Step into your potager garden, where vegetables grow almost out of thin air it would seem, out of soil. Unravel the mystery of hydroponics, and one would think of something to do with science fiction, but no, just plain, simple earth(less) reality. It’s where the water has taken over the conventional duties of the soil and will feed right into your favorite greens. Hydroponics is a technique that releases the gardener from dependence on the capricious elements of Nature, be it sunlight or soil fertility; thus, Hydroponics renders an easy way of gardening. Water mixed with a little nutrient supplement if need be is the magic formula for your plants; it can be so simple for the beginning gardener with Hydroponic gardening. To the home gardener to don your lab coats–at least a friendly old apron.
You won’t even need fancy gadgets, an old fish tank will even do to start your hydroponic adventure!
The secret of hydroponics in general is outstandingly cunning: feeding the plants right from the water instead of struggling in the soil for the nutritional edge case. You can tune up to really tiny details the level of nutrients and pH. Give your plants a five-star buffet spread, and they will grow faster, much healthier, and way more productively. Be it lettuce, tomatoes, or herbs you grow, they will not take long before you have had enough of the taste. It’s like with gardening; you immediately switch to warp speed!
Hydroponics for your garden doesn’t have to take a second mortgage out on your house is one of those very popular myths. Most systems can be super DIY-friendly. One ever-popular is the NFT, or Nutrient Film Technique system, wherein a continuous thin stream of nutrient-rich water flows over the plant roots. Like a river in flow, teeming with life – minus, of course, the fish. Then of course, there is Deep Water Culture, wherein plants simply just have their roots hanging in nutrient solution, lazily sopping up all of the goodies without having to lift a root finger.
Ever tried indoor hydroponics, or at least growing on a sunny windowsill? With the system getting that compact, one could well turn out to be the real horticulture maestro in fairly confined spaces. These systems of vertical hydroponics go all the way to make it as easy as possible for the urban gardener caught in what many term ‘concrete jungles’.
These will be ideal to target optimum light, hitting where it is more concentrated; hence, the perfect partner in crime for the gardening would come in the form of LED grow lights. With hydroponics, there isn’t a dull day.
Take Mother Nature’s whims: pests and diseases-one squirt away with a hydroponic spray. Less challenge, more productivity! And with the use of water in a cycle, there is absolutely no need to turn on the guilt faucet. Everybody knows that with water conservation, small potatoes are not what one is talking about when cultivation nowadays is spoken about. Better safe than sorry before one dives head-first into hydroponics.
Be extremely cautious not to overdose the plants with these nutrients; often over-enthusiastic nutrient additions are worse than none at all. It is like making grandma’s soup-too much of any one spice, and the whole thing is out of balance! Keep all the labels on supplementary nutrients on hand, thus avoiding unpleasant brews.
Grow an Indoor Hydroponic Potager Paradise
Just think of walking out onto your patio or into your yard and looking out at your very own potager staring back at you. Not a typical garden, mind you, but fresh produce grown from what once was little more than a trampled lawn, perhaps, and a rusty barbeque. You won’t have to dig dirt under your nails unless you like really sloppy sandwiches. Hydroponics? To the unexposed ear, it may bring scenes from one of those science fiction movies where the plants float around in radiant glass pods on some type of adventure spaceship. Not really! Hydroponic gardening is a method of raising plants without using land or soil as an agent for growth, depending purely on the action of nutrient-rich water. Again, can water saving or keeping away from hard labor in gardening get any straighter?
And if that’s not good enough, it keeps away those creepy crawlies, too-big thumbs up! First of all, let’s begin to choose which plants will be staying in your hydroponic utopia. The easy ones to grow would be leafy vegetables like lettuce, spinach, and kale. Just imagine fresh salads slapping themselves around. Ambitious, in for a challenge-one may even throw in tomatoes and cucumbers, too-happy contestants. Basil and mint steal the show, though-perfectly explaining why your pasta was always that wee bit too thin! Light up your new best friends. Consider LED grow lights or fluorescent bulbs to simulate the sun, unless, of course, you’re living in a glass house and can afford to throw stones.
Keep in mind, though-even plants have mood swings; they require different spectrums of light for different growth stages. Flash a blue spectrum through the growth spurt of their teens, switch to red at maturity, kinda like going from pop to classic rock. The second thing was to get a feel for the nutrients, like cooking the porridge to that particular consistency. Store-bought nutrient solutions really work, but this magic potion adds that little spice to it. It’s all about the balance-they get too much, and your plants spiral off into some sort of nutrient overdose drama; they get too little, and they are limber as asparagus before their morning caffeine. Most plant varieties can be quite finicky about the nature of nutrition that is doled out to them.
This feels like trying to make an IKEA ‘do-it-yourself’ thing without the instructions. Many exist, from the popular Deep Water Culture-that sees roots dangling in the aerated water-to Nutrient Film Technique, which sees a continuous, thin film of water cascading past the roots. Chemistry and engineering, but without the accident involving goggles. Where gravity should be an issue, let’s waltz through the aeroponics, where the water is sprayed along in a gentle mist, just about like walking through a light drizzle. Now, about the water-one of the major movers in this shuffle of hydroponics.
The pH has to range from 5.5 to 6.5 in order for it to be neutral. Just like reaching in the water-you should not be tingling or get that burn sensation from that acid, of course. You’re fishing for distilled or rainwater, not hard tap water. You will find test kits there, and hey-you get to play the role of a mad scientist. And who doesn’t have that hidden urge to wear a lab coat?
