Before building a hydroponic garden, it’s best to have had some hands-on experience with the hydroponic system you intend to use. In the garden, illustrations and instructions are seldom equal to real-life experience. Buying an inexpensive hydroponic system will help you understand your new garden on more than a theoretical level and likely save you time and money.

Basic hydroponic systems

Hydroponic systems can be either active or passive. Active hydroponic systems circulate nutrient solution using equipment such as pumps. Passive hydroponic systems have no moving parts. Instead the nutrient solution is passed to the roots through an absorbent growing medium or wick.

There are many different types of hydroponic gardens, but most are similar to these six:

Wick system

A wick system is a passive hydroponic system. A wick draws the nutrient solution from a reservoir below the growing medium. Wick systems are the easiest hydroponic systems to build, but can’t always keep up with the nutrient demands of larger plants.

Drip system

In hydroponic drip systems, a submersed pump controlled by a timer provides nutrient solution to each plant via a small drip line. Drip systems can be set up to recycle unused nutrient solution, though doing so requires monitoring of pH and nutrient strength levels.

Water culture system

The plants grown in water culture hydroponic systems sit on a platform directly above the nutrient solution, and an air pump propels the nutrient solution up into their roots. Water culture systems are often set up with old or unused aquariums.

Ebb and Flow system

Ebb and Flow is a very popular hydroponic system. A submerged pump operated by a timer fills the growing tray with nutrient solution, which drains back down into the reservoir below. The Ebb and Flow system works best with water-retentive growing mediums such as Rockwool or vermiculite.

Nutrient film system

Also known as nutrient film technique systems or NFT, nutrient film systems feature an unceasing flow of nutrient solution to the plants. Solution is pumped from the reservoir into the growing tray and over the plants’ roots before draining back into the reservoir. A downside to nutrient film systems is that pump failures will cause roots to dry out very quickly.

Aeroponic system

In aeroponic systems, the roots of the plants hang in the air and are sprayed with a mist of nutrient solution every few minutes courtesy of a timer.

Jump Start Light

Hydroponic Lights are an essential element for planting and maintaining a successful hydroponics indoor garden. Sunlight is not always available for your plants. Sometimes you need to provide a better solution to get the maximum results from your Hydroponic Plants.

Growing plants in a wholly unnatural environment, you will want to make sure that all the different elements are given to the plants. One of the most important elements of course is light.  Plants take the light and turn it into energy using a process called photosynthesis. This is not just an option, it a necessity and will ensure that you have plants that thrive. Luckily there are ways to trick plants into thinking that they have been given all the light they need, and for this you will need Grow Light Systems.

When you grow any plant indoors you will need to make sure that you provide a excellent light source for your plants. The light that you provide directly affects the plants health and is the difference between poor quality plants and healthy plants.

During the growth phase of your plants, you will want to provide them with a combination of blue and red color temperature lights. Since the most common and effective indoor gardening grow light hydroponic systems today are based on metal halide and high pressure sodium, you can try getting both types of lights, or a system that lets you switch between the two.

Fluorescent Grow Lights are fine for some situations, and in fact, we recommend them for seedlings and low-light plants. Unfortunately, fluorescent just can’t deliver the strong light you need to grow plants taller than 6 - 8″.  Unless you’re using BIG LUMEN OUTPUT T-5 lighting, T-5s are strong enough to grow under all the way from seed to harvest.

T5 Fluorescent Systems are great for house plants, seedling starts, flowers - anything you want to grow indoors. Low profile - only 2-3/8″ tall High lumen output and very low heat Super value Lightweight.

For more information about Hydroponic Lights Click Here

Hydroponic nutrients include the substances needed to grow healthy plants. Primary nutrients, secondary nutrients and micro-nutrients are included as well as essential vitamins and hormones.

The amount and type of hydroponic plant nutrients will change (increase), as they grow. It is important to know the specific nutrients required of for each type of plant. Week by week the you are growing. In general, the strength of the hydroponic nutrient solution should increase week by week as your plants grow.

