Hydroponic - pH in your Hydroponic Nutrient Solution

For hydroponic growers, pH is everything. Because if your nutrient solutions are not at the right pH, it could mean the end of those hydroponics crops you raised with such care. While adjusting your pH is a simple affair, you have to be diligent about it. Actually, hydroponics growers might actually find it easier to check and adjust their pH, because they are dealing with liquid-based systems.

The most inexpensive and basic method of checking the pH of your hydroponic nutrient solution is by using a paper test strip. They contain a pH sensitive dye that changes colour when dipped into nutrient solution.

Then there are different types of digital meters that help you measure pH levels in your hydroponics system. They are accurate when calibrated properly but need good maintenance to keep them working. Some meters have glass bulb electrodes that must be kept wet at all times. pH meters used to measure your hydroponics nutrients systems need to be calibrated very frequently so that they don’t give you wrong readings. pH meters can be moody and break down with warning, so it is a good idea to keep an emergency backup meter so that your hydroponics nutrient solution and subsequently your plants don’t suffer.

Once you have obtained a pH reading, you can adjust the pH so that it is ideal for your hydroponic plants. The most popular chemicals used to adjust pH are phosphoric acid, which lowers the pH and potassium hydroxide, which raises it. However, if you are a smart hydroponics grower, you won’t stay in the dark and will use products meant for the intelligent and focused – like pH Perfect. 

Hydroponics Fertilizer - Indoor grow rooms

Hydroponics is the best way to keep growing all year long, without having to worry about seasons and the availability of water. Or the scorching heat and the biting cold. Does working dirty in the biting cold appeal to you? Well, it doesn’t, to most of us.

Which is why the smart grower is constantly in search of new techniques that change the way agriculture operates; one such method is hydroponics. When your growing is not based on soil and other natural conditions, it is easy to decide how you’d like to let your crops make the profits. You’re the boss – no other factors change the way you want to grow or what you expect from your hydroponic crop.

Growing indoors is a good way to grow your crops if you want to be able to grow throughout the year. Indoor grow rooms are simple to build. Select a small room or closet or a sectioned off area in your basement. The growing area must have a power source to connect hydroponics equipment to. The floor has to be hard and dry; that rules out all wooden flooring and carpeting. Mildew and mould from water leakage can ruin such surfaces.

Windows need to be sealed with black plastic. You could hang a curtain-like sheet of black plastic on your doors to block the light. Install a grow light system that can be physically raised or lowered. Make sure it is tethered by chains or cables so that it remains stable. Never use flammable materials in your grow room to prevent accidents and to avoid destroying your crops.

Small table fans that do not take up much power can be used for circulation. If you have a small grow room, even a single fan is enough. Place your grow tables beneath the grow lights. Work out a drainage system and recycle the excess water from the hydroponics system. Use pumps with timers so that your watering schedule does not go awry. If you irrigate your plants a timer will ensure even watering. Lighting systems could also use timers, since light needs to mimic the patterns of day and night. 

Hydroponics

If agriculture is your poison, then hydroponics is where you should be. With a little knowledge, hydroponics can be made profitable for enthusiasts at all levels. Whether you are a hobbyist or a professional grower then becomes immaterial. Hydroponics, for the uninitiated, is the technique of growing plants using soilless culture, most commonly, in water-based nutrient media. Hydroponics also makes use of artificial media like perlite, sand or mineral wool, for anchorage. If you have less space to grow, hydroponics is the medium for you, because one can grow more in confined spaces, also using less water to do so.

Hydroponics gardening only needs about 20% of the water that a regular soil-based grower would use to cultivate a similar area. A hydroponics system often means your plants are of better quality, produce big fruit, this increasing the quantity of your crop. Needless to say, what takes up less space and uses less water also positively impacts the environment.

Hydroponics allows one complete control over the crop and crop conditions. You can control the amount of nutrients your plant receives at growing stage down to the last bit. Apart from that, you can adjust the pH level of your root zone media and the flowering sites of your plants.

As the growing environment around your plant is controlled, pests are not a very big issue anymore. Your indoor grow rooms and greenhouses can easily be kept free of rodents and other ugly little creatures. Hydroponic fruits and flowers are big, juicy and tasty and can only positively impact you health. It is intact when it gets to you, untouched by harmful organisms that reduce its nutrition levels.

Hydroponics also lets you stay away from pesticides. The food you grow is thus safer to eat and non-poisonous. Once you work out a growing system, you can start reaping the fruits of your hydroponic harvest, also enjoying the lifestyle and benefits that accrue to the smart hydroponics grower. Just be careful and ensure your plants get the right nutrition, lights and air circulation. Mindboggling profit is sure to follow!

Hydroponic Media

Often, people assume hydroponics means growing plants in water, but in reality, hydroponics is a term used to refer to plant production without soil, using water and a wide range of organic and inorganic materials. Which medium you use depends on your hydroponics gardening needs. There is no soil in your hydroponics system, but your plants will still require anchoring and there are a wide range of inert materials that can be used to support plant roots. They are called ‘growing media’.

Perlite, rockwool, clay pellets, coir (from the husk of the coconut), vermiculite, sand and gravel are some common growing media. The ideal hydroponic medium provides plants with adequate support, is moisture absorbent and allows good air circulation. It should also preferably be pH neutral.

Perlite is a volcanic rock that is a fusion of granite, obsidian, pumice and basalt, obtained at very high temperatures. The final product formed by heating at high temperatures is lightweight; they are expanded glass pebbles. Perlite can be used to decrease soil density. It holds more air and less water than vermiculite. It can be used loose of in plastic sleeves that have been immersed in water.

Vermiculite is also a superheated medium that has expanded into light pebbles. It holds more water than perlite. The natural wicking properties of vermiculite mean that water and nutrients can be easily drawn from it in a passive hydroponic system. But if its good capacity for water retention hampers air circulation, you can lower vermiculite’s water retention properties by mixing it with another medium.

Rockwool is the commonest medium known to hydroponics. It is cheap, inert and simple to use. It works in both free drainage and re-circulating hydroponics systems. It is made from molten rock that is spun into thin clusters of fibre. Hence it is conducive to capillary movement but not degraded by microbiological activity. It is a high density medium, and that improves the dispersal of nutrients and moisture, suffusing the medium with fast-growing roots to increase nutrient absorption and create the best conditions for plant production. One can sterilize and reuse rockwool, but most growers only use it once.

Other common hydroponic media are coir and gravel. Coir is a completely natural growing medium used in hydroponics. Made from the outer husk of the coconut, it is full of trichoderma bacteria that protect roots and stimulate root growth. It is easy to use because it has a perfect air-to-water ratio that prevents overwatering. It has a high cation exchange rate, so unused minerals are stored by it and released to the plant as needed. Gravel comes in different shapes and sizes, but it is washed before use. Water is circulated using electric pumps through the medium. It is inexpensive and clean to maintain. It doesn’t cause water-logging. But it is heavy and the gravel hydroponics system requires a regular supply of water to prevent plant roots from drying out.