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A few Keys to Hydroponic SuccessThis is a starter article for this section which I hope you find interesting. It will take a brief look at hydroponics and its principles.
There may be some
pointers which can be of use in your situation. BR>
1. The root systems in hydroponic culture are subject to diseases which normally
occur in the soil and it is essential that there is no
cross contamination by soil borne disease organisms
into the hydroponic media or solution.
2.Eventual infestation of the hydroponic media by disease organism
must be expected after some 3-5 crops. This would be equivalent of using the same media for more than 6 to 12 months.
3. Growing in media such as pumice and offers the grower better control over
the root environment in terms of water supply, nutrition,
aeration and root temperature, with the potential to
increase yield but at the cost of demanding stricter and
more skilled crop management.
4. There need be very little
crop production down-time between crops which is a great advantage. With some crops such as lettuce you can grow many different age of plants in the one system.
5. Confinement of plant roots in the
limited volume of soem hydroponic systems based in pots pumice demands frequent and accurate
watering, and it is usual to water from 3 to 12 times per
day, with carefully controlled amounts of water at each
time. The accuracy and reliability demanded can only be
achieved by installing automatic control systems which
measure solar radiation and apply the correct quantities
of water to each pot. This is of course quite an expensive solution and would suit really only the most enthusiastic gardener.
6. Pumice and other similar media has a very limited ability to hold plant
nutrients so crops in pumice or sawdust need a complete
balanced nutrient mixture to be supplied in every
watering. This compares to the annual fertiliser addition in soil crops.
7. Crop nutrient
requirements change during the course of each growing
season, and crop nutrition in hydroponics requires more
skilled management than is required for soil growing.
Your level of attention to this fact will again depend on your enthusiasm amd interest with many growers growing tasty tomatoes while using only one mix all season.
8. It is possible with bag grown crops to place the bags on the floor but it is a useful technique to have Shallow V shaped trenches for standing out
the pumice bags. The trenches are designed to drain any
surplus water away from the bags, and so the bottom of
the trench must have a fall over its length, with the
result that the depth of the vee varies from end to end
A slope of between 1:66 to 1:100 are common floor gradients in commercial greenhouse hydroponic crops.
9. Black and white polythene
mulch film is then laid to cover the whole floor surface.
The reflecting white floor increases photosynthesis by reflecting light back up into
the leaf canopy.
10. Typical requirements for Irrigation Control & Liquid Feeding in a commercial environment. I put this here for interest sake.
solar integrator
multi-station irrigation
controller
A & B solution pumps
possibly an acid dosing pump,
a water meter is highly desirable
and if electronic pumps are to be used then a
water meter with electric pulse output is
required,
in line CF meter
A & B solution tanks.
11. If you think your water is of very poor quality then it may be helpful to have a water analysis to ensure that
the feed recipes can be constructed to neutralise any
alkalinity in the water and to balance the feed recipes
according to the amounts of calcium and magnesium and any
trace elements in the water.
12. The trickle irrigation flow rate required for the pumice
bags is faster than that used in soil growing and it is
necessary to have a ligh flow rate. Upgrading of the water supply may be
necessary, if the existing systems are not capable of
providing sufficient flow.
13. The advantage of microtube trickle
irrigation systems is their great flexibility, allowing
them to be used over a wide range of flow rates and in
unusual situations such as greenhouses with sloping
floors. Another great advantage is the low cost of the
components of the system.
14. It is also necessary for the user to
know the operating specifications of the design, and to
observe any limitations imposed by the design. Contrary
to popular belief, they are no more prone to blocking
than other trickle systems, provided that properly
filtered water supplies are used.
15. Microtubing is extremely difficult to manufacture to an
exact bore, and suppliers only supply microtube of a
nominal bore. Samples of the same nominal bore from
different manufacturers are unlikely to have the same
average bore, and hence microtubes cut from different
samples will have different flow rates. All the
microtubing needed for any installation should be
purchased at one time, in the hope that the whole lot
will have been made at one time.
16. This is the reason why
the best uniformity of watering that is usually achieved
is for about 90% of the microtubes in any system to
deliver within 10% of the mean output for all the microtube.
17. Crop root systems adapt themselves well to the typical
cone of wetting in the soil provided by trickle
irrigation. Some growers move the trickle outlets in the
summer as a means of increasing the spread of water, but
I cannot recommend this practice as it leaves the
established root system with less water than usual.
I know this articles covers a arnge of topics and is a little scattered but there will be more focussed material in the future.
, Jan 01, 12:00 |
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