Tag: Hydroponics

Let’s talk hydroponics medium types. Hydroponics medium is one of the types of growing medium that may be used for growing plants. A growing medium basically involves any solid material which may be fibers, sponge, pebbles, shreds, or barks. These materials are used to hold nutrient solutions and then slowly released to plant roots.

So, when using the hydroponic system, the grower does not depend on soil to support plants and supply nutrients. You would rather depend on a selected hydroponic media to provide support for the roots and maintain water content.

While there are different systems of hydroponics you should know about, these systems work on the basis of suitable materials. This means that the growing media you chose for growing your plants will be as important as the system you use them in.

The hydroponics growing medium involves the selection of a wide variety of growing media to be used. This is a guide on how to use the hydroponic growing media and the hydroponics medium types are also discussed. The strength of the different growing media is also discussed.

Before we delve into the major hydroponics medium types, let’s discuss what the medium of hydroponics truly means.

What Is The Medium Of Hydroponics?

The growing medium of hydroponics involves a system where the plant growing medium takes the place of soil. The medium does not act as a nutrient provider like the soil but serves as a support to keep the plant upright. Virtually inert materials are used as a growing medium.

The Hydroponics growing medium basically involves a simple soil-less material that is largely porous. This feature makes it possible for moisture and oxygen to be well circulated to the root system of the plant. Where a non-porous hydroponic material is used, there will be a need for more watering.

The use of hydroponics growing medium and continuous watering of plants with ordinary water will not yield fruits. For you to get any meaningful result, you must water the plant with nutrient-filled nutrients. This is because, unlike the soil, the hydroponics medium lacks nutrients for growth.

Although it cannot be said that one hydroponic growing media is better than another, some are easier to use. There are however a lot of factors that must be considered when picking a growing media. The system with which you will use it, and how it’s designed are big factors to consider.

The goal of a hydroponic system is basically to keep the roots of plants moist- not saturated nor soggy. Where the growing system allows for too much water, the roots will suffocate from lack of oxygen. This would very easily lead to root dying or rot.

Major Hydroponic Growing Media

The following are the major types of hydroponics growing media:

·         Coconut Coir

Also referred to as coco coir; it is made from the outer husk of coconuts. Coco coir is a byproduct made from the rough, brown, fibrous husks of coconuts. It is an entirely organic material that holds water exceptionally well and allows for proper aeration. It is also an eco-friendly material, completely renewable, and can easily be composted when no longer needed. Most users use it alongside other media like perlite for best results.

Coco Bliss Premium Coconut Coir Pith 10 lbs Brick/Block

·         Rockwool – Hydroponics Medium Types

This is a fascinating material for hydroponic growing media for plants. This material is created by melting rock and thereafter spinning it into fibers. The Rockwool fibers are thereafter compressed into cubes of different sizes used for hydroponic plant growing.

This media has good water retention abilities and excellent aeration. The drawbacks of this media are that it is not environmentally friendly and it has high pH content. The dust from the fiber may also cause a serious irritant to the eyes.

·         Expanded Clay Pellets

This is one of the most used hydroponic media used in recent times. It is made by expanding clay so as to form round balls of porous material. The clay pellets have the advantage of having a neutral pH level, being reusable, and releasing almost no nutrients to the soil.

·         Rocks And Gravel

Natural rocks gravel processed from rocks such as perlite and vermiculite are also used as growing media. They have the advantage of being cheap, readily available, and drain very well. The downside however is that they are heavy and hold very little water. This makes them very undesirable in systems where the root relies on some water.

·         Perlite – Hydroponics Medium Types

This is one of the most common growing media. Perlite is usually made from volcanic glass. When the volcanic glass which normally contains tiny pockets of water is subjected to high temperature, the water expands.

This expansion creates thousands of tiny pores from which perlite is gotten. Due to the small size of the perlite, it is used to add drainage, water, and air to a plant growing medium.

Hydroponic Growing Medium Alternatives

If you are not interested in using hydroponic growing media, you may consider the use of hydroponic alternatives. Below are some growing alternatives:

• Sawdust: the use of sawdust has recorded some success as a hydroponic growing medium alternative. There are lots of factors that come into play in determining how well this works. The type of wood used and how pure such wood was are a few. Also, there is a high possibility of sawdust being contaminated by diseases or pathogens.
• Rice Hulls: this is the byproduct of the rice milling process. This process usually involves the use of the coating of unprocessed rice which has peeled off. This alternative is usually used in places where rice processing is largely a practice.
• Sand: sand is another widely used alternative to the hydroponic growing medium. One major con with the use of sand is that it lacks the ability to retain water and it has very poor aeration abilities. Sand is usually packed together making it difficult for roots to be exposed to air. It however has the advantage of being readily available.

