Intro to Hydroponics

Hydroponics basically is growing plants without soil. It is simply a more efficient way to provide food and water to your plants. Soil's function is to provide nutrients and to anchor the plants' roots. In a hydroponic garden, you provide your plants with a complete nutrient formula and an inert growing medium to anchor your plants' roots.

Commercial growers have been using efficient hydroponic methods for years. There's no worry about soil-born diseases or pests, and there's no weeding. For professional growers, quicker harvests and higher yields are good reasons to use hydroponics.

We have adapted these proven techniques to convenient home gardening systems. We have incorporated high performance technology with quality professional-grade materials, and designed a full range of systems for your personal use.

Our garden systems give you all the advantages of commercial hydroponics in an easy to use package. Each system we offer is complete: there's nothing extra to buy or build - all you need are seeds and water.

High Intensity Light Gardening
Depending on where you live, the time of year, and where you want your garden, the sun may not always be available to you. Now, with sun-like high intensity lighting, you can grow any plant, anywhere, anytime you choose!

Fluorescent Grow Lights are fine for some situations, and in fact, we recommend them for seedlings and low-light plants. Unfortunately, fluorescents just can't deliver the strong light you need to grow plants taller than 6 - 8".

Grow Light puts out strong light to grow big beautiful plants and flowers. It's like bringing the sun indoors!

High Intensity Lights are Easy to Use

Recently, important innovations have been to take the effective but cumbersome commercial greenhouse lights and make them easy for home gardeners to use. A High Intensity Grow Light can be hung from a simple ceiling hook and plugged in as easily as a home table lamp.

The systems are completely pre-wired, UL listed (with lens), and ready to plug in. Everything is rated at 120 volts (your normal home current) and plugs into any standard home outlet.

Growing Mediums

Growing Mediums
Growing mediums provide the support system of your indoor garden. The main functions of any hydroponic medium is to anchor the roots and store water and nutrients for the plant to feed on. You want to make sure that the growing medium you use has plenty of aeration and drains well. You want to make the nutrients available to the plant, but not over saturate the roots.

Types of Growing Mediums
The growing medium you choose depends on what type of hydroponic growing system you are using. Many systems use no medium at all because the plant's roots are suspended in air or water. Other systems work best with one of the newer growing medium mixtures. The ideal hydroponic medium for most systems will hold equal parts water and oxygen, making both available to the roots at all times. Water will always seek lowest ground and will run freely through coarse mediums only to drain out or collect at the bottom of the container. This is not a problem in a hydroponic system where the nutrient solution is constantly circulated, but it would not work in an ebb and flow system.

Clay pebbles, also called grow rock, work very well in Aeroponics systems. They should be combined with a growing medium mixture when used in other types of hydroponic systems because they do not retain any water on their own.

Shredded coconut fiber is an excellent organic growing medium. It is commonly found mixed with perlite or rockwool, but can also be used effectively by itself.

Perlite is a good choice for many indoor gardening designs, especially wick hydroponic systems. It is inexpensive, does not retain much water, and is very porous. It works very well in a growing medium mixture with 50/50 vermiculite because its natural aeration will balance out the vermiculite's water retention.

Rockwool is probably the most popular growing medium used today. It is sold in cubes of varying sizes and is reusable, making it very versatile for the indoor gardener. Rockwool can hold 10 times as much water as soil but cannot be over watered due to its airy nature. It should be pre-treated before garden use because of its natural alkaline pH.

Vermiculite, although common, can be a poor choice for a home indoor gardener. It can contain small amounts of asbestos, which is very dangerous to your health. Always wear a mask when working with vermiculite, especially in the small spaces most gardeners use. Aside from the health risk, vermiculite's great water retention ability makes it an effective growing medium.

Plant Growth Factors

Hydroponic growing allows the indoor gardener to completely control the growing environment. All of the elements your plants need to grow must be provided by your indoor hydroponic system. Lighting, temperature, oxygen, CO₂, pH, and nutrients should be considered before starting the set up of your growing system.

Light and Photosynthesis

Plants convert carbon dioxide and water to create essential sugars through the process of photosynthesis. Light is crucial because it provides the energy needed for this conversion. The intensity of the light has been shown to increase the amount of sugar produced. This will keep going up until the plant reaches its saturation point for light, so you should always try to increase the amount of light your plants receive. Plants grown in an outdoor garden would normally receive 8-12 hours of sunlight per day, depending on the season. You should try to simulate this as well as possible to maximize photosynthesis. Make sure to space plants out enough to avoid having them block the light from each other.

Inadequate lighting will cripple your plants and may leave lasting developmental damage even after lighting conditions are improved. The stems will be spindly and elongated, causing them to have difficulty supporting your plants as they grow. Fewer leaves may develop and the leaves that do grow will not expand to their normal size. As the plants mature, they will not be able to flower or bear fruit and may even turn yellow depending on the length of the lighting deficiency.

Low carbon dioxide (CO2) levels can also limit your plant's ability to photosynthesize. Plants can process much more CO2 than is normally found in the atmosphere. You can increase the amount of CO₂ available to your plants by including a CO₂ system in your indoor hydroponic setup.

Good ventilation will keep your plants cool and circulate the air so a fresh supply of CO₂ and oxygen are available at all times. An oscillating fan set on the same timer as your lights should provide enough airflow for most indoor gardens, but larger setups will obviously need a more complex fan setup.

Water

Depending on the type of indoor hydroponic system you use, water quantity may or may not be a problem. Whichever system you choose, make sure to always keep adequate water for your plants. Water deficiency causes permanent loss of production, even if it is corrected quickly.

Water quality, on the other hand, can be a serious problem for any hydroponic growing system. Tap water in many places contains minerals and salts, which can alter the nutrient balance of your hydroponic solution. This is usually called "hard water" and can often be offset by adjusting the mix of your nutrient solution. Try to keep the salt content of your water below 325 parts per million (ppm) whenever possible.