HYDROPONICS

This was war I tell you. I have been trying to grow my own vegetables in my garden for years and all I get back for my hard work is puny inedible excuses for nutrition that are just not worth the effort. I was explaining to my friend Fred as we were eating food that I had enough and asked him how he grew such wonderful vegetables. He took me into his hothouse and said that the secret to his success was hydroponics. He had experienced the same problems as me until he had been told about hydroponics and now he grew fantastic vegetables that he cooked for all his meals at home and also sold some to the local organic restaurant as well.

Hydroponics I thought when I got home and I sat down to read a book that Fred had kindly leant me I wondered what I would need so I had a look online to do a bit more research to find out what I would need to grow my vegetables and herbs with hydroponics.

What you need to grow vegetables with hydroponics (or at least some of them):

1. Grow tent/Room – this is a portable structure that you can erect if you don’t already have an indoor or protected area that is  suitable for your hydroponics setup. The have vents for fresh air, supports for the lights and many other features to make sure that your hydroponics venture is very successful;

2. Inline fan – for your hydroponics setup means that you have air circulation and even more importantly they usually have a carbon filter so that the air is not only circulated but filtered and cleaned as well to maximize the effects of your hydroponics setup;

3. CO2 Regulator – having a CO2 regulator for your hydroponics means that you can accurately gauge the air quality for your plants and adjust it if necessary;

4. Grow lights – essential for your hydroponics setup as nothing grows without them. You need to take into account the size of your space. The strength of the lights that you need and where /how you mount them so as you don’t burn your hydroponics plants;

5. Grow pots – these grow pots are one of the alternatives for growing your plants with hydroponics. Again it depends on the individual’s requirements and the types of plants that you intend to grow whether these are suitable or not. The fabric version is great to allow more oxygen circulation to the roots of your plants which in turn will accelerate growth if it is done correctly they also don’t hold as much heat as their plastic counterparts;

6. Seed starter sponges – you use these to propagate the seeds of the plants that you want to grow in your hydroponics setup. They usually have pre-drilled holes with reusable frames and mean that the seedlings can be extracted without damaging them once you wish to replant them;

7. Fertilizer – the fertilizer that you decide to use will depend on who you are and your feelings around fertilizers. Me if anything I will be using organic natural solution to maximize the growing process with my hydroponics. To me it is a pointless exercise to grow my own vegetables and add nasty toxic substances to them just to make sure they grow a little bigger. There are a lot of options on the market and all I can suggest is to read the label whatever you add to your plants will be added to your body once you consume the;

8. Timer – it is important with hydroponics to time the light cycles, as they will often define the quality of the end product. You want a balance of light and dark for maximum growth and taste so you want a reliable timer that you can rely on to set and forget that will operate as you need it to;

9. Water temperature – it is important to keep the water used in hydroponics at the proper temperature without too much variation. There are a number of different products that can help you do this and the most appropriate unit depends on the size of your hydroponics setup and the area that you need to cover. From thermometers and manual checking to automatic water chillers there are solutions that will fit every hydroponics budget;

10. Indoor grow units – for the small time hydroponics enthusiast who may only want to grow a small herb garden inside there arennow available small units that are self contained that are  made specifically for this purpose. They are small enough to sit on a bench at home and have an inbuilt light to provide all of the “sunshine” that your herbs will need to grow big and strong.

They are simple and straightforward units that take all of the calculation out of hydroponics that is required for building larger more sophisticated systems. Whatever you choose to do with hydroponics it’s an effective way of growing your own vegetables and herbs to supply the family dinner table. You don’t have to have a big yard or even an outdoor area to be successful with hydroponics and for me hydroponics gave me a solution to my difficulties with the outside soil. I now have a system that grows all I need all year round – I don’t have to worry about frost or the excessive heat in summer. I can maintain a balanced growing atmosphere to grow quality produce all year round.