They need to be mixed much more thoroughly and often don't dissolve completely into the reservoir. Most do not have a pH buffer. Like soil, hydroponic systems can be fertilized with organic or chemical nutrients. An organic hydroponic system is considerably more work to maintain. The organic compounds have a tendency to lock together and cause pumps blockage. Some hydroponic gardeners simply supplement their hydroponic gardens with organic nutrients, using the chemical nutrients as the main food supply.
This gives the plants a stable supply of nutrients without the high maintenance a hydro-organic system. Most plants can grow hydroponically within a pH range of 5. The pH in a hydroponic system is much easier to check than the pH of soil. Many hardware, pet, and hydroponic supply stores sell pH-testing kits. Testing pH is easy and essential in a hydroponics system. If the pH is too high or too low the plant will not be able to absorb certain nutrients and will show signs of deficiencies. It is easy to adjust by adding small amounts of soluble Potash to raise pH, or phosphoric acid to lower pH.
There are also several pH meters available. These give a digital reading of the pH in the system. Hydroponic systems are characterized as active or passive. An active hydroponic system actively moves the nutrient solution, usually using a pump. Passive hydroponic systems rely on the capillary action of the growing medium or a wick. The nutrient solution is absorbed by the medium or the wick and passed along to the roots.
Passive systems are usually too wet and do not supply enough oxygen to the root system for optimum growth rates. Hydroponic systems can also be characterized as recovery or non-recovery. Recovery systems or recirculating systems reuse the nutrient solution. Non-recovery means just what it says. The nutrient solution is applied to the growing medium and not recovered. The wick system is a passive non-recovery type hydroponic system. It uses no pumps and has no moving parts. The nutrients are stored in the reservoir and moved into the root system by capillary action often using a candle or lantern wick.
In simpler terms, the nutrient solution travels up the wick and into the root system of the plant. Wick systems often uses sand or perlite, vermiculite mix and a growing medium. The wick system is easy and inexpensive to set-up and maintain.
Although, it tends to keep the growing medium to wet, which doesn't allow for the optimum amount of oxygen in the root system. The wick system is not the most effective way to garden hydroponically.
The Ebb and Flow hydroponic system is an active recovery type system. The Ebb and Flow uses a submersible pump in the reservoir and the plants are in the upper tray. They work on a simple flood and drain theory. The reservoir holds the nutrient solution and the pump.
When the pump turns on, the nutrient solution is pumped up to the upper tray and delivered to the root system of the plants. The pump should remain on for about 20 to 30 minutes, which is called a flood cycle. Once the water has reached a set level, an overflow pipe or fitting allows the nutrient solution to drain back into the reservoir.
The pump remains on for the entire flood cycle. After the flood cycle the nutrient solution slowly drains back down into the reservoir through the pump. During the flood cycle oxygen poor air is pushed out of the root system by the upward moving nutrient solution. As the nutrient solution drains back into the reservoir, oxygen rich air is pulled into the growing medium. During the 10th and 11th centuries, the Aztecs developed a system of floating gardens based on hydroponics.
Driven out of their land, they settled at Lake Tenochtitlan. Unable to grow crops on the lake's marshy shore, they built rafts out of reeds and roots. These rafts were topped with a bit of soil from the bottom of the lake, and then floated out to the center of the water. Crops would grow on top of the rafts, their roots reaching through the rafts and down into the water.
Marco Polo's writings indicate he witnessed similar floating gardens while visiting China in the late 13th century [source: Indianetzone. Formal research and publications on hydroponics didn't begin until the 17th century. Sir Francis Bacon, a British scientist, philosopher and politician did research on soil-less gardening in the s.
His work on the subject was published posthumously in and sparked an incredible wave of research into hydroponics. In , another English scientist, John Woodward, performed tests involving spearmint growth in various water solutions. He attempted to grow spearmint plants in rain water, river water and water that had been mixed with soil and then drained. He found that the mint grew faster and produced healthier plants in the water solution that had been mixed with soil. His conclusion was that plants would grow better in less pure water than they would in distilled water.
We know today that his results were due to minerals that remained in the water after it had been mixed with the soil [source: Glass ].
Using a process he called " aquaculture ," he touted the benefits of soil-less gardening by growing massive tomatoes in his home via water and nutrient solutions. After finding that the term "aquaculture" was already being used to describe the study of aquatic organisms, he coined the term "hydroponics," which we still use today [source: Jensen ]. In , they published "The Water Culture Method for Growing Plants without Soil," which is widely considered to be one of the most important texts ever published about hydroponics.
