Dispelling Those Common Misconceptions about hydroponics – by Paul Lavakis © Paul Lavakis – All Rights reserved -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Hydroponics is an often misunderstood part of the field of horticulture. Let’s separate the fact from the fiction and take a look at what exactly hydroponics means to the world of gardening and food production. The word hydroponics is derived from Latin and means “working water.” Hydroponic growing is the growing of plants without soil. All of the nutrients plants normally get from soil are instead delivered to the plants through water. Hydroponic gardeners add create nutrient mixes to add to the water to give the plants everything they need to thrive. One common misconception about hydroponics is that is a new fangled, fashionable trend. Actually, it has been practiced for centuries. Even the ancient Egyptians used hydroponics to grow their food. Great strides have been made in the field since the 1970s, wh Read More Here

Defining and Preventing Root Rot in your hydroponic Garden Root rot is a common yet unwelcome pest in any hydroponic garden. This fungus-like organism Pythium has many species. The three most common species of this organism are Pythium irregulare, Pythium aphanidermatum, and Pythium ultimum. These species of Pythium can be found in water sources as well as in soil. Pythium aphanidermatum is most commonly found in Poinsettia plants and few other plants. Pythium aphanidermatum and Pythium irregulare cause the most damage in ebb and flow systems because the organism has a swimming spore stage that can attack your plants quickly. Pythium ultimum is most closely associated with soil and sand though it is not as prevalent as the other species of this organism. [caption id="attachment_33" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The Best Package For Setting Up A Home Hydroponic System "][/caption] The Pythium organism is found in pond and stream water as well as the sediment from these Read More Here

The Troubles that High Temps Can Have on your hydroponic Plants High temperatures in your hydroponics system can cause many problems for the plants being grown. The temperature within your hydroponic system should be maintained at a level where plants are able to survive. A high nutrient temperature can cause your plants many problems. If the temperature becomes too high, it’s advisable to use an extractor fan to reduce them, but it’s not a good idea to rapidly cool the environment. Plants don’t like fluctuations in temperature, and practices such as this could kill plants. The extractor can be linked to a thermostat to ensure that the room never reaches the high temperatures again. High temperatures can have a negative growth affect on many of your plants. Temperature of the nutrient solution should be in the range of 65 to 80 degrees. If you’re going to add water to your reservoir, then it’s a good idea to allow the water to come to the same temperature as the water in Read More Here

Aquaponics – hydroponic’s First Cousin in the Gardening World Many people may have heard about aquaponics and hydroponics, but not really understood what the difference between these two terms is, or even what they mean to the world of gardening. Hydroponics, which is a Latin term meaning “working water,” is the growth of plants without soil which involves supplying all of the nutrients usually supplied by soil to plants via water. Aquaponics combines the breeding of fish in a controlled environment with hydroponic plant growing – the plants and the fish are bred together in one integrated system, which benefits both of them. The plants and fish come together to create a sustainable, healthy ecosystem for food production, which leads to increased output of both plants and fish, as opposed to fish farming or hydroponic gardening independently. Aquaponics solves a problem that consistently faces fish farmers and hydroponic gardeners. The water that farmers use to breed their f Read More Here