Top Three Factors To Consider Before You Choose Hydroponic Nutrients And Get Excellent Results

In hydroponic, the plants are supplied with essential nutrients with water and other growing medium. Nutrients are the basic staple for hydroponic growing and as we know different plants have different nutrient requirements. What kind of nutrients you use and how much to supply depends on the kind of plants you are cultivating. Choosing appropriate nutrients for your plants depends on different factors that can make or break your grow. Hydroponic nutrients include necessary elements vital for plants to grow which includes primary and secondary nutrients, micro-nutrients (also known as trace nutrients), vitamins and hormones.  Selecting the right meal for your plants is one of the most crucial decisions a gardener can make, and the choice shouldn’t be made easily. Here are three important questions that you should ask yourself before you buy specific nutrients.

PH level: It is necessary to know about the ph level of the nutrient solution you pick. If the solution you choose is too acidic or too alkaline, it might damage your plants growth. Most plants prefer acidity between 5.5 and 7.5. More alkaline nutrient solution can prevent your plants from absorbing the nutrients; high acid mixture can eat away the roots. Hence it is necessary to check the acid and alkaline level of the nutrients you are about to buy. Most nutrient solutions are slightly acidic, and tap water comes in range of about 7 or 8. You need to simply mix up the hydroponic solution with the tap water to get the right range. Choose a ph perfect nutrient solution and keep monitoring the ph levels periodically so that your garden grows well.

NPK: When you read through the bottle of nutrients, you’ll notice three numbers printed on the front. This is known as N-P-K ratio viz. N for Nitrogen, P for Phosphorus and K for Potassium. This ratio states how much macro nutrient each bottle contains. For instance, if it says 8-8-8, then the solution usually contains 8% Nitrogen, 8% Phosphorus and 8% Potassium. This adds up to 24% and the remaining 76% are typically micro nutrients such as Boron, Calcium, Copper, Iron, Sulfur and other chelating chemicals.  The NPK percentage differs at different stages of plants as discussed below.

Grow, Micro and Bloom: Understand the growing stage of your plants. The specific needs of plants changes from time to time as they grow, so it is necessary to supply proper nutrients at every time. The hydroponic growth has four important phases namely germination, growth, maturation and harvest. Each stage has specific nutrient requirements. Hence it is vital to understand the plants growth period and supply the best hydroponic nutrients. When you supply extra nutrients to your plants, the blooming takes place early leading to quick production cycle. To give more potent and proven results, Advanced Nutrients has come up with tested product Grow Micro and Bloom that gives you maximum yield and growth at every stage.

Another big factor that affects your buying decision is your budget and the type of system. Hydroponic growing system such as Drip, Water culture and Ebb and Flow are the most commonly used system by gardeners hence they require liquid nutrient solution, whereas aeroponics and N.F.T. systems uses nutrients in spray form. Not all brands are costly. Do not switch to buy something which is cheap and poor quality that gives you worst production. It will be useful if you set a range on what you can afford and buy the highest quality that you can accommodate in your budget. This would be the best way to set a nice hydroponic garden without investing too much.

Organic Aquaponics: Delivers Fresh Food To Your Plate With Home Aquarium

Aquaponics is a mix of hydroponic farming i.e. growing without soil and aquaculture (fish farming), which benefits both the environment and human beings. Hydroponics gave birth to aquaponics, which made farming a whole lot easier. The process includes planting vegetables in the containers altogether with water and fish. Hydroponics is not fully chemical safe, it involves usage of chemicals and fertilizers that promote growth. Hence, you're deprived of 100% natural produce. Yet, the aquaponics is safe from all sort of harmful chemicals. The fish waste is used as a nutrient solution, which is absorbed by the growing plants creating a wonderful environment for them to grow. If you have a well-maintained home aquarium then aquaponics would be a cup of tea. You don't have to be an amateur gardener to produce fresh food all year around. Imagine the luscious berries enjoying with friends & family in winter!

What makes aquaponics unique from other farming methods? The fact that it cleans the water used in the aquarium for the aquatic life. Simultaneously, the water flowing from the reservoir is enriched with fish waste that helps to provide essential nutrients for growing plants. The fish help the plants while plants help the fish, this is a great way to grow plants where one's waste turns into treasure for other. Firstly, it is vital to understand that aquaponics is an organic method of cultivation that involves use of live animals. Thus, the use of any chemicals or organic fertilizers might harm your fish. The fish produce waste that turns into a nutrient essential for the health of plants. It is necessary to supplement your fish with high-quality food frequently in a day, through this you can maintain good plant growth rates. For example, kelp-based organic waste used as a foliar spray is beneficial for plants without hampering the fish. Before using any products organic or synthetic make sure that it is fish safe.

