Hydroponic gardening is based on the concept that plants do not need soil to grow, but can flourish instead in a water solution, as long as that solution contains all the vital nutrients that the plants would otherwise obtain from the ground.
Nutrient solutions are therefore the most important element of hydroponic gardening, and the correct use of nutrients in hydroponics is vital to successful plant growth.
Why You Need to Understand Your Nutrients Most hobby gardeners will buy nutrient solutions from a hydroponics supplier without having any idea what is in them.
As a result, they often do not use these solutions correctly, and so they do not reap the full benefits of having a hydroponic garden.
The ability to control the nutrients your plants receive is one of the main benefits of having a hydroponic rather than a soil garden.
Optimal solutions of nutrients in hydroponics can lead to tastier and healthier crops than one would obtain from a traditional soil garden, but only if they are used correctly.
Anyone who is planning a hydroponic garden should know a little bit about the nutrients that their plants are absorbing in order to maximize the success of their garden.
What Nutrients are Used in Hydroponics? The first thing you'll want to know is what kinds of nutrients are actually being used in hydroponics.
The major elements that plants get from the soil and which need to be included in nutrient solutions in order for them to survive are carbon, sulfur, potassium, calcium, nitrogen, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, manganese, boron, molybdenum, zinc, copper, and of course the hydrogen and oxygen they get from water.
The elements in hydroponic solutions often come in the form of positively and negatively charged ions.
They are also sometimes grouped together in molecules such as nitrate, sulfate, and dihydrogen phosphate.
There are several different recipes available for making solutions of nutrients in hydroponics, but you can also buy them pre-made.
Even if you buy rather than make your solutions, it is still important to understand how these solutions work.
As the plants absorb different nutrients from their solution at different rates, they will be continually be changing the composition of that solution, and so you must take care to insure that salt concentrations do not get too high or nutrients too depleted.
Different Nutrients for Different Stages of Development Another thing you must understand about your nutrient solution is that plants need different nutrients more at different stages of their development.
Changing the nutrient concentration in your solution as your plants enter into different growth stages will optimize plant development so that your harvest will yield larger and more nutritious produce than you would be able to obtain from a soil garden in which you cannot as easily control what nutrients your plants receive.
When your plants are just beginning to grow, you should make sure that your nutrient solution is especially high in nitrogen.
This is the nutrient that most greatly impacts early plant development.
This means that a solution high in nitrogen will make your plants grow bigger faster.
When your plants begin to flower and fruit, you will need to change their solution so that it is more rich in potassium and phosphorous.
This will insure that the fruit and vegetables will be the highest quality possible when you are ready to harvest them.
In order to have the best tasting produce, you should also flush your plants, as some of the nutrients that help your plants grow can also negatively affect their taste.
A week before you harvest your crop, you should stop giving your plants the nutrient solution and instead give them only water.
You can also add a sugar supplement or a product like Clearex to remove any excess salt that has built up in your hydroponic system, but this is purely optional.
Now that you have a better understanding of nutrients in hydroponics, you are well on your way to developing what will likely be one of the most successful gardens you have ever cultivated.
Controlling the nutrients your plants take in as they grow optimizes plant development, ultimately leaving you with a larger and better tasting harvest.