Saturday, October 22, 2011

Hobby Hydroponic Systems - A Fun Hobby For All Ages

!±8± Hobby Hydroponic Systems - A Fun Hobby For All Ages

There are many benefits to growing with hobby hydroponic systems. If you have ever gardened before you know that interacting with nature and watching something grow that you cared for with your own hands has many rewards. With hobby hydroponic systems you can have all of the benefits of a traditional garden without the back breaking work of cultivating the soil, weeding, and fighting insects.

Young children can especially benefit from this hobby by learning responsibility and the science of growing plants. A simple hydroponic system can give a child year long satisfaction and rewards from watching their plants grow and ultimately harvesting them. You will notice that kids who grow their own vegetables with hydroponics will eat a more varied and healthier diet. Also these vegetables will be more nutrient rich because you will be providing a balanced solution delivered directly to the root system of the plant. These vegetables will be jam packed with everything a growing child needs.

Let's talk about the elderly for a minute. Do you have a relative that has gardened or farmed all of their life but due to old age or illness doesn't have the energy to continue with the pastime that they love? With hobby hydroponic systems they can start back gardening and not have to worry about the hard labor required for a traditional garden. Also since you can grow indoors and without soil you don't have to worry about harsh chemicals such as herbicides and insecticides to make sure your plants are protected. By not having to use these chemicals your vegetables will taste better and be healthier for you.

Consider growing with hobby hydroponic systems. Your family will be closer and healthier and you can also save money because you won't have to pay those high grocery prices for fresh vegetables.


Hobby Hydroponic Systems - A Fun Hobby For All Ages

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Wednesday, October 19, 2011

NFT 1 Preset Recycle Timer

!±8± NFT 1 Preset Recycle Timer

Brand : C.A.P | Rate : | Price :
Post Date : Oct 20, 2011 05:25:49 | Usually ships in 24 hours

  • Rated for 15 amps @ 120 volts
  • The simplest devices available for turning a device ON and OFF at precise intervals
  • Easy to operate

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Monday, October 17, 2011

Hydroponic Gardening Methods

!±8± Hydroponic Gardening Methods

Hydroponic gardening does not involve the use of soil. Instead, it deals directly with the life-providing elements which plants find within soil. These sustaining needs are water and nutrients.

The first book dealing with the concept of growing plants without soil was written in 1627. This was called Sylva Sylvarum. It was written by the English philosopher Sir Francis Bacon and printed a year after that. It has since grown as a significant area of research.

There are a few different techniques which may be used in the creation of a hydroponic garden. Of course, each of these different methods is still based upon the same basic principles of how plants survive. The basic needs of plants include the aforementioned water and nutrients. Sunlight and carbon dioxide are also necessary.

The soil-free gardening techniques may use a solid medium, such as sand, gravel, or rock wool. Generally, the medium simply serves to provide stability and support for the root system of certain plants. Some of these gardening options will use a nutrient solution only, as opposed to a medium.

Examples of specific hydroponic techniques include ebb and flow systems, nutrient film technique (NFT), drip systems, aeroponics, and wick systems.

Ebb and flow systems are a hydroponic gardening option which requires a medium. The amorphous volcanic glass known as perlite is a popular option for this because it has good water retention. Of course, no nutrients are derived from the medium itself.

For this particular technique, the plant is placed within a medium and both are placed within a tray. Periodically, water and the nutrient solution are pumped up into the tray from a reservoir. This is how the plant absorbs all the fuel it needs. With the help of gravity, the tray slowly drains the liquid back down to the reservoir.

The ebb and flow option is best suited to smaller plants, such as herbs. In fact, it is better for smaller set-ups in general. For this reason, the system is commonly found in homes.

Nutrient film technique is water-based and makes use of sloped, wooden channels. Mineral rich solution is pumped into the higher part of the channel. The water solution flows down to the lower portions of the channel where it drains and may be reused. Large and secure root systems are a requirement for plants used in this system. Tomatoes and cucumbers are common examples.

Drip systems are similar to ebb and flow ones. A difference is that the water flows through many small tubes rather than one large one. Another difference is that the water drips down to the plants from above. These are ideal for small plants which have not yet developed a root system.

Aeroponics, like NTF, is another system which requires no medium. Plants sit within a tray which is placed within a box. The roots of the plants extend beyond the tray. A mineral and water solution is kept at the bottom of the box. The liquid is drawn up through a pump system and continually sprayed over the plants. It is the most difficult system to set up. However, it is ideal for large commercial uses.

The final hydroponic gardening system is another medium-based one. It is called the wick system. Plants are placed within a tray. Nylon ropes extend beyond the tray from the base of the roots. These ropes draw up water and nutrients from a reservoir, bringing them to the roots. This does not require any addition pump equipment to be purchased.


Hydroponic Gardening Methods

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Saturday, October 15, 2011

Factors that Influence Successful Seed Plant Propagation

!±8± Factors that Influence Successful Seed Plant Propagation

When choosing seed plant propagation, every gardener wants to create optimal conditions for their plants to get off to a good start. There is a lot that goes into germination, and if even one factor is missing, it can have profound effects on your entire crop. Here are the factors that most greatly influence how well your seeds will germinate.

Water - Soaking up water is the first step in germination and therefore successful seed plant propagation, so it should be at the forefront of the mind of any hydroponic gardener. The factors that influence water uptake are the amount of water available in the medium and the thickness and density of the seed covering. You can increase water uptake by making sure that you choose a medium that holds water well. Rockwool, for example, is a very popular choice for exactly this reason. You can also treat your seeds in a number of ways to weaken the shell. These techniques can be as simple as using sandpaper to make the shell thinner to as advanced and complex as soaking the seeds in acid until the shells are worn off.