How does the entire process work?

Fish emits ammonia and other waste, which are dangerous for the aquatic life and also reduces the quality of water in the reservoir, but the harmful elements for fish is useful for growing plants. Plants growing at the top of fish tank love to imbibe all fish waste. In aqua farming, water available in the fish tank is supplied to a plant bed where multiple microbes crush down the Ammonia into Nitrite and lastly into Nitrate. Other useful elements along with Nitrate are absorbed by the plants to facilitate growth and, give clean water. Unwanted waste is thrown out of the reservoir either through mechanical process or grow beds. At the later stage, clean water returns to the fish tank, which provides quality oxygenated water that fish requires. There's nothing better than aquaponics, a natural, sustainable process to produce good quality food without the use of chemicals.

Aquaponics system has numerous advantages. It minimizes the waste production, from the fish tank and hydroponic system. Fish is the completing addition to any garden that help grow organic food with less effort and great rewards. Beside growing crop vigorously and quickly, it has different benefits as well. Aquaponic farming involves few inputs and less maintenance, and the best part is – no water change at all! You can grow crops like onions, chives, strawberries, salad greens and many more in a single system. In addition, the system uses space saving techniques to grow to its potential. Recently, aquaponics has gained huge popularity throughout the world. Canada, Australia, The United States, The United Kingdom and other developing countries has seen a rise in both home gardens and commercial farms.

If you're an aquaponic grower or planning to start with fish farming then don't miss the golden opportunity to meet other hydroponic farmers within your field. The National Aquaponics Association will be organizing their annual conference meet this year at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tuscon, Arizona. The event will kick off from September 20th and end on 22nd. The entire objective of the conference is to facilitate quality conversations between growers and to provide detail insight into the farming industry for both beginners and experts. The three day event will comprise of presentations and tours of different farming operations. Joel Salatin from Virginia’s Polyface farms will start the conference with Max Meyes from Mendocino Ecological Learning Center and Nor Cal Aquaponics in California. As we all know, Tuscon's mayor is a fan of the event and will hopefully host the beginning ceremony. Apart from this, 20th September is crowned as the city's official “Aquaponics Day” by the mayor.

If you want to learn more about auqaponics or want to become an expert in the field then you can't afford to miss the event. Sit back and enjoy the Arizona conference all about farms, gardens and system on the journey route. Get deep into the event, know more about aquaponics from notable speakers from the respective farming industry and build relation in “Meet and Greet” sessions at the cocktail party. What else a plant grower can ask for? Registration has started, see you there!

Top Five Incredible Tips To Get Most From Your Hydroponic Gardening

Hydroponics is for gardeners who are impatient looking for quicker results. Growth rates in hydroponic is 50% much higher than that of soil gardening. But something that grows quicker, does it yield more. However as far as related to hydroponic gardening, it’s a perfect YES! Growing hydroponics with faster harvests and maximum yield is not an easy task. Though, a proper applied technologies and information can fetch you the desired results. Here are simple yet surprising tips for increasing hydroponic yield and get most from your hydroponic gardening.

Keep an updated grower’s journal: It’s difficult to track all the changes made or elements that are used in hydroponic gardening. One day you see plants with healthy fruits while the other day the fruits are rotten. The reason might be many but it is necessary to understand the reason and avoid it in the future. This can be achieved only by writing down all the changes occurred in your garden. This will help you track changes in watering, nutrients, pH level, lights and how your plants fare on a daily basis. Finally, you can use the data to indentify and understand factors that are helping your grow.  Eventually, you can come up to the conclusion and find better solution to get maximum yield.

Careful supply of water:  Most amateur gardener shares this valuable tip for hydroponic growing. If you supply excess water to your plants, your roots become rancid. If little water is used, roots will dry off. It is very essential for hydroponic gardener to understand and carefully make adjustments to achieve optimal hydration. Do you change water of your hydro system? Few hydroponic systems employ reuse of same water again and again such as Ebb & Flow. This method might save you water and money but plants are deprived of best living environment. If you wish to get better and faster harvests then you’ll need to supply fresh water. How about installing a water filtration system? This system will clean the water supplied to the plants. Water filtration set up depends on your hydroponic systems. Another important tip, notice your plant after watering. For e.g. if your plants enliven after watering, water frequently. If it appears wilt short then water less.

Pruning: Any time you see stem or leaves that appear rotting or useless, prune it off as soon as possible. This is because rotten leaves or stem will affect your plant and the entire foliage in your garden. Anything that is rotten should be removed because the nutrients and energy invested would be a waste. It all depends on the cleanliness of your growing environment. The cleaner hydroponic gardening, the bigger yields you get.

