A hydroponic garden helps grow plants in water faster than outdoor soil, maintaining the preferable temperature available inside. Starting a hydroponic garden setup at home can be an ideal solution for people who don't possess an outdoor garden.
Before you begin a hydroponic setup, you should know about its benefits, the materials required, and how to start a hydroponic garden using the different systems available. So, let's explore ways to start your hydroponic setup and ways to maintain it.
A Hydroponic Garden is a method by which the gardeners grow plants without soil. It is a way to nurture a huge variety of edible plants indoors all year round, regardless of what Mother Nature does outside your door.
In traditional gardens, plant roots have to seek nutrients in the soil. However, in hydroponic gardens, nutrients are dissolved in the water surrounding the roots, so plants can easily access the needed nutrition. As a result, plants tend to grow big and beautiful very quickly.
How Hydroponic Gardens Work
Hydroponic Gardens work by providing plants the nutrients they need through water, and sometimes, another growing material, rather than planting their roots in the soil.
Because there is no soil, the nutrients in the water go more directly to the plant's roots and there is more control over the plant's environment since hydroponic gardens are typically grown inside.
Here are some of the benefits associated with Hydroponic Garden:
Faster Growth:
Through hydroponic gardening, plants don't have to spend energy searching for needed nutrients from the soil. The nutrients are readily available to their roots in an absorbable form. Doing this, allows the plants to focus their energy on growth and development, resulting in faster growth. It can further translate to shorter harvest cycles and more frequent yields.
Higher Yields:
With a mix of readily available nutrients, optimized environmental conditions like light, temperature, and humidity, and efficient water flow lead to higher yields.
As the plants don't compete for resources against each other, they can grow together. It results in a significantly higher output per square foot than conventional agriculture.
Water Conservation:
Hydroponic systems are increasingly water-efficient systems. They recycle the nutrient solution, reducing water loss through evaporation and runoff.
Compared to traditional soil-based gardening, its water usage can be reduced by upto 90% than other systems. This makes hydroponics a valuable technique in arid or water-scarce regions.
Less Space Required:
It can be set up vertically or in congested spaces, making them ideal for urban areas, like apartments, balconies, and indoors. This enables the growth of plants without soil restricting the need for large garden areas.
Also, this farming approach increases space utilization and allows food production in areas where traditional gardening is not feasible.
Fewer Pests and Diseases:
It's a controlled environment that decreases the risk of soilborne diseases and pests. With no soil, your plants will be safe from soil-dwelling pests.
Additionally, the enclosed or controlled nature of many hydroponic setups makes it easy to prevent infestations. Though it is susceptible to pests, the problems are generally easier to maintain than in traditional gardening.
Almost any plant can be grown hydroponically when given the right growing conditions, but there are certain vegetables and fruits best for growing crops indoors throughout the year.
The easier plants are greens like lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, and kale, which can give you a salad-worthy bounty all year round. You can also have a fresh garden in your kitchen with herbs such as basil, parsley, oregano, cilantro, and mint.
In the winter, focus on crops that don't produce fruit, even though you are growing a garden indoors. It includes herbs and leafy greens.
Setting Up Your Hydroponic Garden
Here are the equipment or tools needed to start your Hydroponic Garden.
The wick system is the simplest hydroponics system mechanically, as there are moving parts or electrical components. This hydroponics setup works best for microgreens, herbs, and peppers. Here is the step-by-step guide on starting a wick system for plants
1. Set up a Water Reservoir
First, create a reservoir in a bucket or basin filled with water and hydroponic fertilizer based on your plant's feeding requirements. It will sit below the tray holding your plant and growing medium.
2. Connect Wicks to the Growing Tray
Connect one or two wicks through holes in the growing tray's bottom. Make holes using a drill or screwdriver.
The wicks soak water from the reservoir and draw it up to the growing medium in the tray.
3. Set Up A Growing Tray
Set the growing medium in the tray, containing a seedling, above the reservoir. Use a medium that won't drain too fast and utilize the capillary action of wick most effectively such as vermiculite, perlite, and soilless mixes.
4. Set up a Light Fixture
If you are using natural light, you can skip this step. However, you can set up a light fixture above the growing tray.
You can either use incandescent light bulbs or LED and fluorescent lights at a preferable distance.
