Posts Tagged "Hydroponics"

Basic Indoor hydroponics Gardening Guide – Grow Light Reflectors

Posted by admin on Sep 3, 2010 in Gardening | 3 comments

by Duncan Creamer

Basic Indoor hydroponics Gardening Guide – Grow Light Reflectors

Grow Light Reflectors

Often neglected as to their importance, grow light reflectors play a major role in a good indoor hydroponic garden system. Light plays a great role or the most important role in photosynthesis. The use of grow light reflectors in your garden enhances light distribution and ensures uniform distribution. Discounts on quality grow light reflectors are easily available and a super cost effective way of improving your personal garden productivity and efficiency. With effective planning, the use of the right lighting system together with grow light reflectors greatly expands your garden area.

Size and shape are important factors when considering the right grow light reflector. Grow lights and their configuration and personal preference for the amount of light needed to grow your plants are taken into consideration. Horizontal placement of the lights and reflectors are effective ways of mounting this system. Garden size also determines what shape and size of grow light reflector to be used. Smaller grow light reflectors produce higher intensity light beams because of their shorter travel distance.

 Air-Cooled Reflectors

 For additional ventilation and heat control, air-cooled reflectors are used. Indispensable for those gardens cramped in small spaces because of the amount of heat generated by grow lights. It maybe difficult or close to impossible to maintain proper ventilation in such enclosed garden by the use of external fans. Usual setup for indoor hydroponic gardens includes grow lights with air-cooled reflective hoods covered by glass heat shields. This allows the light source to be placed closer to the plant canopy ensuring better light penetration. Gardens with no special cooling requirements also gains to benefit from its installation. This is the ideal setup of an indoor hydroponic garden system; investing a little more provides maximum garden performance and enjoyment for gardeners and hobbyists.

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Hydroponics Gardening:Food Growing for All

Posted by admin on Sep 2, 2010 in Gardening | 0 comments

by indigo_jones

Hydroponics Gardening:Food Growing for All

Hydroponics gardening is great for anyone who wants to do some gardening but may not have the space or a lot of experience.

Hydroponics gardens are different from regular gardens in that there isn’t any soil involved, which makes them great for indoors.  The word begins with hydro for a reason!  Hydroponics gardening  isn’t anything new, either, as it’s been around since as early as 600 BC.  The other wonderful thing about hydroponics gardens is that they can be grown anywhere.  For example, NASA uses indoor hydroponics gardening for growing produce during lengthy missions.  Lettuce is also being grown on U.S. submarines.

To get started with hydroponics gardening, you will need to germinate seeds just as you would for any other type of garden.  Then you choose a growing medium.  The medium can be anything from composted bark to peat moss to sand to nutrient-enriched water.  You can also purchase kits that have everything you need to get your hydroponics gardening started—and growing.  For the beginner, this is probably the best way to go, as you can get everything you need along with expert advice.

The benefits of gardens grown using the hydroponics gardening method are many.  They allow you to grow your produce organically, without harmful pesticides or fertilizers.  And since water is re-circulated in a specialized system, you also conserve water.  This is great news for people who live in drought-stricken areas or in places where water is scarce. Even in these places hydroponics gardening is possible.

Hydroponics gardening is also very low-maintenance.  Because the produce is grown in water, you don’t have to do any digging.  Even better, with these gardens, there’s no weeding involved either.  Plants grow faster, too.  Thirty to forty days from seed to fruit or flower is average.  This is 30-50% quicker than plants grown in soil.

Also, hydroponics gardening makes it possible to grow produce year-round.  This means you can enjoy fresh vegetables and fruit anytime of the year without paying outrageous prices for them.  Plus, since there’s really no telling just how fresh the produce is in your local market, you’ll never have to guess about freshness and purity again.  You’ll know because you grew it yourself under circumstances you control.

