Hydroponic Resources

One can enjoy hydroponics gardening any season of the year, but it is especially rewarding during the cold and dark winter days. Being a type of indoor gardening, this system implies growing of plants in a special growing medium, supplied with nutrient solution, instead of soil. Similarly to other indoor gardening methods, with hydroponics gardening it is necessary to use grow lights, which allow plants to grow, make food and reproduce themselves through flowers or fruits. For this purpose HID lights are commonly used. There are several types of HID or high-intensity discharge lights: for example, metal halide grow lights and HPS grow lights. Every HID light requires digital ballast, which is necessary in order to control electrical current within the lamp, and thus provide its seamless functioning. Supplying light with a reflector is highly recommended as well, since it allows pointing the light in proper direction and increasing the light, produced by the bulb itself. Other type of grow lights are cost-effective and lightweight LED lights, where light-emitting diodes are used to produce light in colors beneficial for keeping up plant growth. The use of any of these lamps is highly effective for hydroponics growing.

Metal halide lamps contain aluminum arc tube, filled with argon, mercury and a variety of specific metals. It is a set of different metals that provide a particular color of the light, produced by the lamp. The argon gas works to start a lamp, when electric current is introduced at the electrodes on either end inside the arc tube. Under the effect of electric current mercury and metals start to vaporize and the light is produced. The key benefit of these lamps is that being small in size they produce a significant amount of light.

HPS grow lights, also known as high-pressure sodium lights, also have an aluminum arc tube inside, similarly to metal halide lights. However, the filling of the tubes is different: in case of HPS there are sodium, mercury, and the Xenon gas inside. Both metal halide lights and HPS lights require ballast for stabilizing electric current and providing smooth performance.

LED grow lights are small, but work very efficiently providing a lot of bright light. In general, they are similar to the lights, used for decorating Christmas tree. The light is produced when electric current moves between the two crystals inside a diode, which works as semi-conductor. Furthermore, LED grow lights usually have a reflector and a lens to direct the light where it is needed.

Light is essential for health of your indoor plants, but choosing a proper grow light may be challenging and always requires thorough considerations. Grow light fluorescent offers the benefits of high effectiveness, no heat generation and full spectrum of light. For comparison, incandescent bulbs also produce a lot of light, but at the same time they generate a lot of heat, which is not always beneficial for indoor plants.

In order to grow indoor hydroponics successful certain equipment is required, just like with any other hobby or activity. Furthermore, in order to get the best results, one should use the right tools and accessories. Proper grow lights are essential for indoor gardening, and the success or failure will depend on the choice of grow lamps.

High-intensity discharge or HID grow lamps are considered to be the most energy-saving and effective at the same time. These lamps are small, but they can generate a large amount of light, which closely resembles natural sunlight. Among the HID lights high-pressure sodium or HPS lights are recommended as the first grow lights to start working with.

Digital ballast is necessary for all HID lights in order to control the electric current flow through the electrodes in the arc tube. Digital ballast maintains the electric current within the proper limits, because too high current will lead to bulb explosion, while too low electric flow will not be able to generate light. That is why, when using HID lights it is crucially important to use accurate digital ballast.

Light reflector is also among the required equipments to be used along with grow light. Made of shiny material, the main task of the reflector to direct and intensify the light from grow lamp. It is reasonable to light the exact area, where your plants grow, without wasting light at some surrounding areas. Plants benefit only from the light, which is directed right onto them.

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Types of Hydroponic Systems

Hydroponics is a method of growing vegetables and plants, being incorporated by gardeners in their indoor gardening methods. Instead of putting seeds in the ground and waiting for them to grow, hydroponic systems make use of a special solution high in nutrients which enhances the growth of plants. The high concentrates of water and fertilizer from this solution give the plant all the nurture it needs, without having to be planted in soil.

Hydroponics is a method of growing vegetables and plants, being incorporated by gardeners in their indoor gardening methods. Instead of putting seeds in the ground and waiting for them to grow, hydroponic systems make use of a special solution high in nutrients which enhances the growth of plants. The high concentrates of water and fertilizer from this solution give the plant all the nurture it needs, without having to be planted in soil.

