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Ebb and Flow Hydroponics

John Daniel — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 19:07:57 +0000

The ebb and flow hydroponic system works by periodically flooding a grow container with the nutrient solution and then letting container drain back to the reservoir. The system is sometime referred to as a flood and drain system. The flooding can be done manually but it is most often controlled by a timer and uses a pump to move the nutrient to the container and gravity to move it back. Like most media based hydroponic methods ebb and flow hydroponic systems can survive power failures because the media holds nutrient between waterings. The ebb and flow systems also have other advantages.

One of the most important advantages of the ebb and flow hydroponic system is it’s resistance to high temperatures. In some hydroponic systems if the nutrient rises above a certain temperature the plant can become more susceptible to disease and root damage due to low oxygen around the roots. The ebb and flow hydroponic method has proven to be capable of sustaining plants even if the nutrient solution gets too warm for other systems. Ebb and flow hydroponics can withstand higher temperatures because the roots are only periodically submerged in nutrient solution.

There are other advantages to ebb and flow hydroponic systems including a simple and easy to understand design, the ability to grow almost any plant and low maintenance. There are however some potential disadvantages to the ebb and flow hydroponics such some commercial systems a can be expensive and too large for home use. Also some designs can be hard expand if you want to increase the size of your system. Still these disadvantages have more to do with implementation of the ebb and flow method than any real shortcoming to ebb and flow hydroponics.

Simple, effective and easy to maintain the ebb and flow method of hydroponics can be an excellent system for both beginning home hydroponics grower and more advanced small commercial grower. If you are thinking of growing a hydroponics garden, you should consider using ebb and flow methods.

Drip Hydroponic Systems

John Daniel — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:25:43 +0000

The drip hydroponic system is one of the most common in the world. Drip systems are used to grow everything from lettuce to cut flowers and melons. The design of the drip system is simple.

In drip systems, the hydroponic fertilizer and water are pumped out of a tank and distributed to drippers at the base of the plants. The drippers supply a controlled amount of nutrient to the plant. Any excess nutrient solution either runs off as waste or is recirculated back to the nutrient reservoir for reuse.

The nutrient can either be circulate constantly or pumped to the dripper at regular interval based on the need of the plants being grown and the media being used. For example, bigger plants need more frequent watering than smaller plants amd plant in a coco peat mixture require less frequent watering than those planted in clay pellets.

The drip system is popular but it does have some disadvantages. The most common problem with drip irrigation systems is that the drippers tend to clog. If a clogged dripper goes unnoticed the plant being grown can be damaged or even killed.

There are several ways to deal with the clogged drip emitter problem. The best defense against clogged drippers is to be sure to filter the nutrient solution going to the dripper. It also helps to have a second dripper on each plant as a back up. Finally, it is always a good idea to check all the emitters periodically and clean or replace any clogged emitters.

The advantages of the dripper hydroponic systems outweigh the disadvantages. The dripper system’s advantages include good resistance to power failure, low water usage and being easily expandable to larger systems.

If you are looking to try hydroponics you should definitely consider setting up a drip system. They are versatile enough to grow just about any kind of plant you have in mind and simple enough for anyone to set up.

Setting Smart Health and Fitness Goals

John Daniel — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 19:55:43 +0000

We live in strange times, obesity and lifestyle diseases like diabetes are on the rise in America while the health fitness and diet industries are booming, despite the fact those industries don’t seem to be able to solve the problem. Does that make sense? If the health and fitness industry had the keys to improving people’s health wouldn’t obesity and lifestyle diseases be going down? I don’t know but one thing I do know is that something needs to be done about the situation. Luckily there is something else I know: I know that if you want to improve your health and stem the tide of lifestyle disease to you need to set some fitness goals and stick to them.

I read some where that the key to successful goal setting is to set goals that are specific, measurable and action oriented. What that means is you want state your goal in a way that you can picture what you goal will look like because you are being specific about what you want. You have some objective measure of success including milestones and a target date by which you’ll reach your goal. And you set your goal so you know what actions you are going to take to reach you take to reach you goal. those three rules are goal setting in a nut shell . But given the fact that every year people set New Year Resolutions on January first and many of them don’t make it to January second, I think something else is needed.

The thing I think is needed is to make your goals smaller and more manageable. Setting up and achieve smaller more manageable goals will make it easier for you to reach the bigger goals you have. For instance make it your goal to drink 1 glass of water when you wake up in the morning every day. The goal of drinking at least one glass of water a day is a simple easy to achieve goal, that will improve you health in a tiny way. Try it out for a while. You could easily drink 1 glass of water that every day then add more fitness activities very gradually once drinking that glass of water is a habit.

