Horizen Hydroponics Newsletter
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Greetings!
Welcome to another addition of the Horizen Hydroponics monthly newsletter. Winter will soon be upon us and for outdoor gardeners that means your favorite hobby has come to an end for another season. We are here to tell you gardening doesn't have to end when the snow flies. Unpack those seeds you have left over from last spring and let's get growing.
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Some seeds require stratification the process of pretreating seeds to simulate natural winter conditions that a seed must endure before germination. Others require only to be put into starter plugs . Starting a plant from seed gives the gardener great control over what characteristics are kept and what characteristics are culled. Every gardener secretly wants to be the creator and when starting seeds and selecting genetics that is exactly what you get to be.
There are several products that will help you become the supreme seed starter, heated seed mats tend to germinate seeds quicker. Seaweed products offer great benefits to early germinating seeds, such as cytokines and auxin's. Both of these hormones stimulate cell division and nutrient uptake which greatly help seedlings once they are started.
Once you get those seedlings started it is time to get them planted.
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You can grow in containers full of soil indoors with great success, however why not try something new with hydroponics growing. There are many benefits to growing hydroponically. Faster growth rates larger yields in a smaller footprint and best of all you don't have to remember to water! In last months newsletter we covered plant lighting so let us talk about hydroponics systems this month.
There are six basic hydroponic systems Aeroponics , Flood and Drain , deep water culture, drip, N.F.T and passive systems.
Aeroponics is the process of growing plants in an air or mist environment without the use of soil or an aggregate medium.
Ebb and flow or ebb and flood is a form of hydroponics that is known for its simplicity, reliability of operation and low initial investment cost. Pots are filled with an inert medium which does not function like soil or contribute nutrition to the plants but which anchors the roots and functions as a temporary reserve of water and solvent mineral nutrients. The hydroponic solution alternately floods the system and is allowed to ebb away.
Deep water culture (DWC) is a hydroponic method of plant production by means of suspending the plant roots in a solution of nutrient rich, oxygenated water. A more accurate definition for the acronym DWC is Direct Water Culture. Direct Water Culture can be performed in deep or shallow water.
Nutrient Film Technique or NFT is a hydroponic technique wherein a very shallow stream of water containing all the dissolved nutrients required for plant growth is re-circulated past the bare roots of plants in a watertight gully, also known as channels. In an ideal system, the depth of the recirculating stream should be very shallow, little more than a film of water, hence the name 'nutrient film'. This ensures that the thick root mat, which develops in the bottom of the channel, has an upper surface, which, although moist, is in the air.
Passive hydroponics, semi-hydroponics or passive subirrigation is a method of growing plants without soil, peat moss, or bark. Instead an inert porous medium transports water and fertilizer to the roots by capillary action. Water and fertilizer are held in a reservoir and conducted to the roots as necessary, reducing labor and providing a constant supply of water to the roots. In the simplest method, the pot sits in a shallow solution of fertilizer and water or on a capillary mat saturated with nutrient solution. Since routine maintenance is much simplified, passive hydroponics can reduce the labor required to maintain a large collection of plants.
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Check our Facebook for fun contests to win Prizes! We are giving away some awesome Mondi products just for making a nice post about us.
Remember if you have any questions feel free to contact our friendly and knowledgeable staff at 1-866-791-1664 or hydrostore@hhydro.com
John & Bridgette |
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Volume 2, Issue 11
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Social Media
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Join us on Facebook, Twitter, or Blogger for the latest Hydro Happenings around the world.
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HID Lighting
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The latest in our lighting videos. I'm breaking down the High Intensity Lighting needs for your plants. Check it out! |
| | HID Lighting |
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| Knowledge |
We feature books on Hydroponic Gardening, Organic Gardening and composting.
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