Temperature - A favorable temperature is also essential for germination. This can be tricky, as optimal temperature can change from plant to plant; the best temperatures for germination are usually a little higher than the best temperatures for seedlings. Optimal germination temperatures can range as low as seventy or seventy-five degrees F for plants such as lettuce, celery, spinach and asparagus. Those that thrive in the middle of the range, about eighty to eighty five degrees, include cabbage, tomatoes, turnips, beans and peppers. On the high end, with plants that do will in temperatures of up to ninety five degrees, you will find squash, watermelon and pumpkin.

You must be cautious about it getting too hot in your grow room. Temperatures of over one hundred degrees have shown to kill seeds in less than a day. Even instances where seeds can survive in such high temperatures, it may suck the moisture away from the medium, making it more difficult for your seeds to germinate. This is why purchasing a couple auxiliary fans attached to a thermostat is a smart investment if you happen to live a particularly warm part of the world.

Oxygen - The rate of respiration increases in the seed dramatically during germination. This means that there is an increased need for oxygen. You may try to keep your grow area well ventilated to prevent it from becoming too stuffy, and use fans to circulate the air.

Light - Light is vital at all stages of plant development, and germination is no exception. Make certain that your seeds are not planted so deep within your medium that they do not receive adequate light. At this early stage and through the seedling stage, it is possible to use a completely white light source, such as florescent or white LED lights. Past that, however, you will need to switch to colored LED lights or high intensity discharge (HID) lights.


Factors that Influence Successful Seed Plant Propagation

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Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Hydroponics in Commercial Food Production

!±8± Hydroponics in Commercial Food Production

Commercial Hydroponics

With the first successful application of hydroponics techniques in the 1930s the stage was set for a paradigm shift in crop production from conventional geoponics or cultivation in soil to hydroponics or soil less cultivation. The first crops to be commercially harvested with hydroponics included tomatoes and peppers, but the techniques were soon successfully extended to other crops such as lettuce, cucumbers and others. It was not long before hydroponics techniques were successfully adapted even to cut flowers production; in fact any plant can today be grown hyrdroponically.

Commercial Systems Overview

Commercial hydroponics systems can be classified into bare root systems comprising nutrient film technique (NFT), deep flow and aeroponics systems and substrate systems.

Bare root systems do not use media to anchor the plant roots; the roots are left bare while in substrate systems plant roots are anchored in media such as perlite, vermiculite, sawdust, peat etc. Hydroponics is basically all about growing plants in a controlled environment and this is best provided outdoors in greenhouses that can incorporate several means to monitor, regulate and control the environment inside them. For instance, the air entering the greenhouse can be filtered to exclude entry to pests and parasites that can harm plant growth. Such means help provide optimal conditions for plant growth both in and out of season. In fact, hydroponics allows cultivation throughout the year which makes for year round availability of hydroponically grown produce at all major supermarkets across North America. Valued at 2.4 billion dollars the hydroponic greenhouse vegetable industry has a growth rate of 10 percent per year and accounts for nearly 95 percent of the greenhouse vegetables produced in North America.

Hydroponics Advantages

The extension of the growing season is not the only advantage contributing to the growing popularity of hydroponics production with both growers and consumers. There are several additional advantages as well including nutritious, healthy and clean produce, improved and consistent vegetable quality and elimination of the use of pesticides and herbicides. Pesticides and other chemicals used in conventional agriculture have an adverse environmental impact; the run off from these chemicals contaminate groundwater supplies. Commercial hydroponics systems eliminate these toxic chemicals and contribute substantially to keeping the groundwater free from contamination.

Yields

Commercial hydroponics systems have proved more productive than conventional systems of agriculture not only in the laboratory but even in actual practice. Most commercial hydroponics greenhouse facilities are built large to take advantage of economies of scale; typically these cover areas more than 10 acres while smaller ones measure around two acres. In the research greenhouse, yields with hydroponics techniques have averaged around 20 to 25% higher than in conventional soil cultivation. In actual commercial practice, however, over a number of years, the yield of hydroponically grown tomatoes can be more than double that of soil based systems due to the reduced turnover time between crops, better nutrition and crop management. Additionally commercial hydroponics growing techniques are also less demanding of chemicals for root zone sterilization and control of pests, weeds etc.

The dramatic increase in yields with hydroponics is best illustrated if we consider the actual production figures of soil grown and hydroponically grown produce. Field grown tomatoes average yields ranging between 40,000 to 60, 000 pounds per acre; on the other hand top growing hydroponics facilities in the US and Canada report average yields of more than 650,000 pounds of tomatoes per acre. Additionally, given the fact that only 10 years ago top hydroponics producers were producing around 400,000 pounds per acre, the increase in yields with improvements in growing practices has been truly phenomenal. Similar production figures can be quoted for other agricultural produce like cucumbers with 10,000 pounds per acre for field production and 200,000 per acre for hydroponic greenhouse yields. Hydroponics lettuce and pepper yields too average around four times the corresponding yields of agricultural production.

Global Trends

Given the number of advantages of hydroponics it is not surprising that hydroponics techniques are increasingly finding favor for commercial food production in many countries all over the world. According to recent estimates countries having substantial commercial hydroponics production include Israel - 30,000 acres, Holland 10,000 acres, England 4,200 acres and Australia and New Zealand around 8,000 acres between them. The fastest growing area for commercial vegetable greenhouses is Mexico. There are several reasons for this including free trade and favorable winter conditions that attract vegetable growers in large numbers. Mexico has summers that are considered hot in the summer, but with greenhouses located at the right altitudes vegetables can be grown in the hot summers as well as the cold winters. Though much of the produce comes from low tech plastic houses, many of these greenhouses use hydroponics technology, which indicates the growing popularity of hydroponics in commercial food production.


Hydroponics in Commercial Food Production

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