in a kiln, or perlite, which is processed volcanic particles, retain small amounts of water, so you would water three to four times a day. Other mediums such as rockwool, stone that has been melted and spun like cotton candy, and shredded coconut coir, coconut husk that has been salt leached and shredded to a consistency similar to peat moss, retain a lot of water, so water less. The two popular methods of hydroponics I'm referring to are ebb-and-flow and drip systems. Ebb-and-flow is an oceanic term that refers to the rise and fall of the sea's tide. Keeping this in mind makes the concept of ebb and flow easy to understand. First you've got to put the plants in a container filled with a soulless medium of some kind, or root them in rockwool cubes and slabs. Two holes need to be drilled in the hydro tray. Install one fill and one drain outlet. The fill outlet should be smaller than the drain and is usually ½ inch to ¾ inch in size, whichever is directly related to the pump you are using. The pump will force water through the fill faster than gravity will let it drain, so use a larger size drain outlet. Failing to do so may result in a flooded floor verses a flooded tray, not exactly the desired effect. The pump should be big enough to completely flood the tray with a few minutes of drainage back to the reservoir in the required time set on the timer. The size of tray needed depends on the space you have to work with. Many sizes are available from your local hydroponic store. Some popular sizes are 2x2, 2x4, 3x3, 3x6, 4x4, and 4x8 foot sizes. A 4x4 tray would need a pump rated at least 350 gph. Gph is how many gallons per hour the pump will move out of the pump by itself with no tubing attached to it. The more tubing you string up to the pump and the vertical distance it has to move in feet will dramatically draw on the pumps' workload. For example, a pump rated at 633 gph out of the box quickly becomes 131 gph when twenty feet of tubing is attached and water is pumped six feet vertically, so don't skimp on the pump. It is the life support system for your plants. Drip irrigation systems are easy to set up and have been used in both hydroponics and soil applications for years. As with ebb and flow, a timer regulates the plants' feeding schedule. Nutrients are pumped down a feed line that is strung to the base of each plant. Each plant site is usually fitted with an emitter of some kind. Some emitters are nothing more than a tiny valve that adjusts the drip flow of the life giving nutrients. Other emitters are plastic watering stakes that resemble a tent stake. The watering stake is pushed into the root zone and nutrients are trickled down a grove in the plastic watering stake directing the flow into the heart of the plants' root system. Another style of watering stake has a spray nozzle on to top, which sprays the nutrients at the base of the plant like a mini sprinkler system. Don't forget to fine-tune your flow amounts and watering times. Your plants should never get bone dry. Your roots will die and fungus gnats will invade your space. Your plants should never stay saturated and swampy for days either. Your garden will suffocate. And don't forget the saucers! Save yourselves the mess. Hydroponics is all about walking that fine line of ideal environmental factors and holding consist ant patterns. Those factors include pH, both room and nutrient temperatures, humidity, light levels, nutrient concentration (ppm or ec), and air movement. Have you ever heard the term "You're only as strong as your weakest link?" This couldn't be more fitting to hydroponics. You can spend as much cash on the latest and greatest atmospheric regulators and specialized gadgetry, but if you're over fertilizing, none of those pricey toys will make any difference. So remember not to get ahead of yourself. Once again, I've skimmed the surface and ran out of space. Next week we're diving back in. Don't forget to love those plants! |