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What are the basics of hydroponics?
- Water
Water is the solvent that dissolves minerals making them available to plant roots. Whether you grow organically (in soil) or hydroponically (with liquid nutrients), know that plants can only assimilate minerals in inorganic form... as ions. Knowing the elemental composition of your water greatly enhances your ability to achieve optimum performance. The key to optimum growth is transpiration... the moving of water through the vascular system of the plant. Know your water source. Does it have Chlorine, Calcium, and Sodium? These all affect plant performance. - pH
Imagine you have a can a tuna with no can opener. pH is the can opener for nutrition. You can provide every element in the perfect proportions and if your pH is too high 7+ or too low 5-, then crucial minerals are locked out. They are unavailable to your plants. The best pH for most plants is 5.8-6.5. A simple adjustment in pH makes a huge difference in plant growth. What is the pH of your source water, your soil, your nutrient solution? - Nutrients
Whether you go organic in soil or hydro in inert media, nutrient balance and availability is crucial. You can kill your plants with kindness as overfeeding is a common problem. Organic amendments must be allowed to integrate with soil as the breakdown of organic compounds by micro organisms is what feeds the plant. In hydro, a well balanced nutrient is easy to come by. Just be sure the nutrient strength is matched to the specific plant's needs and that your nutrient reservoir is freshened at regular intervals to avoid accumulation of excess minerals. Remember, higher nutrient strength for tighter growth, fruiting and flowering, lower nutrient strength for vegetative, fast loose growth. For optimum plant performance, nutrient amendments such as Dark Energy, Super Nova and SuperCharger all aid in the uptake of nutrients by the plant. - Oxygen
Roots exchange gasses as do the the leaf surfaces. Soils must be loose and friable with plenty of air space among soil particles for roots to breathe. In hydroponics, the media, perlite, gro-rocks, rockwool etc. are all designed to provide maximum air space for healthy roots. Waterlogged roots spell trouble...no oxygen. Ebb Flow irrigation systems push stale gasses out during flood and pull fresh oxygen in during drain. Your nutrient reservoir must be oxygenated with venturis or Hydor aerators to keep the solution fresh and vital. Agitation of solution with oxygen releases ethylene gas and CO2, waste gas by-product from roots, and keeps nutrients aerobic to create a hostile environment for detrimental pathogens. Water temps above 80 degrees do not hold oxygen well. It is ultra important to super aerate at higher temperatures. - Temperature, Humidity, Light and Airflow
Below 55 degrees F, most plants do not grow. In a controlled environment, if air temp is high (above 80F) and humidity is high (above 80%) then air flow is crucial for plants to take up Calcium, a non-mobile element, and transpire effectively. A rule of thumb is 40 air exchanges per hour to evacuate humidity, keep temps down and take advantage of 375 ppm CO2 that is in the air. Without adequate CO2, plants will not grow. 90% of the Carbon that makes up the cells of the plant come from the air in the form of CO2. If you are going to inject CO2, do so in the morning hours up to 800 ppm. Research has found that during the first 4 hours of daylight, plants take up as much CO2 as they will be able to process for the rest of the day. If you have a few growing cycles under your belt, it will be easier to tell the difference by supplying CO2.Remember, if you are using a gas burner for CO2, you will generate heat. If heat is what you need to evacuate from your room, use bottled CO2. There are sophisticated controls available for this gas. Light is key and is often times the critical limiting factor to plant growth. Turning watts into plant growth is the name of the game. Talk with our expert staff to make sure you have enough lumens to achieve optimum growth rates. If plants are stretching, there is not enough light. If leaf edges are turning up or down, there may be too much light. It is crucial to make sure all your plants receive equal light.... this can be achieved by using reflective wall coverings to bounce light back into your growing area. Remember...HID light diminishes the square of the distance from the source... which means, that light 3 feet away from your lamp is only one ninth as strong.
As a rule, these basics must be aligned for successful CEA (Controlled Environment Agriculture) plant cultivation. Ignoring just one of these basics is when most problems occur. Good luck and good growing.....
