Category: Hydroponic Growing Materials

Seeking the best hydroponic nutrient solutions

Understanding the hydroponic nutrient solutions that your plants need requires some basic chemistry skills. It’s simply because you need to do several combinations to maximize the effect.

Many people think that hydroponic solutions as the same soil fertilizers. It’s only fair since they have similar work and can consist of similar ingredients. You can use some fertilizers such as manure as a hydroponic solution.

What are the hydroponic nutrient solutions?

The solutions can be different depending on the plants that you are growing. Each plant needs a different set of nutrients. The general is the same, but you will need to adjust some of them to maximize the growth.

Plants need both macro and micronutrients. As you know, macronutrients are what the plants need in large quantities. They are Nitrogens, Phosphorus, and Potassium.

As for the micronutrients are mainly minerals such as Manganese, Iron, Zinc, Boron, and others. The plants may lack the micronutrients but they can’t be lacking macronutrients.

Remember that nutrients work to boost the plant. Therefore, each plant may have different nutrient needs. It depends on the plant types as well as the stages. Which part you want to boost also matters on which nutrients to have more.

You also need to pay attention to the light intensity and weather conditions. Adjusting the nutrients alone won’t give the intended effects when the weather is not supportive.

If you want to avoid headaches, you can always buy the solutions in the stores. They have all the micro and macronutrients that your plants need. Another option is to go for regular soil fertilizers. But if you do so, you need to adjust the amount used.

Managing a hydroponic garden

The right nutrients are essential in managing a hydroponic garden. Of course, you need to put into account the plant types and medium as well.

Managing a hydroponic garden takes more than just time and gardening skills.

Many things are equally important to the garden. It’s more than just regularly giving nutrients and keeping enough light. You also need to pay attention to the weather and water quality.

Keep in mind that there is always a solution for every problem. If you can’t get enough light, then you need to install more artificial lights in your garden. And when the water quality is low, you can always use a filtration system to improve it.

Also, good to note that each plant is different. Tomato and lettuce are vegetables, but they have different nutrient needs. You need to keep an open mind and be willing to learn for more nutrient combinations.

You will soon understand what nutrients to add when you want your tomatoes to be juicier or redder. Feel free to keep experimenting with your plants and nutrients to figure out the result that you want.

You can always buy ready-made hydroponic nutrient solutions at a gardening store. But remember that you can have some fun managing your garden and adjusting the nutrients for your plants. The satisfaction when seeing your effort comes to fruition is priceless.

Hydroponic Growing Materials

Where to get hydroponic growing materials

You may have been wondering where you can get the hydroponic growing materials. It’s only natural if it’s your first time doing trying the soil-less planting method.

As you know, a hydroponic system uses no soil to plant. Instead, you are using other mediums such as rice husks, sands, wool, and other items. Technically, any material that can absorb water and have enough pore for the air to go through can be a hydroponic media.

Are hydroponic growing materials affordable?

There is a large selection of mediums that you can choose from. And most of them are affordable to buy. Don’t forget that you can get the starter pack that consists of a plastic sheet, short pipes, and net pots.

Still, don’t worry about all this since you can adjust the media and material with your budget.

If you want to do hydroponic from scratch or on a tight budget, you can look for the materials around the house. The key to hydroponic is keeping the water level and adjusting it based on what your plants need.

One thing you need to pay attention to is the average cost. Some materials can be expensive because they are only available in large quantities. If you’re having this issue, you can adjust the material and use another more affordable material.

You can buy these materials at your nearest home depot. Or some of you may be even luckier and have them at home. Planting Hydroponics doesn’t necessarily need a vast space. But it needs thorough care and keen eyes to monitor the growth.

Can we make it ourselves?

The short answer is yes. You can make the growing materials by yourself. Making here means creating the best media for your plants. Sometimes, you need to go through some trials and errors first. That is the only way to find which media gives the best result and costs the least.

You can combine several materials such as rock wool and rice husk, or pumice stone with sand to create a growing base for your plants. If you have time to experiment, feel free to do so.

The beauty of doing hydroponic is that you can swap the growing materials from one with another. But keep in mind that the medium that you use affects how well the plant absorbs the nutrients.

In some cases, experimenting with the mediums can turn your hydroponic garden to be more productive. But of course, you may face failures at times. When that happens, then you need to step back and see if it’s the case of wrong material or wrong technique.

Hydroponic growing materials are everywhere. You can use daily items such as mason jars and old bowls for the container. If you start this as a hobby, you will have a lot of fun finding which medium is the best for your plants. Remember that each material is unique and may not be suitable for the system and plants you have in mind.