A hydroponics nutrient solution should be rich in Nitrogen until the point where flowering is forced. After that, Phosphorus should be higher in your nutrient solution. Hydroponic nutrients like B’Cuzz Nutrients are made to accomodate three parts; grow, micro and bloom to help with this and to facilitate growing during the different stages of growth.

Nutrients for hydroponics provide key elements that need a proper balance. If not properly balanced and deficient, they can have an adverse effect on growth and hydroponic crop yield. The three main elements to balance are:

Nitrogen - Your leaves may turn lite green, or even yellow if there is an extreme nitrogen deficiency.

Phosphorous - Too little phosphorous nutrients inhibit growth, hydroponic nutrients used to make the proper balance as well as making sure that the nutrient solution isn’t too cold, which will decrease the uptake

Potassium - improper amount of potassium in hydroponic nutrients can cause, brown edges and spots on the leaves.

Other elements that are typically in good hydroponic nutrients and should be taken into consideration are:
Calcium, Sulfer, Magnesium, Iron, Manganese, Copper,Boron Molybdate, chlorine, Zinc.

View all our Hydroponic Nutrients

2010 Outlook for Hydroponics

Indoor growing, hydroponic growing, organically grown crops all look to be on the upswing again for 2010 We’re even looking to open another local (Michigan) retail outlet to sell our hydroponic supplies. This will also help our buying to keep our online hydroponic supplies priced lower and competitive.

The focus of course is on helping our customers get the right system, lighting, nutrients, additives and knowledge they need to plant and harvest a successful hydroponically grown crop.  Aeroponics and Organically grown fruits, vegetables and other plants all fall under our perview as well.  Some estimates put the number of licensed grower applications at over 50 a day. So 2010 for selling hydoponic supplies looks good. Good sales makes for better prices and here at Bestes Hydroponics we will be working on both!

As hydroponics growers or gardeners we all know and understand the importance of hydroponics grow lights or hydroponics lighting systems and that if we don’t use hydroponics lighting, our plants simply will not grow.  It won’t matter how much loving attention we pay to our hydroponics plants or how many nutrients we use.  Without adequate hydroponics lighting, our plants simply will not grow.  Hydroponics plants with the right type of light flourish and produce the crops we expect.

With autumn in our midst, any sources of natural lighting are diminishing and our plants require additional lighting.  Not just any old light will do either.  Our healthy hydroponically grown plants require that we provide them with lighting that imitates the sun or natural lighting. The light sources that are required are generally not available at the local hardware or home improvement store either.  And, if they are available from these sources, it is still generally a wise idea to check with your hydroponics supplier to compare these lights to the lighting systems or lighting supplies offered that only your hydroponic supply stores offer.
It is also a wise idea to buy hydroponics lighting accessories such as light meters to check your light levels and assure that your hydroponics plants are truly receiving the amount and type of lighting they need.

We’ve gone over the importance of light for our hydroponics gardening, but, we think that that our hydroponics lighting has additional benefits.

Have you ever noticed that hydroponics growers tend to be happier than many other people especially during the shorter daylight hours of autumn and winter.  Could it be that part of what keeps our plants happy and thriving has an effect on our moods and happiness too?  Most of us have heard of Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD.  SAD is generally associated to the fall and winter months when natural daylight is least plentiful.  People that suffer from SAD are more easily depressed or moody during these months than at any other time of the year.  It is believed that seasonal affective disorder is the result of lack of exposure to natural light for longer periods of time.  Since hydroponic lighting or hydroponics lighting systems are designed to emulate the sun by providing full spectrum light, many people that suffer seasonal affective disorder could greatly benefit from the use of hydroponics lighting.

If you or someone you know and care about suffers from seasonal affective disorder, why not try making use of our full spectrum, sun emulating hydroponics grow lights or hydroponics grow lighting systems to help brighten those long periods of darkness and help to eliminate the symptoms of seasonal affective disorder.  You will be happy in knowing that you can make a difference in yours or someone else’s life with the simple addition of hydroponics grow lights.

I’m sure this is a debatable topic and maybe that’s what we should do is leave it up to you to give us the major pro’s and cons. My thought is that “it can be.” Taking into consideration how your plants are grown, the source and type of nutrients and type of energy you use for light, heat and airflow used for your hydroponic garden.