Hydroponics Medium Types Conclusion

Hydroponics Medium is a system as you have seen above that can be used for plant cultivation. It largely involves the absence of soil when growing plants. It offers plants the advantage of media with water retention abilities and excellent aeration.

Some of the major hydroponic media and their alternatives are discussed above. If you are interested in trying out this method of plant cultivation, this should be a good guide for you.

FAQ’s

If you would like to know how to build a recirculating deep water culture system, we will enlighten you on this. We have various types of hydroponic systems and recirculating deep water culture system is one of them.

Recirculating deep water culture system (DWC) is one of the most convenient, easy to build, and moderate cost hydroponic systems you can go for. So let’s explore how to build a recirculating deep water culture system.

What Is A Deep Water Culture & Recirculating Deep Water System?

Deepwater culture (DWC) is a method of hydroponic system gardening whereby plants’ roots are suspended or submerged in a nutrient-rich solution and oxygenated water. There is a reservoir used to store the nutrient and water solution for plants use.

Now, this deep water culture system has different types and recirculating deep water culture (RDCWC) is the one we are going to be talking about.

In a regular or traditional deep water culture, there’s the stress of monitoring each system’s pH, nutrient level, and so on. It is only ideal for a small system. However, if you wish to have a larger system that will contain more plants, recirculating deep water system should be your choice.

Learn How To Build A Recirculating Deep Water Culture System

Recirculating deep water culture system is the combination of different deep water culture systems through some connecting pipes.

The major difference between deep water culture and recirculating deep water culture is that the nutrient water solution in RDCWC will be pumped from a big reservoir. Then it will be passed through other small systems and returns to the reservoir. Thus creating a re-circulation.

Materials Required

A big nutrient reservoir, small gallon of buckets, net pots, air stones, air tubing, air pumps, growing medium, nutrient solution, pH meter, and connecting pipes, grow lights for indoor purpose.

Step 1

Obtain a big reservoir tank for storing nutrient solutions. Now, this big tank will be linked to every other small reservoir for each plant. Then all the small tanks or reservoirs will be connected by pipes.

It is this big tank that will pass or supply nutrient solutions to other small tanks. It will now be returned or recirculated back into the big tank. An inline water filter is used to control and recirculate the water. The roots of your plants will be totally suspended on this nutrient solution.

Note that the big reservoir needs to be stored in a light-proof container.

Step 2

Obtain some air pump and air stone to be put in the big tank and each small tank. Air stones will produce bubbles that encourage gas exchange and good aeration in combination with air pumps. So, this will keep the root of your plants well oxygenated as oxygenation is paramount to the survival of your plants in RCDWC.

Step 3

Next use net pots to hold your plants in. The net pots have holes that will allow your plant roots to reach below the nutrient water solution.

Then go ahead to fill the net tots with a growing medium like perlite, clay pellets, pebbles, lava rocks, and so on.

Step 4

When you’re done setting up your deep water culture system, ensure you check the pH value. Always sustain a pH range of 5.5 to 6.5 for optimal growth.

The nutrient solution in your reservoir can be replaced once a week or once in two weeks. Also, ensure you always check the nutrient conditions in your reservoir with an EC meter and PPM meter.

Deep Water Culture (DWC) Hydroponic Bubbler Bucket Kit

Plants That Can Be Grown In Recirculating Deep Water Culture System

So, plants that can be grown in recirculating deep water culture system include:

Tomatoes, lettuce, herbs, squash, pepper, cucumbers, and so on.

Benefits Of Recirculating DWC System

Below are the benefits you stand to gain when using recirculating deep water culture system for planting:

• Recirculating deep water culture system is very easy to set up and the components are easily accessible.

• This system is cost-effective. Also, maintenance is not demanding once your system is up and running. There is less worrying about clogging or blocked pipes or systems.

• You enjoy the faster growth of plants because nutrients are absorbed directly and easily. Also, the rich oxygenated system encourages faster nutrient uptake.

• Taller or larger plants can be grown in the recirculating deep water culture system.

• The watering scheme is very easy.

• The fertilization requirement is not demanding as the plants are always submerged in nutrient-filled water solutions.

FAQ’s

Recirculating DWC Hydroponic System Conclusion

We hope by now you have learned how to build a recirculating deep water culture system.