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.