How do I get started in Hydroponics?
This is the question I most want to answer in this book. I will discuss the major systems and hopefully lead you to the conclusion that Hydroponics is easy
To get started in Hydroponics is as simple as deciding what system will best suit the plants I wish to grow? This question determines the type of system.
What is Marijuana Hydroponics and How to Grow Weed with Hydroponics?
In Latin, the word hydroponics means literally “water working.” Growing marijuana with hydroponics is the practice of growing plants in either a bath or flow of highly oxygenated, nutrient enriched water. Growing marijuana hydroponically simply means that you grow the plants in an inert, sterile growing medium instead of in soil. All of the plants’ nutrient requirements are supplied when you mix water with the nutrient solution. Hydroponics introduces the water, nutrients and air to the roots through the growing mediums and since using hydroponics bypasses the web of roots and the energy required for the plant to acquire the nutrients you get faster growing plants.
The systems described further on explain whether they suit small plants like lettuce and herbs with smaller root systems or larger plants like tomatoes and cucumbers with larger root systems, short term crops like lettuce or long term crops that will be in the system for more than 3-4 months. Remember, plants such as tomatoes can be harvested and removed, from short-term systems, before they clog up the system with roots, but some crops will be harvested for long periods. E.g. flower and cannabis crops may cut without the actual plant being removed. These can be an extreme example, of a long-term crop, but their roots could be trimmed, or plants replaced with young seedlings instead of re-cropping.
We’ll discuss more with each system. Step by step
1. LIGHT
Light is the energy that creates life. Life cannot exist without it, and cannot thrive without enough of it. Plants process up to 5,000 foot-candles of light intensity to get the energy to grow. The sun is around 1,000,000 foot-candles. Shade can be lower than 1,000 foot-candles.
Plants will enjoy much light, but some do not like all the heat put out by sunlight. Shade cloth is ideal for hot conditions, also to keep plants from, insects, wind, rain and other damage, but rarely is the requirement for low light levels.
2. OXYGEN TO NUTRIENT RATIO
Oxygen keeps a plant’s roots healthy and allows the plant to take up nutrient. Oxygen is the key to growth rate. Without oxygen around the roots, the roots will rot and die. You cannot grow in water, unless you dissolve oxygen in it. The recommendation is that you do not grow in water, just feed enough nutrients to keep the roots moist, with access to oxygen. The 5 systems I have described in this book will have varying degrees of oxygen according to their design. The oxygen level or the oxygen to nutrient ratio is the key to success.
3. NUTRIENT STRENGTH
Assuming you have a commercial brand of nutrient made by a good Australian company such as Accent Hydroponics, Growth Technology or the like, you will get excellent consistency in the nutrient. Always use a 2 part A&B style nutrient where possible. Nutrients must be solely designed for Hydroponics. Soil fertilisers require bacteria to break down more complex elements into useful ones. They are likely to be less soluble, not pH adjusted, and are usually too slow to release the necessary elements to be suitable for Hydroponic systems. Plants may grow for a little while in Hydroponics using soil fertilisers but they generally exhibit minor mineral deficiencies, then develop major deficiencies, until even changing to a Hydroponic nutrient can not correct the disorders. Soil fertilisers normally kill hydroponically grown plants, but not overnight. Certainly they will never produce as nature intended them to if you do not supply the right amount of minerals in a soluble form.
There are a range of companies offering a grow (High Nitrate) nutrient and a bloom (high Potash) nutrient.
4. NUTRIENT pH (ACIDITY AND ALKALINITY)
pH is the level of acidity or alkalinity of the nutrient solution. Think of it as sweet and sour. Most nutrients in town water will be within the range of 6 to 6.5 pH. ALL PLANTS GROW IN THIS RANGE IN HYDROPONICS. Anyone who tells you otherwise, is either horticulturally trained in soil only or is reading materials drawn from soil based research and is therefore untrained for plant nutrition in Hydroponics.
5. TEMPERATURE AND FRESH AIR
Optimum temperature depends on the plants. Generally, Phosphorus up-take is severely impeded below 15 degrees Celsius, so that’s our bottom temperature. It is recommended to heat the nutrient if it is below 15 degrees Celsius for more than 4 hours per day. Maximum temperatures are, (as a guide) around 30 degrees Celsius but as long as it is well below the temperature where humans start to sweat the plants should be all right.
Use common sense. If the plants are in 20-25 degree temperatures and 40-60% humidity, then it is likely that you would feel comfortable where the plants are. By coincidence, plants tend to grow best in climates approximate to human comfort.