A hydroponic nutrients solution is one of the most important parts of the hydroponics system.
Hydroponics is the science of growing plants without soil.
While the soil holds all the minerals and nutrients a plant needs, it in itself is not nourishment.
The plants, in hydroponics, therefore need to be fed an artificial cocktail of these nutrients.
These cocktails are called 'hydroponic nutrients solutions.
' What Nutrients do Plants Need? The main nutrients a plant needs can be included in sixteen chemical elements.
These nutrients should be copied as close as possible when considering hydroponics nutrients.
The main necessary nutrients are in turn divided into 'mineral' and 'non-mineral' nutrients.
If we look at the 'non-mineral' nutrients first, they are hydrogen, oxygen and carbon.
These are found naturally in the air and water.
The second group, the 'mineral' elements, has thirteen members that come from the soil.
These mineral elements are further subdivided into 'micro-' and 'macro-' nutrients.
These nutrients are the ones that are artificially given to the plant as hydroponic nutrients.
The members of mineral macronutrients are nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and sulfur.
The members of mineral micronutrients are boron, copper, iron, chloride, manganese, molybdenum and zinc.
Hydroponics Nutrients Solutions In hydroponics plant nutrients are dissolved in water.
Plants pull the water up because there are ions in it.
To cause this ionic change chemical reaction must take place, hence, the need for positive and negative ions.
In the hydroponics nutrients solution the ingredients for the positive-charged ions (cations) are calcium, magnesium and potassium.
And for the negatively charged ions (anions) we have nitrate, sulfate and dihydrogen phosphate thrown in the mix.
There are many combinations of these hydroponic nutrients solution ingredients that come up with the required basic nutrients for the plants.
Each company may use its own formula but in the end comes up with the plant food.
The most commonly used amalgamation of the ingredients is one that comes up with potassium nitrate, magnesium sulfate, potassium phosphate and calcium nitrate.
To make their products more nourishing, many hydroponics nutrients solutions manufacturers add additional macronutrients.
These are nutrients like nickel, chlorine, boron, zinc, copper, manganese and iron.
Additionally some organic compounds are included to for a binding in the iron to keep it soft and soluble.
These organic compounds are called chelating agents.
Once these hydroponics nutrients solutions come in contact with the roots of plants, the chemical reactions are triggered by the depletion or removal of one or more of the ingredients in the hydroponics nutrients solutions.
It could be the removal of water, or the altering of the PH value of the water when the plant secretes alkalinity or acidity.
This is why there should be close monitoring of the PH levels of the water, or that one or the other of the nutrients or ingredients hasn't been depleted or even that the salt concentration has not become too high.
A wise farmer would use a variety of these hydroponics nutrients solutions during the life time cycle of the plants.
This helps in giving the plants maximum yield or output from the solutions.