This is an important advantage that hydroponics gardening has over traditional gardens.  When you grow plants in soil, even under the best of circumstances, you don’t know for certain that your plants are truly getting the nutrients vital for them to grow.  In gardens grown hydroponically, you know your plants are getting the very best nutrition right at their root system.  This not only ensures the highest quality possible, but it also takes the guesswork out of your hydroponics gardening.

Gardening: Hydroponics Gardening

Posted by admin on Aug 24, 2010 in Gardening | 0 comments

by antonychammond

Gardening: Hydroponics Gardening

Many gardeners are beginning to switch to Hydroponics gardening for many different reasons. These types of gardens are small and can easily be grown inside and are perfect for most vegetables, especially the red tomato. Also the equipment required for Hydroponics gardening is not expensive and they are relatively easy to manage.

Hydroponics gardening is the growing of plants without soil, in other words, “dirtless gardening”. There are many methods of Hydroponics gardening, most of which work better than regular soil gardening because it is easier to give the plant exactly what it needs when it needs it. Plants will only receive what you give them; therefore you will be able to regulate the pH, nutrients, nutrient strength, water amount, and light amount. This makes it imperative that you research the kind of plants you will be growing so you know what they need to survive.

Hydroponics gardening is only as difficult as you make it. It can be complicated if computers with sensors are used to control water cycles, nutrients, and light for the plants. However, it can also be as simple as a hand watered bucket with a single plant. The normal home Hydroponics system is usually made up of a few basic things: a growing tray, light (natural or artificial), a reservoir, a water controlled pump for watering (or some type of watering equipment), and some form of air pump to give oxygen to the nutrients.

The growing medium used in Hydroponics gardening can be any number of things, such as Rockwool, perlite, coconut fiber, gravel, sand, vermiculite, or even air. You can get instructions from a gardening store or online or buy separate parts and build your own. There are also kits already assembled for sale in gardening supply stores.

There are certain micro-nutrients that are necessary for healthy plant growth including magnesium, sulfur, calcium, cobalt, boron, iron, copper, manganese, and zinc. These nutrients are absolutely essential to plants and if missing could cause the food to not be as healthy and in some cases even cause health problems for those who eat it. It is very important that you use a quality fertilizer when Hydroponics gardening.

Another important aspect of Hydroponics gardening that must be closely regulated is the pH balance. When the pH balance varies the plants will lose the ability to absorb nutrients that it needs. The ease with which the pH in Hydroponics gardening is tested and controlled give it a huge advantage over regular dirt gardening.

Even though there are hundreds of different variations, Wick, Water Culture, Ebb and Flow, Drip, N.F.T., and Aeroponic are the six most basic types of Hydroponics gardening systems. Hydroponics gardening is easy, affordable, and you can have fresh produce, flowers, herbs & spices all year long!

Learning About Hydroponics Gardening

Posted by admin on Aug 21, 2010 in Gardening | 0 comments

by Abby Lanes

Learning About Hydroponics Gardening

Many gardeners are beginning to switch to Hydroponics gardening for many different reasons. These types of gardens are small and can easily be grown inside and are perfect for most vegetables, especially the red tomato. Also the equipment required for Hydroponics gardening is not expensive and they are relatively easy to manage.

Hydroponics gardening is the growing of plants without soil, in other words, “dirtless gardening”. There are many methods of Hydroponics gardening, most of which work better than regular soil gardening because it is easier to give the plant exactly what it needs when it needs it. Plants will only receive what you give them; therefore you will be able to regulate the pH, nutrients, nutrient strength, water amount, and light amount. This makes it imperative that you research the kind of plants you will be growing so you know what they need to survive.

Hydroponics gardening is only as difficult as you make it. It can be complicated if computers with sensors are used to control water cycles, nutrients, and light for the plants. However, it can also be as simple as a hand watered bucket with a single plant. The normal home Hydroponics system is usually made up of a few basic things: a growing tray, light (natural or artificial), a reservoir, a water controlled pump for watering (or some type of watering equipment), and some form of air pump to give oxygen to the nutrients.