Hydroponic most important benefit is the fact that this system protects plants from negative influence such as insects, temperature changes and disease. Hydroponics might turn out to be the most popular gardening method because more and more people live in cities without ground space to plant flowers or plants. Furthermore, hydroponic gardening offers us a unique way of overcoming the need for soil, since plants can be grown without it.

Hydroponic gardening comprises several types such as wick, deep water culture, aeroponics, ebb and flow system sub-irrigation, drip and nutrient film technique; all these systems offer advantages to those interested in hydroponics depending how they wish to grow plants. Hydroponic gardening can take place in a nutrient solution or in a growing medium. The nutrient solution represents the liquid nutrients that the plant roots feed with while the growing medium is a type of substance which contains sand, clay and rockwool and in which plants are grown.

Hydroponics is recommended also because it doesn’t require a large quantity of water, aeroponic gardening being the best option for those who have a limited amount of water available. The roots of the plants are sprayed with the nutrient solution without being placed in a growing medium. Aeroponics is the system which uses the smallest quantity of water.

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Temperature Humidity and C02

.One of the most overlooked environmental factors affecting indoor plant growth is airflow. Good air flow assists temperature control, CO2 replenishment, reduces humidity and lowers the occurrence of certain diseases as air movement across the plants assists photosynthesis and transpiration which plays a major role in calcium transportation, preventing blossom end rot and tipburn in certain plants. One of the most effective methods of cooling a room is by having good ventilation and airflow drawn in from outside and vented out again.

Horticultural extractor fans are used to remove warm stale air from grow rooms. An extractor is essential for the maintenance of an optimum growing environment. The constant removal of stale air will lower the humidity and maintain higher CO2 levels.

If an adequate input of fresh air is not maintained then plant growth will virtually ceases. Most plants species will grow most effectively in the temperature range of 20 - 28 Degrees Celsius, so the mid twenties would be optimal.

It will not be difficult to maintain this sort of temperature in your room whilst the lights are on as they are a great source of heat and as well as light. If the temperature becomes too high, a simple extractor fan should serve to reduce it. This extractor can be easily linked to a thermostat to ensure that your room never reaches the high temperatures that can have a negative effect on growth rates.

When your lights are off, you should expect a gradual decline in temperatures. In the colder parts of the year, they will drop well below the ideal growth range. Research has shown that night cycle temperatures are just as significant as day cycle temperatures in plant production and it is in fact the relationship between the two which has the most effect on the final shape and productivity of the plant.

It is important to avoid large temperature fluctuations between the day and night cycle as this can lead to weak and poorly formed plants. It is ideal for most species to try and bring day and night temperatures as close together as possible and this is not as difficult as it sounds.

The amount to ventilation required to maintain the ideal temperature range depends on such things as the temperature of the incoming air, the heat load from lights in the room and the amount of air drawn into and flushed out on a regular basis. Airflow patterns should be considered in the design of any room. The placement of fans, vents and air mixers needs to be carefully planned to create good air movement in through the inlet vents, over and under the plants and out again. For odd problem areas where still, moist air is collecting, small mixer fans can be installed.

Fans in a grow room, not only vent out humid air but bring in drier air to the growing environment and this is essential for not only good plant growth but also disease prevention. When humidity levels are high, condensation can become a problem.

Condensation on plants provides the perfect environment for many types of fungi and bacterial diseases to infect your plants. It takes only a few hours of this for most diseases to infect plant tissue and take hold, so reducing your humidity levels and preventing condensation are one way of protecting plants from disease. There are two types of fans commonly used in growing areas - intake and extraction or vent fans.

Intake fans pull air into the growing area, extraction fans push it out. Ideally both should be used to vent out and draw in fresh air, inside the growing area, air needs to be mixed and circulated over the plant surfaces.

REMEMBER: Air movement with the correct sized fan, well placed mixer fans to displace air around plant surfaces and fan controllers to get maximum climate control are vital to the success of your indoor crop.

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