Several of the nutrient solutions they developed are still used today. According to a Time magazine article, one of the first commercial uses of hydroponics occurred during this period based on the research taking place at Berkeley.
Tanks of mineralized water were used to grow beans, tomatoes, and vegetables on tiny Wake Island, a small piece of land in the Pacific Ocean. This island was used as a refueling stop for Pan-Am Airways , and the food grown there was used successfully to feed the airline's staff and crew. William Gericke is credited with giving hydroponics its name, but his work is often clouded by scandal.
Though his hydroponic research was done while he was employed at UC Berkeley, he claimed that his work on the theory was done off the clock, in his own time. So why go through all the trouble of setting up a hydroponic system? After all, people have been growing food just fine for thousands, if not millions of years using good old-fashioned dirt.
Hydroponics offers some significant benefits over traditional farming, and as word about these benefits spreads, more people will turn to hydroponics for their agricultural needs.
In areas with arid climates, like Arizona and Israel, hydroponics has been in use for decades. This science allows the people of these areas to enjoy locally grown produce and to expand their food production. Similarly, hydroponics is useful in dense urban areas, where land is at a premium. In Tokyo, hydroponics is used in lieu of traditional soil-based plant growth.
Hydroponics is also useful in remotes locales, such as Bermuda. With so little space available for planting, Bermudians have turned to hydroponic systems, which take around 20 percent of the land usually required for crop growth.
This allows the citizens of the island to enjoy year-round local produce without the expense and delay of importation. Finally, areas that don't receive consistent sunlight or warm weather can benefit from hydroponics. Places like Alaska and Russia, where growing seasons are shorter, use hydroponic greenhouses, where light and temperature can be controlled to produce higher crop yields.
We also must consider the significant environmental benefits to hydroponics use. Hydroponics systems require only around 10 percent of the water that soil-based agriculture requires. This is due to the fact that hydroponic systems allow recycling and reuse of water and nutrient solutions, and the fact that no water is wasted.
This can have quite an impact on areas where water is scarce, such as in the Middle East and parts of Africa. Similarly, hydroponics requires little or no pesticides and only around 25 percent of the nutrients and fertilizers required of soil-based plants. This represents not only a cost savings but also benefits the environment in that no chemicals are being released into the air. Finally, we must consider the environmental impacts of transportation.
As hydroponics allows produce to be grown locally and requires fewer areas to import their crops, there is a reduction in both price and greenhouse gas emissions due to reduced transportation requirements [source: Jensen ]. Next, hydroponics offers us the benefit of a shorter harvest time. Plants grown in this manner have direct access to water and nutrients and therefore, are not forced to develop extensive root systems to allow them to find the nutrients they need.
This saves time and produces healthier, lusher plants in about half the time as traditional agriculture. So why isn't hydroponics taking over? This is due to several distinct disadvantages associated with these systems. The first is the high capital investment when compared with soil farming. Though hydroponics is typically much cheaper over time, it does require a substantial upfront cost to establish any sort of larger system.
Next, there's the threat of power failure, which can cause pumps to stop working and ruin crops. Finally, many people fear that hydroponics requires substantial know-how and research, when in fact, it's very similar to traditional gardening.
After all, plants rely on certain nutrients in order to grow, and these nutrients don't change, no matter which system you're using. Before we can take a look at how hydroponics works, we must first understand how plants themselves work.
Generally speaking, plants need very little to grow. They can subsist on a simple blend of water, sunlight, carbon dioxide and mineral nutrients from the soil. Plants are able to transform light energy into chemical energy to form sugars that allow them to grow and sustain themselves. Thus, plants convert carbon dioxide, water and light into sugars and oxygen through a process called photosynthesis.
The photosynthesis process requires that the plant has access to certain minerals, especially nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
These nutrients can be naturally occurring in soil and are found in most commercial fertilizers. Notice that the soil itself is not required for plant growth: the plant simply needs the minerals from the soil.
This is the basic premise behind hydroponics -- all the elements required for plant growth are the same as with traditional soil-based gardening. Hydroponics simply takes away the soil requirements. Here, we'll examine each type, discover how and why it's used and see which kinds of plants respond best to each method. Ebb and Flow Systems require a medium, such as perlite , which serves no purpose other than to provide stability for the plant's roots.