The growing medium used in Hydroponics gardening can be any number of things, such as Rockwool, perlite, coconut fiber, gravel, sand, vermiculite, or even air. You can get instructions from a gardening store or online or buy separate parts and build your own. There are also kits already assembled for sale in gardening supply stores.

There are certain micro-nutrients that are necessary for healthy plant growth including magnesium, sulfur, calcium, cobalt, boron, iron, copper, manganese, and zinc. These nutrients are absolutely essential to plants and if missing could cause the food to not be as healthy and in some cases even cause health problems for those who eat it. It is very important that you use a quality fertilizer when Hydroponics gardening.

Another important aspect of Hydroponics gardening that must be closely regulated is the pH balance. When the pH balance varies the plants will lose the ability to absorb nutrients that it needs. The ease with which the pH in Hydroponics gardening is tested and controlled give it a huge advantage over regular dirt gardening.

Even though there are hundreds of different variations, Wick, Water Culture, Ebb and Flow, Drip, N.F.T., and Aeroponic are the six most basic types of Hydroponics gardening systems. Hydroponics gardening is easy, affordable, and you can have fresh produce, flowers, herbs & spices all year long!

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Indoor Hydroponics Gardening – Essential Basics You Must Know!

Posted by admin on Aug 1, 2010 in Gardening | 0 comments

by antonychammond

Indoor Hydroponics Gardening – Essential Basics You Must Know!

Though the term Indoor Hydroponics Gardening sounds very technical and scientific in nature, it has a pretty simple meaning. It means the method of gardening without using soil and using only water, sand, air and gravel instead. Delving into the etymology behind the word hydroponics reveals that ‘hydro’ stands for water and ‘ponics’ for labor.

To surprise you further, Indoor Hydroponics Gardening is being practiced for hundreds of years. It is common knowledge among history enthusiasts that how Marco Polo heaped praises on the Chinas Floating Gardens and How the Babylons Hanging Gardens conceptualized way back in 604-562 BC are still a sight to behold.

There are mainly two methods of practicing Indoor Hydroponics Gardening. The first is passive Indoor Hydroponics Gardening that involves a wick system to help plants derive all the required nutrients from an external source. This method is very similar to the way a wick functions in a kerosene lamp by extracting all the nutrients from a feeding source. This method is not very popular owing to its poor efficiency as compared to the other method.

The other method is the active Indoor Hydroponics Gardening method wherein the plants are supplied with the essential nutrients either by the way of pouring them directly on the roots or employing a pump to help them penetrate into the roots. The two significant kinds of active hydroponics systems that can be considered are the nutrient film method or the ebb and flow method.

The nutrients that we just spoke about that are essential to be carried onto the roots are addressed by many distinct names like plant food, hydroponics fertilizers or just plain hydroponics nutrients.

Once the gardener is through with the initial considerations and hard work involved in setting up an Indoor Hydroponics Garden, he/she can just sit back, relax and watch the real drama unfold. You will be surprised to see the size of the produce of the hydroponics gardens as compared to the traditional ones.

It is an established fact that vegetables grown by the method of Indoor Hydroponics Gardening are normally 30%-50% bigger in size compared to others. This is mainly due to the fact that because the supply of nutrients is taken care of in an external manner, the plants can completely focus on the development aspect of their growth. It is also observed that not only does the Indoor Hydroponics Gardening result in larger vegetables but also quicker produces.

If you are a fresher in the field of Indoor Hydroponics Gardening, it is recommended that you increase your knowledge base through many useful resources available either on the internet or through many books readily available in bookstores or gardening clubs. All such information will help you carry out your experiments in a safe and result oriented manner. You should however be aware that access to all such specialized kind of information comes for a small fee. If that puts you off, you can try logging onto a few websites or forums on internet where you might find some free information as well. Do a google search and you’ll be there.

Owing to its cleanliness, ease and swiftness, Indoor Hydroponics Gardening is being touted as the future of gardening. It is an environment friendly method of cultivation that conserves natural resources like water and soil in the best possible manner.

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