Exploring Nutrients & Hydroponics
For Healthy Plants
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your door! Hydroponics is often defined as "the cultivation of plants in water." Research has since determined that many different aggregates or media will support plant growth; therefore, the definition of hydroponics has been broadened to read "the cultivation of plants without soil." Growers all over the world are using hydroponic techniques due to the lack of a large water supply or fertile farmland. |
Hydroponics Plant Nutrients
Hydroponics Plant Enhancements
Hydroponics Growing Media
Hydroponics Equipment and Systems |
Home gardeners have used hydroponics on a smaller scale to grow fresh vegetables year round and to grow plants in smaller spaces, such as an apartment or balcony. Greenhouses and nurseries grow their plants in a
soilless, peat- or bark-based growing mix. The nutrients then are applied to the growing mix through the water supply. Therefore, this is also a type of hydroponics.
Soilless gardening offers many advantages to the home gardener. Since a sterile medium is used, there are no weeds to remove, and soil-borne pests and diseases are minimized, if not eliminated completely. Properly grown hydroponic plants also are healthier and more vigorous because all of the necessary growth elements are readily available. The plants can mature faster, yielding an earlier harvest of vegetable and flower crops. Hydroponic gardens use less space since the roots do not have to spread out in search of food and water. This small space requirement makes hydroponics ideal for home gardeners, and it makes better use of greenhouse space. The big advantage to hydroponics is the ability to automate the entire system with a timer. Automation reduces the actual time it takes to maintain plant growth requirements. Automation also provides flexibility to the gardener as one can be gone for long periods of time without having to worry about watering the plants.
Hydroponics offers many advantages for commercial agriculture. Cultivating plants without soil eliminates the need for vast farmland and allows crops to be produced in greenhouses or even in the desert sands. Hydroponic techniques also allow for precise water and nutrient application directly to the roots of each plant. Water is reused in these systems and less is lost through evaporation and run-off. Therefore, arid lands, such as deserts, can be transformed into productive lands using limited amounts of water. Growing plants hydroponically is not difficult if one understands the basic principles. As long as plant growth requirements are met, there are numerous hydroponic systems that can be used.
Growth Requirements
Whether a plant is grown in soil or a soil-less medium, there are many factors affecting plant growth and productivity. All plants require nutrients, water, light, and air to grow. A plant grown in soil obtains nutrients and water from the soil, when available. With hydroponics, because water and nutrients are always available, the plant is never stressed. Sunlight and air are readily available in an outdoor hydroponic system. However, for an indoor system, one must provide an adequate light source and good air circulation. Metal halide lamps, sodium vapor lamps, gro-lights, or fluorescent lights used in conjunction with incandescent light bulbs provide adequate light. Plant roots must have oxygen available to keep them alive. Healthy roots (which are white in color) are responsible for the uptake of all nutrients for the plant. If the roots die, it is impossible for the plant to survive, even if the plant growth requirements are met. Air circulation around leaves is important since it mixes the air and allows the plant to draw out the carbon dioxide necessary to carry on photosynthesis. Air circulation also helps prevent fungal diseases caused by moist, stagnant conditions. Indoor units often have a small fan to circulate the surrounding air.
Nutrient Deficiencies
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Symptoms
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Deficiency
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Entire plant is light green in color; lower leaves are yellow; growth is stunted.
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Nitrogen |
Entire plant is bluish-green, often developing a red or purplish cast; lower leaves may be yellow, drying to a greenish-brown to black color; growth may be stunted.
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Phosphorous |
Leaves have a papery appearance; dead areas along the edges of the leaves; growth is stunted.
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Potassium |
Lower leaves turn yellow along the tips and margin and between the veins; the lower leaves wilt.
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Magnesium |
Young stems and new leaves die.
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Calcium |
Leaf tissue between the veins is lighter in color; yellowed; papery in appearance.
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Zinc |
Leaf tissue appears yellow, while the veins remain green.
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Iron |
Leaf edges appear dark green or blue; leaf edges curl upward; young leaves permanently wilt.
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Copper |
Young leaves turn pale green, while the older leaves remain green; plant is stunted and spindly.
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Sulfur |
Growth is stunted; lower leaves have a checkered pattern of yellow and green.
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Manganese |
Leaves are stunted, pale green, and malformed.
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Molybdenum |
Young leaves are scorched at tips and margins.
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Boron |
Occasionally, the nutrients in hydroponics are used up faster than they can be replaced, and the plants will show a nutrient deficiency. A quick fix for most of the deficiencies is to spray the leaves with an all-purpose, foliar fertilizer, although this will not completely solve the problem. The best remedy is to change the nutrient solution every week instead of every two weeks. In some cases, it may be necessary to switch to a different type of hydroponic fertilizer, if the same deficiencies persist. There are several books
about hydroponics on the market that give other remedies for a nutrient deficiency problem.
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