After you’ve created you first health habit then you can add new health habits to your day. I find it is something that happens automatically. I find myself skipping a piece of cake or taking a little walk at lunch Just because I have started the ball rolling and I’ve succeeded at making that small change into a new habit. As time goes by you can build on that small first success. You can incrementally improve your health by avoiding the dramatic hard to sustain changes that characterize most people’s goal setting and New Year Resolutions.

Give it a try, set a mini health goal like 5 minutes of calisthentics in the morning or a 15 minute walk on lunch break. Or how about committing to not eating after 8 at night. Set a goal so tiny you almost can’t help but do it. Set your mini goals keep them and you may find they all work together help you to reach a your larger fitness and health goals.

Hydroponic Growing: Plants without soil

John Daniel — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 19:26:14 +0000

Hydroponics is the method of growing plants without soil. Hydroponics it literally means working water. It’s not a modern idea and it really isn’t hard if the plant’s primary requirements are met.

Hydroponic methods fall into two basic categories. The first category is the media methods. Media hydroponic methods are hydroponic systems that use an inert media like sand, clay pellets or rockwool to support the plant. The second category of hydroponic methods are the media-less methods which grow the plants using only fertilizer solution around the roots. Whichever hydroponic method you decide to use h the most important thing is you pick a complete fertilizer.

Every plant needs certain elements to sustain healthy growth and to reach maturity. In nature, these elements are supplied by the soil or by man in the form of supplementary fertilizer. In most cases the fertilizer doesn’t contain all 13 elements a plant needs but hydroponics is different.

When plants grow are grown in a hydroponic system, all of the elements have to be supplied by the grower. In the past many technical problems could arise making hydroponic gardening both very labor intensive and costly. Nutrient deficiencies and toxicities surfaced quickly, and frequently, unless the nutrient solution was carefully monitored.

Today things are different there are numerous commercially available hydroponic nutrients, that are specially formulated to be easy to use as well as economical. There are also automatic growing systems like the Aerogarden that make hydroponic gardening simpler. I think it is safe to say that more people are trying hydroponics then ever before.

So the bottom line is that there has never been a better time to try hydroponics. Whether you have a green thumb or the brownest of brown thumbs you can find a hydroponic system that will help you grow healthy plants with a minimum of effort.

Hydroponic Fertilizer- Magnesium and Sulfur and the Micronutrients

John Daniel — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 14:13:19 +0000

In my last article I discussed the Primary macronutrients in Hydroponic Fertilizer
and calcium which is considered a secondary macronutrient but which I think should be considered a primary. If you are interested in learning about the rest of the elements that make hydroponic fertilizer so effective, I’m going to lay out the basics here. After reading this article you’ll know what the other elements in hydroponic nutrients do.

Magnesium (Mg)
Magnesium is is important to plant growth primarily be cause it is a part of the chlorophyll that a green plan uses to make it’s food. It is also part of some important plant enzymes. Without magnesium the plant will be green and sickly.

Sulfur (S)
Sulfur does a lot of important jobs in green plants. It helps build chlorophyll and proteins. Sulfur is also improves root growth and seed production.With out sulfur the whole plant will be yellow and pale and the new leaves will show dead tips.

Iron (Fe)
Iron is essential for the formation of chlorophyll in your plants. Without iron the plant will develop pale leaves with dark green veins.

Copper (Cu)
Copper is inport and for plant reproduction and in the metabolism of the roots. Without copper the leaves of the plant will grow dark and the will often droop or curl up the symptoms appear on the new growth. The new growth will also be stunted.

Manganese (Mn)
Manganese plays a role in plant enzymes. with out manganese the plant grows slowly and the young leaves are pale often with a mottled apearence. In more severe cases the plant may not develop fruit.

Zinc (Zn)
Zinc is part of a lot of plant enzyme reactions and regulates especially having to do with the use of sugar and carbohydrates. Without zine a plant develops yellowing between the veins and stunted new growth with short internodes.

Boron (B)
Boron helps regulate other nutrients and helps the plant make sugar and carbohydrate. Without boron both stem and root growth is poor and seeds and fruit develop poorly.

Molybdenum (Mo)
Molybdenum helps a plant use Nitrogen. Because it plays a role inthe plants use of nitrogen the symptoms of molybdenum deficiency look a lot like nitrogen defiency. with out molybdenum the older leaves yellow and the newer leaves become light green. sometimes the new growth is also distorted.