The plant derives no nutrients from the medium itself. Ebb and flow systems include a tray in which the plant is placed in a medium; below the tray in a separate container is a reservoir containing water and mineral solutions.
The water from the reservoir is periodically pumped up into the tray. This floods the tray and allows the plants to absorb water and nutrients. Gradually, the water drains back into the reservoir due to gravity. Ebb and Flow systems work best with small plants like herbs and are typically used in smaller hydroponic setups, such as those in the home. They're built using wooden channels, which support polyethylene film liners. Plants such as tomatoes and cucumbers are placed on the channels, and the nutrient enriched water is pumped to the high end of each channel.
The channels slope down, and water is collected at the end to be pumped back through the system and reused. Only plants with large established root systems will work with this technique. Drip Systems are set up almost identically to an ebb and flow system, although instead of water being pumped through one large tube, it's pumped through many small tubes and drains onto the top of the plants.
This system is ideal for plants that don't yet have a developed root system, and like an ebb and flow system, works best with smaller plants. Aeroponics is another water based system, which, like NFT, requires no medium. That means plants are able to take up sufficient oxygen, water, and nutrient.
Over a period of time, plants grow. They will drain the water, still leaving parts of their bare roots come into contact with the air. When the reservoir runs out of the water, your plants also have reached the end of their growth phase. Otherwise, you can fill with water and nutrient solution, and allow plants continue to its growth phase.
So in theory, the Kratky requires little care. It also does not cost much. That makes it one of the easiest system to set up, which is highly suited for starters, hobbyists, and children. An aeroponics variation. A fogger, which can be connected to a timer, is used to transform water and added nutrients of the reservoir into super tiny small droplets or fog.
Plants roots are hung freely in the air with plenty access to oxygen. They get moisture and nutrient via the wet atmosphere of the fog. The so-called fog is just the humid environment produced by the foggers. Fogponics is an advanced form of aeroponics.
If in aeroponics, growers use the water misting to provide water and nutrients for plants, in fogponics, the foggers are used. Unlike traditional Hydroponic forms where plant roots are not sunk into the air and get oxygen through the air pump, fogponics allows the roots to be bare into the air. They get necessary moisture and nutrients via the fog. In the sense, plants can get great amounts of oxygen and water in fogponics, helping them focus on growing at a faster and stronger level.
Because the way it works, fogponis is fairly suitable for growing many types of plants like green vegs, herbs, and especially seedlings, and cutting cloners.
The fogponics also comes with some downsides, including certain initial investment, built up salt from the fogger, and they are quite vulnerable to the power outages. Several buckets are placed on the bench or the floor.
Each bucket should contain one plant. A big reservoir holds the nutrient solution, which is pumped through the irrigation line, then drop onto the plants via the emitters. The excess solution can return to the reservoir via the drain line, or drain out of the system. Dutch Bucket, or Bato Bucket system is no doubt one of the most versatile hydroponic methods used to grow various plants by hobbyists as well greenhouse farmers.
The most common plant grown is tomatoes, which are very suited for this system because it is built to accommodate large, vining plants. The system can be recirculated or non-recirculating depending on how growers want to set up. If you want to save the water and nutrients, a drain line can be connected with the buckets with its end pointed to the reservoir. One disadvantage of the recirculating system is it can cause nutrient unbalance over time. So you should replace the nutrient in the reservoir often.
Growing media suitable for this system are perlite, vermiculite, expanded clay pellets because of their good water to air holding ratio and great plant-support ability. The Dutch bucket can vary in designs with the number of buckets used; types of buckets growing media, pipes chosen. But it all operates like the ebb and flow flood and drain method.
Overall, this is an interesting and effective hydroponic system that any beginner and seasoned hydroponic grower should try with. And finally, here is a handy easy-to-digest infographic to sum up the 6 main Hydroponic systems. Table of Contents. Types of Hydroponic Systems. How Hydroponic Systems Work. The Wick System. Ebb and Flow System Flood and Drain.
Nutrient Film Technique N. Variations of the 6 Primary Hydroponic Systems. The Kratky Method. How it works: The nutrient solution is pumped from the reservoir up the growing tray and delivered to plant roots via the capillary movement of the wick.
Pros: Very easy to set up Great start for beginners, children. Cons: Not suitable for larger plants. Not efficient in nutrient use. How it works: Plants are placed in a net pot and are held by a floating platform above a container of nutrient and water.
Pros: Inexpensive. Easy to build Recirculating. Water saving.
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