Everything You Need To Know About Hydroponics System

Before we get into the principles of Setting Up A Hydroponics System, we need to define what a hydroponic system is. Let us dig in right here.

Hydroponic can be defined as growing plants in water with nutrients. Some examples of this type of plantation includes NFT (nutrient film technique) system and deep-water float systems where the roots of the plants are set in water. Another definition of hydroponic system is growing plants without soil. With this definition of growing plants without soil or other types of aggregate media such as sand, gravel, and coconut oil are considered hydroponic system. Generally, when it is about setting up a hydroponics system, you should understand that it is about growing plants without soil.

Essential Nutrients

No plant can function without the main 17 essential nutrients. These nutrients are needed so that processes critical to plant growth and development can occur. For example, magnesium is a critical component of chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is a pigment used to capture energy from light that is needed in photosynthesis. It also reflects green wavelengths and due to this, most of the plants are green. Magnesium is the center of the chlorophyll molecule. There are many others and we shall discuss about them some other time.

These essential nutrients can be broadly classified into macronutrients and micronutrients. They both are critical for the growth of the plants. Macronutrients include hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, nitrogen, calcium, and magnesium. Micronutrients include iron, zinc, manganese, chlorine, copper, molybdenum, and nickel.

When you are setting up a hydroponic system, you should be aware of the nutrients problems. These systems are less forgiving and the nutrients deficiency can result in plant symptoms quickly. For that reason, the composition of the nutrient solution and regular monitoring of the nutrient solution and plant nutrient status is critical.

Additionally, you need to keep an eye for plant symptoms of common issues like soluble salt damage, nitrogen deficiency, calcium deficiency, iron deficiency, boron toxicity, and magnesium deficiency. You need to learn about these deficiencies and find out the common causes and solutions for the same.

For instance, boron toxicity is caused by applying too much boron to plants. It is easy to over-apply this ingredient and thus, you need to be very careful while doing it. Symptoms of boron toxicity are yellow and dead spots on the leaf margins. You may also see reduced root growth. You need to keep in mind all these things while setting up a hydroponic system. Do it right and enjoy a good growth all the year round.