Nutrients: Hydroponic gardening is all about nutrients. Nutrients are plant meals and if your plants are not getting essential nutrients to grow, you will be deprived of healthier and bigger harvests. Hydroponic nutrients or fertilizers are the base of successful hydroponic system. What are the plant mineral requirements? Plants need twenty minerals to grow properly. Hence, make sure that your nutrient solution must contain these essential minerals. Do remember to buy your hydroponic nutrients from reputable hydroponic retailers.

Proper Growing Environment: Growing environment plays a vital role to achieve the desired results. A proper growing condition increases overall plant traits such as quality and yield. Here are some of the basic growing conditions that plants require, if grown hydroponically.
Ventilation- If you’re growing indoors then make sure that you supply proper ventilation with hygienic air. If not, your plants will lack oxygen and this can cause bacteria in the air. A proper ventilation setting is must for indoor grow room.

Light- Outdoor hydroponic plants require 8 to 10 hours of direct sunlight whereas artificial lights are the poor substitute for sunlight but special growth lamp can be used to grow seedlings. Place your plant in a shaded area because over supply of direct light can burn your plants.

Temperature- Try and maintain temperature balance in your hydroponic growing environment. Temperature too high or low results in reduced production and abnormal development.  Warm season plants grow well between 75o to 80o F whereas cool plants enjoy 50o to 70o F.

Plant spacing- The most common mistake made by hydroponic gardeners is that they thinking fewer plants can’t give more yields. They fill up too many plants in small space available and hence plants stretch to compete for light. This results in excess shading affecting the photosynthesis process of plants. Hence, proper plant spacing needs to be maintained to get better harvests.

Top Eight Reasons To Support Organic Farming In Future

Our lifestyle selection may have a big impact on the world. The daily choices we make have short-term and long-term effects. It is very essential for us to choose our lifestyle wisely and for those going organic is contributing to the world and environment in better way. Organic farming is the future of farming able to meet the demand of world population in a healthy way. Well, organic farming is an agricultural activity used to produce crops without using synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, genetic modified organisms and any form of plant growth regulator. You can even switch to hydroponic farming, a technique to grow plants in nutrient solution mixed in water eliminating the use of soil. There are several benefits of organic farming to producers, consumers and environment. Here are top eight positive features to support organic farming in future.

Encourage Biodiversity: Organic methods such as crops rotations helps to build soil fertility and raising animals to encourage biodiversity which maintains health of each breed. Natural farms are boon to wildlife and improve our ecosystems.

Reduce Farm Pollution: Conventional farms create their own pollution in form of synthetic fertilizer and chemical pesticide overflow that affects the areas around them. Additionally, organic farm is more beneficial and cause less impact on the environment.

Reduce Toxic Lead: Majority farmer’s uses non-organic methods which make use of harmful chemicals for pesticides and fertilizers and other substances for livestock. If more and more people switch to natural gardening would have environmental benefits in the future.

Healthy and tasty food: It’s true, food produce organically taste better and healthier than conventionally grown crops. Organic produce has less nitrate contents that lead to sweet-flavor fruits and contain higher levels of anti-oxidants. Hence, organically grown foods lead to better taste.

Soil-quality: Conventional farming uses chemical fertilizers that destroy soil quality. If organic technique is applied eliminating the use of ammonia and chemical fertilizers- we can see an increase in health of the topsoil. This in turn produces vegetables and fruits which are higher in micronutrients and minerals.  Besides using organic method, easiest and effective option of growing healthy crop is hydroponic crop farming that does not include the use of soil and hence maintain soil degradation.

Climate Change: Chemical-free farming avoid usage of chemical stuffs, hence reduces non-renewable energy consumption. It takes significant amount of fossil fuels to produce artificial fertilizers used in traditional farming methods. Thus organic farming increase the amount of carbon dioxide restore to the soil, which in turn reduces global warming and greenhouse effect.

Reduces Water Pollution: Chemical used in conventional farming method mostly flows into the groundwater reservoir that causes water pollution. Organic farming enriches the soil quality, removes the risk of water pollution and rehabilitates soil in areas where soil damage has been occurred.

Preservation: Food is the one thing shared in every culture. It’s a universal festivity. Organic gardening celebrates biodiversity and healthfulness. It also removes chemical toxins from the environment and food. Cloned, GMOs and other modified food are introduced in the market. These foods are of big risk to the health of people. Whereas, organic farms might help to combat all this issue and give us fresh and healthy harvest every time.

