We carry out the winterization process to stop our equipment, pipes, fountains and sprinklers etc from breaking over the winter period due to trapped water freezing and causing cracks. This often involves complete draining of anything that uses water and sealing them up to prevent any outside water from entering. However, with a greenhouse, a hydroponic greenhouse in particular then you will likely want to continue using and indeed growing your vegetables throughout the winter period. After all, this is just one of the advantages of growing hydroponic vegetables, that we can continue harvesting an abundant crop even when the soil outside has frozen over. To do this, we will [...]

For the purposes of hydroponic gardening, it’s very important we use high quality water. Unfortunately water quality can differ depending on the area you live in. For example, if you live near the coast you are much more likely to have higher sodium content in your water supply. Using water with too much sodium in your hydroponic garden can have many negative effects on your plants. These include brown looking leaves due to dehydration, stunted growth and in addition, your vegetables may taste really bad. Fortunately we can fix these problems by use of a reverse osmosis filter system. I’ve tested out the Watts Premier RO-Pure 4-Stage Reverse Osmosis System [...]

This page is going to be quite long. This is because i intend on giving a full explanation about hydroponic nutrient solution, what it is, how it works, how you can make your own nutrient solution for hydroponics and i’ll also recommend what i think to be the best hydroponic nutrients available to buy at this moment in time. So grab a coffee, sit back and relax. At the end of reading this you should have a full understanding about hydroponic nutrient solutions and how to use them to grow some fantastic hydroponic plants. // // // ]]> Water And Hydroponic Nutrient Solution The purpose of water in hydroponic gardening [...]

I’m going to review the Aerogarden Extra Elite, an aeroponic system small enough to fit on your kitchen counter, but first a small mention about aeroponic systems! As i’ve mentioned before, aeroponic systems are the future of hydroponics. In fact i will go as far as to say that aeroponics are the future of gardening period! While admittedly aeroponics is still in its infancy, the potential is huge. There is no other gardening system in the world that creates results so fast and so spectacularly. Please read my article i’ve linked to above to hear my rantings and ravings. If you’re unfamiliar with aeroponics then i’ll quickly summarize what it [...]

Growing hydroponic basil is a wonderful idea whether you’re simply wanting to have your own fresh supply for your own use, or whether you’re planning on setting up your own system on a larger scale with the intention of profiting from it. As i’ve set out in a previous article on making money with hydroponics, growing hydroponic basil is a great way of making a lot of money doing something extremely fun and all in the comfort of your own home. If you grow hydroponic basil then you can make money by selling it to local restaurants. Basil is very popular in Italian cuisine for example but also with Indian [...]

You can easily make money with hydroponics as long as you have a good business plan and you try and keep your system as simple as possible. Simple systems are far easier to scale upwards and repeat as well as cheaper to run and produce faster results. To learn how to make money with hydroponics, please read on! Before you plan on making money with hydroponics, it would be preferable if you were experienced with this form of gardening and had a bit of a business mindset as well. However the latter is not really necessary to any great degree but would certainly be an advantage. I have been hydroponic [...]

You may or may not need hydroponic growing medium depending on what hydroponic system you’re using. For example, the wick system and ebb and flow systems both require hydroponic grow medium, whereas the NFT system and water culture system do not! How Does Hydroponic Growing Medium Work? The purpose of hydroponic grow medium is to provide support for the root system. It serves to provide oxygen, water and nutrients to the roots. There are three factors which contribute to the roots’ ability to grow in a substrate, these are pH, texture and nutrient content. The texture of a given substrate is governed by its size and structure. A substrate with [...]

Of all the many different hydroponic systems it is probably the aeroponics system that will produce the best and fastest results with the vast majority of plants. This is because the nutrient solution is administered directly to the roots in a form they can more easily absorb. Not only that but the nutrient solution is more oxygenated with aeroponics systems. To find out how the system works, then read on. How The Aeroponics System Works? 1. You’ll first need to grow your seedlings in grow blocks or use cuttings, just enough so you have some decent roots showing. 2. In aeroponics systems, you place your plants in special grow nets [...]

The hydroponic NFT system stands for Nutrient Film Technique! This is probably the most widely used hydroponic system amongst professional hydroponic farmers. Perhaps the main reason for this is that it’s so easy to upscale, perhaps double or even quadruple your existing setup for only a little extra cost. As long as you’ve got the room, you can create a hydroponic NFT system for only the extra cost of a few pieces of metal. Ok so the above statement is not exactly true, you still have extra lights to buy etc but there’s no mistaking the fact that hydroponic NFT systems are widely used by the guys that do hydroponics [...]

There are several different hydroponic systems each with their own pros and cons. Of all the systems available, it is probably the hydroponic ebb and flow system, otherwise known as the ‘flood and drain’ system that is the most popular. With hydroponic ebb and flow systems, you use a pump in conjunction with a timer set at predetermined intervals to flood your grow tray for a period of time. Then, after a set period or after the solution has reached a set level, the nutrient solution will then ebb or drain away and back into the reservoir where it is either reused at the next cycle or replaced. The beauty [...]