Chlorine(Cl)
Chlorine takes part in the photosynthesis reaction.Without chlorine the plant will develop chlorosis ( pale space between veins in the leaves) and wilty young leaves. In severe cases the underside of the leaves can develop a bronze look.

There you have it the basic elements in hydroponic fertilizer. When mixed together with good water they provide all a plant needs to be healthy fertilizer a plant needs to be healthy.

Hydroponic Fertilizer – The Macro Nutrients

John Daniel — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 14:10:05 +0000

In my reading I’ve read that there are between 13 and 17 essential plant nutrients. I think the people who say there are 17 are padding the list a bit since they include carbon, oxygen and hydrogen and sometimes water but that is all academic. When you get down to the nitty gritty most people who think think of hydroponic fertilizer when they think of the chemicals you add to the water. And when your thinking of plant food there are 3 groups of nutrients on your mind: the Primary Macronutrients, the Secondary macronutrients and the micronutrients. In this article I’m going to deal with the Macronutrients and the red head step child of plant nutrition calcium.

The macronutrients are the most important nutrients to the health of your plant.The macronutrients are Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. They are the NPK you read about on the labels of Hydroponic fertilizer.

Nitrogen(N)
Nitrogen is essential for the healthy leaf growth and is an important part of the chlorophyll that give plants a healthy green color. Without enough nitrogen plant growth slows down and new leaves are stunted and pale.

Phosphorus (p)
Phosphorus is essential for good root growth and flowering and seed production.Phosphorus also is important in plant metabolism. Plants that are not getting enough phosphorus are stunted and may show a purplish coloring to the foliage.

Potassium (K)
Potassium is the 3rd of the big three plant nutrients Sometimes potassium will be called potash. It is used by the plant in a lot of enzymes and to control how water is used in the plant. If a plant isn’t getting enough potassium it will be more sensitive to drought and excess water and to high and low temperatures. Potassium has a huge effect on the quality of the produce your growing and your plants general pest and disease resistance.

Calcium(Ca)
Calcium which is a general considered a secondary macronutrient along with magnesium and sulfur is my candidate for the fourth primary macro nutrient. Calcium plays an important role in nutrient transport the strength of the plant and the quality of the produce. Calcium deficiency result in stunting of the plants growth and weaker plants. But here is a little known factoid, calcium makes up a larger percentage of plant material then potassium. Because calcium makes up such a large percentage of plant material, I consider it the fourth primary macro nutrient.

These four elements form the back bone of any hydroponic fertilizer program. A good quality hydroponic fertilizer will have these 4 ingredients as well as magnesium,and sulfur,the other secondary macronutrients and iron, copper, manganese, zinc, boron, molybdenum and chlorine, the micronutrients. These 13 plant elements are the reason hydroponic nutrient feed plants so effectively.

The Basics of Indoor Home Hydroponics

John Daniel — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:39:32 +0000

Growing indoor plants at home successfully using hydroponics comes down to controlling environmental factors. If you want to grow plants hydroponically you need to control the light, the nutrient solution and air supply.
One of the most important factors you need to control while growing indoors is the light. You need to supply enough light for the best growth but at the same time you need to make sure you don’t provide so much light you burn your plants or overheat your growing space. You can choose to use artificial light from metal halide, high pressure sodium, fluorescent or leds to provide the all the light your plants need. Or you can use sunlight and use an artificial light just to supplement the light supply so you can grow plants that require more light.
Another important factor to control is the nutrient solution. When growing hydroponically the nutrient solution provides your plants with all the food they need to grow as well as the water they need to survive.since there is no soil to provide nutrients your fertilizer must be complete, with all the macro and micro nutrients a plant needs. It must also be mixed to the correct strength. If it is too strong the nutrient solution can burn the plants roots and kill the plant because they won’t be able to absorb water. If it is too weak it can slow plant growth and cause the plant to develop nutrient deficiencies.
The final important environmental factor that needs to be controlled is air supply. Plants need both carbon dioxide and oxygen. The carbon dioxide is used in the process of photosynthesis which the plant uses to make sugar for food. The oxygen is needed both around the root and around the foliage. Plants produce oxygen but remember they also use it just like you. If you want to grow healthy hydroponic plants make sure that there is a healthy amount of oxygen near the roots and enough air movement around the leaves so that the plant can get both enough oxygen and enough carbon dioxide.
Growing indoor hydroponic plants can seem very complicated. But if you can control the most important environmental factors you will find it as easy or easier than growing using soil.