Addition to this, organic farming and hydroponic farming is the future of agriculture. Hydroponic window farming will save you money and time giving you healthy produce as always. Go green organically!

Aquaponics System: The Fascinating New Way of Growing Food with Fish

One person’s trash is another’s treasure. The waste of one group of sheds becomes a source of nourishment for another just like in organic farming. It’s an on-going lovely circle. The same concept works in aquaponics system or fish farming. Aquaponics is a process of cultivating crops and fish together in a controlled growing environment. The fish breeds in tanks while the plants are grown hydroponically i.e. without soil. The word aquaponics is a mix of ‘aquaculture’ and ‘hydroponics’ as it shares qualities of both the system. Aquaponics systems have three different yet important components viz. Fish, Microbes and Plants. Microbes do most of the important work in the nutrient process cycle. Like Hydroponics, aquaponics eliminates the use of water, but you can either use growing medium such as lava rock, clay pebbles or gravel. If not, your plants can simply grow in the nutrient enrich water from the fish tanks. Aquaponics system is the future of agriculture and many developing countries have seen an increase numbers of home gardens and commercial farms. How does the aquaponics system work? Let’s find it out.

The Aquaponics Cycle:

Fish give off waste and ammonia, which are harmful for the fish and also decrease the water quality, but what is harmful for fish is nutritious for plants. Plants love nothing more than to suck all fish waste. In fish farming, water from the fish tank is provided to a plant bed where billions of natural microorganisms break down the ammonia first into Nitrite and then to Nitrate. Nitrate and other elements are later absorbed by the plants to help in the growth and, serve clean water. Solid, unwanted waste is filtered out of the water either through grow beds or mechanical process. Clean water later returned to the fish tank, which increases the quality of water and provide oxygenated water that fish needs. It’s a sustainable and natural process that produces high quality food with no use of chemicals.
If you’re a hydroponic grower then you might have much equipment needed to get started. As standard hydroponic tools and equipments is suitable for fish farming applications. Pumps, trays, reservoir, air-stones, media, tubing, ventilation and pH monitoring are all important components of indoor aquaponic system. The use of components depends on the type of plants you want to grow. For instance, plants like peppers, tomatoes and corn would grow well in ebb and flow design whereas salad, green leafy vegetables prefer a constant flow or DWC design.
Aquaponic gardening requires fish foods and few inputs with less maintenance involved. Plus, no water change, ever! Fish are balancing addition to garden and help you grow fresh organic foodstuffs with great rewards with little effort. Fish farming, not only grows vigorously and quickly, but it has other different benefits as well.

Here are few of the positive aspects of using aquaponics system.

More organic plants- In fish farming, the plants are placed close together above the water; hence it fits more plants in the same space available. The plants roots are always immersed in nutrient rich water and hence eliminate the risk of over-crowding.

No weeding and no soil pests- The aquaponics removes the need of annoying weeding, which creates trouble for your plants to grow. No more need of pesticides and hence no more soil pests and your plants grow free of toxic chemicals.

Less usage of water- The system uses 2% of the total water as compared to normal gardening. This is because, the water is re-circulated constantly and you don’t lose soil absorption. The plants roots are flooded in a nutrient solution and you don’t have to worry about watering. Imagine this could save half of your money and water.

Sources of Income- When you try fish farming, you have more plants and you know what to do with it. Aquaponics system produces both fish and plants and you have multiple sources of income.
Plants grow faster- In aquaponics, plants grow much faster than other growing system. For instance, lettuce takes 60+ days to ripe and mature whereas in this system, it takes only 29 days.

Perfect for a busy life- This system requires only few minutes of maintenance to make things work properly. It’s a perfect solution for patios, hard areas, roof gardens, even poor soil. They need suitable light and good power supply, and you can start off with fish farming almost anywhere.

Hydroponic Tips and Tricks for Beginners

Hydroponic gardening is nothing but growing plants without the use of soil. It is an efficient way of providing food and water to plants. Soil’s function is to supply the nutrients to plants and support plants’ roots. A plant uses food and water which are present in soil. In hydroponic gardening, the plant is provided with a complete nutrient solution and a growing medium to support the plants roots. This helps plants for the easier access to the water and food. If you’re starting a hydroponic garden for the first time, the plenty of resources and information is available online. Good way to start a hydroponic gardening is to follow factors that are useful while gardening. Some of them are mentioned below:

Grow: You can grow vegetables, flowers and medicinal plants hydroponically. Some of them are tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, medicinal plants and orchids. You can start a garden from ordering seeds online or simply purchase it from garden centres.