This system is easy to set up where the plants are placed in a Styrofoam platform that floats on top of a reservoir with nutrient-enriched water. It is best for growing leaf lettuce, but very few other plants grow well in this system.
Instructions
1. Set Up Water Reservoir
Fill the reservoir container with water and fertilizer based on your plant's requirements. It should be opaque and at least 12 inches deep.
2. Aerate The Water
The air stone found in home aquariums is placed in the water and connected to an air pump outside the reservoir. The pump pushes air through the stone, which blows out tiny bubbles to distribute oxygen through water.
3. Set Up Growing Raft
Cut a floating Styrofoam platform to fit inside the top of the reservoir. Then cut holes to insert newer net pots.
4. Set Up A Light Fixture
If you are not using natural light, set up a light fixture above the growing tray, with either incandescent light bulbs or the LED and fluorescent light at a preferred distance from plants.
An ebb and flow system, also called the flood and drain system, is slightly more complex in design but is completely versatile.
Instructions
1. Set up the Water Reservoir
As in other systems, you can place the reservoir directly below the flood tray's stand with the water and fertilizer. You can also use the same water for about a week.
2. Connect Fill Tube and Drain Tube
Connect the reservoir to the tray through a fill and a drain tube to control the water flow into the flood tray.
3. Connect a Submersible Pump and Timer
Connect the pump with a timer to allow control in this type of system. You can customize the length and frequency of watering based on your plant's needs. .
4. Set Up Flood Tray
Set up a flood tray by planting your seedlings in perforated pots filled with growing medium, such as perlite
5. Set Up A Light Fixture
You can skip this step if you are using natural lights. However, in the indoor setup, set up a light fixture above the growing tray, with either incandescent bulbs or the LED and fluorescent light at a preferred distance.
This technique uses a water-nutrient solution that constantly flows in a loop from a reservoir through a growing tray, where absorbed nutrients flow.
Instructions
1. Set Up Water Reservoir And Aeration
First, place the reservoir below the flood tray's stand with the water and fertilizer. Then add an aeration bubbler in the reservoir to oxygenate the water.
2. Connect the Fill Tube, Drain Tube, and Pump
Connect the reservoir to the tray via a fill and a drain tube. The fill tube attaches to a submersible pump, which controls the flow of water up into the flood tray.
3. Set Up The Growing Tray
This method uses tubes or channels for the grow tray. The tubing can be set at an angle to ensure the nutrient solutions flow directly to the roots.
5. Set Up A light Fixture
You can use a round tube or PVC pipe with holes drilled to fit net pots or seedlings. You can also set up a light fixture if you are not using a natural light.
An aeroponic system is a more complex hydroponic method. It is a highly effective method that requires sophisticated pumps and misters. If it malfunctions, the plant roots can dry out and die quickly.
Instructions
1. Set Up A Water Reservoir With Aeration
A container filled with fertilizer-enriched water is positioned under the growing chamber. Add an aeration bubbler in the reservoir to oxygenate the water.
It acts as a catch basin for misted droplets of solution.
2. Connect a Submersible Pump
Connect a pump to a mister or sprayer. The reservoir solution pumps to the mister through tubing from a submersible pump tube in the reservoir aimed at the plant's root.
3. Set Up The Growing Chamber
Like the nutrition film technique, you can set up tubes or channels to suspend each seedling's roots.
4. Set Up A Light Fixture
If you are not using natural light, set up a light fixture above the chamber, with either incandescent bulbs or the LED and fluorescent light at an ideal distance.
Most edible plants require at least six hours of natural sunlight each day. You need to make sure to put your lighting system on a timer, so the lights turn on and off together every day.
Choosing ideal light bulbs with matchable heat and energy consumption will help to grow plant cuttings and plants with short growth cycles. Also, you should maintain the preferable temperatures between 68 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. If the water temperature rises, it can lead to root rot.
Consider a humidifier or dehumidifier to adjust the relative humidity of your garden between 40-60 percent. Your room also should have an ample carbon dioxide supply for plants to grow faster.
You should also filter your water if it is high in minerals, as it won't dissolve nutrients effectively. Furthermore, the perfect pH level for water in a hydroponics garden setup should be between 5.8 and 6.2.
