Hydroponic Gardening Information

Are you a plant killer? Did your tomatoes fail to produce again? If so, hydroponic gardening may be just the thing for you.

Exactly what is hydroponic gardening? To put it simply, hydroponic gardening is growing plants without soil. Instead of using soil, plants are grown using a nutrient solution. Plants can either be grown with their roots in a mineral solution only or in another type of growing medium such as perlite, gravel or rockwool.

In normal plant growth, the soil holds the mineral nutrients that the plants need to grow, but the soil itself isn't essential. The soil is just acting as a reservoir or a place to store the nutrients that the plants need in order to grow. In hydroponic gardening, the nutrients are in the water supply that goes to the plants roots.

There are two main types of hydroponics: solution culture and medium culture. Solution culture is when the plants roots arent in any type of solid medium such as dirt, sand, or gravel.

Medium culture is growing plants with the plants roots in a solid medium. The different types of medium are:

Diahydro a natural sedimentary rock medium

Expanded clay small, round baked spheres of clay

Rockwool basalt rock that has been heated at high temperatures and spun back together

Coir coconut husk fiber

Perlite a volcanic rock that has been superheated into very lightweight expanded glass pebbles.

Sand cheap and easily available but heavy and requires sterilization

Gravel the type that is used in aquariums

Brick Shards broken up brick

Polystyrene Packing Peanuts sometimes too lightweight and are only used in closed tube systems

There are also two types of irrigation methods: subirrigation and top irrigation. Subirrigation involves the nutrient solution being pumped into the medium solution at regular intervals and draining all the way through the medium and back into a reservoir. Thus, the solution passes completely through the medium. This involves the use of a simple timer and keeps the medium flushed with nutrients and air. Top irrigation is accomplished by applying the nutrients only to the surface of the medium.

With all this information, hydroponic gardening may sound complicated, but in reality, it isn't. Many former plant killers are having great success with it and love it because it doesnt use soil. With the use of a grow light, plants can be grown anywhere even your garage and the plants generally yield higher amounts of produce. Hydroponic gardening is fun and productive and if you were previously know as a plant killer among your gardening friends, you just might salvage your gardening reputation.

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