Hydroponic gardening allows you to grow massive amounts of vegetables, fruits and succulents within a compact space, ideal for urban and suburban dwellers. Most people think of hydroponic gardens as a simple method of growing plants using a water-based nutrient system and avoiding the use of soil. This may be the broad definition, but the process contains a wide range of variables depending on the available space, budgetary issues and preferred levels of maintenance. Use these five growing tips for hydroponic gardens to make the process clear and build a thriving garden you can appreciate and enjoy.
Tip # 1 - Start Your Plants Off Well
In hydroponic gardening seeds germinate, or sprout, in a growing medium. You need to start with a high quality growing medium in order to give your seeds a healthy start in life. Good choices include:
• gravel
• sand
• peat moss
• expanded clay
• composted bark
Mid-range choices to use if the above are not available include:
• perlite
• oasis
• rockwool
Do not use vermiculite for any reason. This substance often contains fibers of asbestos, posing a great risk to your respiratory health and the health of your family.
Read the specifications on each of your seed packs, and do your best to provide the optimum combination of light and temperature to support germination.
Tip # 2 - Provide the Optimum Light
Check the lighting requirements for each of your plants, and remember that those requirements will change over the course of growth. A good general rule to follow states that plants within the initial growing stages thrive with a higher amount of red spectrum light, while plants in fruit or flowering stages need a higher concentration of blue spectrum light.
Metal halide (or MH) lighting provides the red spectrum and High Pressure Sodium lights (or HPS) help plants in the later stages to thrive. If your budget allows for more expensive modern LED grow lights, the lighting can be adjusted to suit the plant's specific needs and stage of growth.
Tip # 3 - Provide Proper Levels of Nutrition
All types of plants need a wide variety of mineral nutrients to reach optimum growth, including sixteen types of both micronutrients and macronutrients. Be sure to apply these to your hydroponic garden.
Essential micronutrients include:
• B - boron
• Cu - copper
• Co - cobalt
• Fe - iron
• Zn - zinc
All of these minerals are required in trace amounts, whereas plants need a larger amount of macronutrients, such as:
• N - nitrogen, for foliage growth
• P - phosphorus, for root growth and the blooming process
• K - potassium, to increase disease resistance
• Ca - calcium, to generate shoots and new roots
• Mg - magnesium, to create chlorophyll and induce photosynthesis
Tip # 4 - Keep Disease and Pests Away
Hydroponic gardeners still battle pests and look for ways to ward off plant disease. Maintain a clean growing environment in your hydroponic garden to avoid these issues, and select hardy plants. Preserve an adequate temperature and maintain good levels of ventilation to keep plant disease and pests away from your garden. Also remember to watch the plants closely through every stage, and act quickly when a problem arises.
Tip # 5 - Prune Regularly
Pruning is an important part of maintaining a clean growing environment. Use a pair of clean, sharp scissors to remove chewed leaves or those with signs of disease, as well as clipping any diseased sections of roots. Pruning leads to fuller plants that use energy efficiently to produce more shoots and help your hydroponic garden to thrive.