System or method: There are majorly six different types of hydroponics system which you can use for your garden namely Ebb and Flow, Drip, Deep Water Culture, Aeroponic, N.F.T and Wick System. You can pick any of the system, lighting and growing medium that suit your plants, your garden size and your budget.

Garden area: You need to decide whether you need a small or a large hydroponic garden. Air circulation and capacity to control the humidity and temperature in the room depends on your grow area. Your garden also requires clean water and safer electrical supplies. A steady supply of water with perfect ph level is very essential. For indoor gardening, you require electrical power supply to run water pumps, grow system and fans.

Accessories: According to the complexity and size of the hydroponic garden, you require various accessories such as light timers, fans, water pumps and meters that helps in measuring temperature and humidity levels.  You can take assistance from other hydroponic gardeners for selecting different garden needs.

Lighting system: If you are planning to start an indoor garden, light is the main essential component. Understand your grow room and select a perfect lighting for your garden. You can choose high-intensity grow lights that can provide sun like lighting to your indoor garden.

Nutrients: In hydroponic gardening, you don’t use soil to grow plants. Hence, you must provide complete balance nutrition to the plants. Plants need majorly six types of micro-nutrients namely Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, sulphur and magnesium. Some of the micro-nutrients a plant requires are little traces of vitamins, iron, boron, zinc, manganese, copper and cobalt. Choose a perfect nutrient solution for your plants that supply good amount of macro and micro nutrients.

Growing medium: Hydroponic means gardening without soil and hence you must replace soil with a perfect growing medium. These growing medium will supply nutrients to the plants. There are huge varieties of growing medium you can use namely Coconut coir, Organic soil, Mats, Compressed bricks and rock wool. 

How To Grow Nutritious Mushrooms Hydroponically

Mushrooms are highly healthy and unique fungi that can be grown all around the world in moist, warm and protected place. Unlike other green plants, they grow in dark, hence plant grow lights are not required if appropriate warmth, nutritional and moisture needs are met. Mushrooms live in indoor setting, especially in a hydroponic garden which is both humid and perfectly protected. If mushrooms are grown hydroponically, they are grown as fungi. Hydroponic mushroom has a unique appearance and finer quality. Here are few useful tips on how you can grow mushrooms in your own cheap hydroponic garden.

Types of mushrooms:

There are huge varieties of mushrooms that you can grow in hydroponic gardens such as shitake, dark brown mushrooms, nameko or butterscotch with a bright orange crown, oyster with almost frilly cap, also suitable are maitake, enokitake, lion’s mane, button mushrooms- an usual mushroom available in most kitchens in the world.

How to grow?

There are two ways of growing hydroponic mushrooms one is pre-populated cake and the other inhabits a growing medium with spores, later is more difficult. The easy way of growing hydroponic mushrooms, buy a growing kit. The grow kit is the best method for growing mushrooms and quiet appropriate for your cheap hydroponic gardens. The grow kit has a small block filled with growing materials and mushrooms spores. You need to soak the block with cold water for a few hours and put them in a dark place with temperature extending to 75ºF. If you already have a hydroponic garden with suitable controlled environment, it’s an easy for you to start over with growing hydroponic mushrooms. Growing hydroponic mushrooms requires a dark room and cold water with a proper mix of hydroponic nutrients. Hydroponic nutrients will add more taste and nourishment to your mushrooms. Hydroponic eliminates the soil usage and hence soil testing is not required. unlike other traditional growing method.

After your first harvest, you can keep the sawdust block to rest for a week and then recycle it for growing another set of mushroom growing cycle. But, with a new cycle the number and size of the mushrooms may reduce as the quantity of hydroponic nutrients lessen on same growing medium for several mushroom planting phases. When the sawdust is completely used, you can add up to your garden compost heap.

If you wish to grow mushrooms hydroponically but without a kit then start with planting mycelium, unless it’s strong and big enough to hold a mushroom growing cycle. You can use a fresh mushroom from a local culture seed bank. Now place the fresh mushroom, on a dish and let mycelium to grow out. After few weeks, you can see a formation of clean grain like millet, rye or wheat. And after four weeks, mushrooms will start growing on the grain. You can also use grain seeds to yield more grain. Make sure that you perform this action in a cleaner environment to avoid contamination of molds and harmful bacteria. For using this method of growing hydroponic mushrooms, it is advisable to clean the filter, growing medium and grow room carefully.

Uses:


Mushrooms are used for many purposes apart from eating and selling in the market. Some mushrooms are also known for its medicinal purposes and are dried and minced to make medicines and are even harvested and sent to health food companies. There are numerous uses for less than modest hydroponic mushrooms.