Hydroponics uses up to one tenth the amount of water for growing an equivalent crop that is field produced.  Hydroponics uses less fertilizer as well.  With less water, you are flushing less fertilizer into the water table through drainage and there is of course no soil erosion to consider. The type of Nutes for your garden is something you can consider. Read the labels, do the research and make the most “green” choice.

The amount of space required for growing hydroponics is smaller as well. I guess a more debatable question might center on energy consumption. Although electricity is considered more Eco friendly than a fossil fuel driven power source, there are energy concerns centering on how you facilitate light and climate control.  Depending on where you live there may be readily available power sources like solar panels, wind turbines or even hydro power.  Some of systems like the Ecogrower Max tout being eco-friendly, growing larger plants more efficiently.

If you are really into going “green,” then work on ”Growing Green,” by doing the research and making the right choices to make your hydroponics garden truly Eco friendly.

People ask all the time if side lighting is needed for hydroponic growing. Or, could they can just use mylar or some other reflective material to do the side lighting, and if it would work just as good. Well, I did a little research and found some interesting information.

Side lighting does make a noticeable difference in plant growth and crop yield. Having reflective materials does work some, but not as good as using direct lighting. Using Mylar, Permaflect or Black & White Poly would help but the reflected light is just not intense enough to make a noticeable difference in the crop yield. It does help in confined areas were you don’t want excessive plant growth however.

The most popular form of side lighting is T5 florescent, these are easy to hang and they run cooler than HID lights and you can get cool or warm bulbs (cool = grow, warm = flower). Adding light to the side allows a larger surface area of the plant to be in contact with direct lighting, which in turn allows more of the plant to grow and bloom, giving larger yields. The down side is they do grow more, so if you are limited in space it could become a problem if the plants out grow your area. Also more lights = more heat so keep in mind airflow, good air movement and venting will be necessary to help maintain the temperature levels in your hydroponic growing area.

So if you have the room, good airflow and you want larger yields definitely add side lighting. It will make a better outcome for your next harvest.

Tim

Many new growers, especially those looking for a new hobby wonder whether they should build or buy a system to start their foray into hydroponics growing. It really depends on you (stating the obvious). It depends on how much disposable time you have on your hands and the reason you want to grow. There are volumes of material on how you can build your own system, starting with a simple bubbler.

The Hydroponic bubbling planter is simple and inexpensive to build. Using the empty plastic bucket container that you might have purchased your pets kitty litter in, a small electric device to aerate and a sharp instrument, you can get to work. Then start bathing your plant roots in oxygen infused nutrient solutions you’ve added to the planter and there you go.

This is way over simplification of course, but you can realistically put a do-it-yourself hydroponics beginner system together very inexpensively. Now weigh the time and effort doing this against the other factors and decide whether to do this or say buy a ready made hydro system like the WaterFarm module for under $50.00.

In both cases you will need to know more and will want to spend the time learning if you really want to get into hydroponics, but this may very well be your first decision. Stating the obvious again… it’s up to you!

Welcome to our new Blog where we will try to give some helpful tidbits and tips for all you hydroponics growers. We’re new at Blogging, so if you can help us by giving us some subjects you’d like us to post about please let us know. 

Where to start with your Hydro Garden?

Well, as the name implies, Hydroponics starts with water.  You must have an adequate water supply for your garden.  Hydroponics systems like Emily’s Garden are good for getting started and growing a small amount of plants. For a more ambitious undertaking and bigger plants you will want to make sure you have plenty of water.  Larger reservoirs are needed and they typically make it easier to balance the PH.

As far as the water supply goes; the options and opinions vary but the general concensus is that you can’t go wrong with an RO (reverse osmosis) system for your hydroponic garden, as long as you provide the correct measurment of nutrients.   You want to add a good, high quality, hydroponic nutrient solution supplying your plants with the proper nutrients in the correct ratios.

Your hydroponics store should be able to tell you exactly which nutrients you need for your type of  system and water supply.