Hydroponic gardening is the perfect solution to growing your own fruits, vegetables and plants when space is limited. Plus, growing hydroponically offers a lot of benefits to the health of your plants. If you’re thinking of growing your own hydroponic garden, we’ve got some considerations to help you get started. Let’s dig in.
Choose your system
The first thing you have to work out, is what kind of system you are going to use. The most common systems or techniques to set up are the top drip, and the ebb and flow.
Top drip is the most commonly used hydroponic system, whereby the nutrients are held in a reservoir and distributed to the base of plants through a tube. Excess nutrients are then returned to the reservoir through the holes in the pots.
Ebb and Flow is easy to build and suits planters of any size. Arrange the pots on a drain table and fill with a few inches of water and nutrients. Allow the solution to soak through to the plants through the holes in the bottom of the pots for a few minutes before draining the reservoir.
Choose your medium
Hydroponic gardening, or gardening without soil means you need a good replacement medium. This replacement can be either coconut coir, or expanded clay.
Coconut coir is a medium made from the leftover material of the coconut, or coconut husks. It’s lightweight, sustainable, and can absorb a lot of water and nutrients. Our Coco Coir Pith will help plants absorb 50% more nutrients than ordinary coco peat to grow plants twice the size and protect against over and under fertilising. Coconut coir is a great medium for most systems, except for the ebb and flow system.
Expanded clay is created by heating balls of clay until they expand. They protect against over or under watering by absorbing lots of water, and they don’t move, making them perfect for ebb and flow systems. Our expanded clay products provide optimal aeration and drainage, as well as vigorous root growth.
Create the right lighting
Not all hydroponic gardens have to be grown indoors, but if you are growing indoors, you will require some source of light for plant growth. There are lots of starter kits available, just make sure you match the ballast with the lamp and bulb wattage.
Feed with nutrients
Lastly, to help make your hydroponic garden a success, it’s important to use some nutrient formulas, as the plants won’t have access to the nutrients found in soil. Our formulas have been created to achieve amazing results, growing big, lush, healthy plants.
Now that you have your starting points, the next thing to decide is what to grow first! It’s not too difficult to join the community of urban gardeners, and we hope you’ll be harvesting the rewards of your labour soon. Need more help? Give our craftsmen a call on 1800 Reiziger.
