DIY Hydroponic Gardens

How to Design and Build an Inexpensive System for Growing Plants in Water

Tyler Baras

• Publisher: Cool Springs Press
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9780760363584
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Horticulture
• Index: Biological Sciences

With practical information aimed at home DIYers, author Tyler Baras (Farmer Tyler to his fans) shows exactly how to build, plant, and maintain over a dozen unique hydroponic systems, some costing just a few dollars to make. No soil? No sunlight? No problem. A hydroponic growing system gives you the power to grow plants anywhere. Even if you live in an area where water is scarce, a hydroponic system is the answer you've been looking for. Hydroponic systems are sealed and do not allow evaporation, making water loss virtually nonexistent. Simply suspend your essential nutrients in a water-based solution and circulate them to the plant roots in a contained network of vessels and tubes. This accessible guide provides the solid information you need for hydroponic gardening success. Farmer Tyler shows you, with detailed step-by-step photos, precisely how to create these systems, and how to plant and maintain them. All the information you need to get started with your home hydroponic system is included:

• Recipes for nutrient solutions
• Light and ventilation sources
• Comprehensive equipment guide
• Growing and maintenance instructions
• 12+ hydroponic system builds
• Complete crop selection charts

DIY Hydroponic Gardens is the best resource available for getting started in hydroponics.

1
INTRODUCTION

THIS BOOK MAKES HYDROPONICS ACCESSIBLE to gardeners of any experience level. You'll learn both the science of hydroponics and its practical applications and see that DIY hydroponics is not just a way to avoid purchasing expensive hydroponic systems; it's also a way to create a beautiful garden better suited to your needs. Offering build guides for hydroponic gardens that range from simple to complex, this book shows systems suitable for nearly any environment or application. The build guides include many options for customizing the design so you can create a garden catered to your space, crop selection, and budget. Additionally, this book offers invaluable seed variety recommendations that can save new hydroponic gardeners time and money that could have easily been wasted on poorly suited crop selections. Learn from Farmer Tyler's vast experience and avoid the costly mistakes commonly made by new hydroponic growers. The more you know, the better you grow!

WHAT IS HYDROPONICS?

Put simply, hydroponics is growing plants without soil. Most people assume that soil is indispensable for plant growth, but if you have this book, you probably already know that isn't so. The various functions of soil can be recreated using other materials. Soil provides support for the plant because it creates a physical structure for the roots to grasp. Tall trees would be unable to hold themselves upright on a windy day without a firm grip in the soil. In a hydroponic system, the physical support provided by soil can be replicated with a variety of materials and trellis structures.

Soil also provides essential nutrients for plant growth. These same nutrients can be supplied using alternative methods, however. Hydroponic systems dispense water-soluble nutrients derived from both organic and conventional sources. Soil can also provide a home for essential microbial populations that create beneficial relationships with plant roots. These same microbes can live and thrive in a hydroponic environment. So, if hydroponics is simply recreating the role of soil, why not just use soil?

ADVANTAGES OF HYDROPONIC GROWING

1 Doesn't require quality soil
Gardening is often thought of as an activity limited to those fortunate enough to have a lawn. Hydroponics greatly increases gardening options for those in homes without lawns or those with lawns that have soil poorly suited for edible crops. Hydroponics combined with indoor growing techniques gives gardeners even more options by expanding the potential garden space to nearly anywhere in the home.

2 Potential for faster crop growth
Plants rarely maximize their full growth potential in soil. There is almost always some limiting factor slowing down their growth. In soil, the plant roots need to search for nutrients that are often unevenly distributed and possibly inaccessible because they are bound to various soil particles. Some nutrients are inaccessible because the microbes in the soil have yet to break down the nutrient source (for example, manure) into a form that is available to the plant's roots. It is also possible for the plant growth to be constrained by a lack of water or too much water. Too much water can reduce the amount of oxygen available to the roots and inhibit biological processes necessary for the roots to uptake nutrients and water. Hydroponics bathes the roots in a precise blend of essential nutrients with a balance of water and oxygen. Many of the constraints on a plant's potential growth can be eliminated or reduced using hydroponics and indoor growing techniques.

3 Requires less space
A plant must spread its roots far and wide in the process of searching for water and nutrients. By eliminating the need for the plant roots to find water and nutrients, the spacing of plants is only limited by the area needed for the plant canopy.

4 Less constraint on growing season
Obviously, growing indoors permits gardeners to extend the growing season. Less obviously, hydroponics specifically can extend the growing season even when placed outdoors. Often the temperature of a plant's roots is more critical to its health than the leaf temperature. It is possible to grow winter crops in 100°F if the root temperature is kept in an optimal range closer to 65° to 75°F. It is also possible to grow crops that prefer warm temperatures in cold climates by increasing the root zone temperature. Hydroponics increases the ability to precisely adjust the root zone temperature. Through use of heaters, chillers, or simple practices like burying a hydroponic reservoir, a hydroponic gardener can increase or decrease water temperature and improve crop growth.

5 Can be used in any location Hydroponics allows gardeners to grow in areas that do not possess quality soil. Hydroponics also allows gardeners to grow in locations that would be unsuited for crops due to inhospitable climate or limited water access. One of the biggest opportunities for hydroponics is growing in deserts. Deserts often have a wonderful climate for growing crops, with lots of light and little pest presence, but they are limited in access to water. Hydroponics uses substantially less water than traditional methods and can make farming in deserts a viable option. Hydroponics is also the primary method used to grow plants in space. