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Hydroponic Nutrients - What are they?

Written by: Alma Newton

Article Overview: Plants require different proportions of nutrients during vegetation and flowering stages. Current nutrient products are more advanced than earlier counterparts and now allow precise adjustments based on these growth stages. This means you can get a bigger bang for your buck by increasing yields in your produce crops with a little research.

Hydroponic Nutrients - What are they?

Now it may seem that these solutions must be some strange scientific process, however the basics are quite easy to understand. Growing mediums do not contain any nutrients on their own and obviously plants need food to live. In hydroponic systems this need is dealt with by using nutrient solutions. A solution is a homogeneous mixture of two or more substances, which may be solids, liquids, gases, or a combination of these. In other words it's a mix of a variety of nutrients in water. Why is it important?

Plants require different proportions of nutrients during vegetation and flowering stages. Current nutrient products are more advanced than earlier counterparts and now allow precise adjustments based on these growth stages. This means you can get a bigger bang for your buck by increasing yields in your produce crops with a little research.

How do you make it?

You can use liquid or powdered nutrients which you mix in water. There are many sites as sources of information out there for the enthusiast however you can purchase premixed formulations to add to water for growth or bloom cycles and take most of the guesswork out of the process. Do whatever works best for you.

Some basic information.

Hydroponic nutrient solutions should have a constant temperature and most plants will thrive around 23/24OC (75 OF). The absorption of oxygen and other nutrients are also affected by your solution temperature.

Nitrogen (N), Potassium (K), Phosphorus (P) are Primary Nutrients. Just like in-soil gardening this trio of nutrients are vital to your crop's health. Also needed are Carbon (C), Hydrogen (H), and Oxygen (O) which are supplied by air and water.

Secondary Nutrients include Calcium, Magnesium, Sulfur, Boron, Copper, Iron and Molybdenum (Mb) to name a few. These nutrients at levels beneficial for optimal growth would be the most productive approach. Which levels for which crops is something to read up on, for example Strawberries will stay white if there is excess silicon in the nutrient solution. So do your research on your crop.

pH

pH levels affect your crops ability to absorb all those nutrients you have spent time learning about. If your pH values are above 7.5 (alkaline) you will have iron, manganese, zinc and boron less available to plants. Acidic pH values (below 6) will result in issues with phosphoric acid, calcium and magnesium solubility. pH values between 3 and 5 and temperatures above 26 OC (78/79 OF)encourage the development of fungal diseases. So knowing your pH is vital to your hydroponic systems success.

Even with the depth and breadth of material out there to read on nutrient solutions, the best guides are your experiences so record your formulations and experiment. Your yields are under your care!

Related Articles
  Basic Hydroponic Systems
  Why Choose a Hydroponic System?
  Hydroponic Gardening: What's Different and Mediums to Use
  Hydroponic Kit: Get Everything you Need at Once for Successfully Growing Plants
  Hydroponic Grow Closet: The Perfect Place to Grow your Own Food

Article Tags: hydroponic systems, hydroponics, in home garden



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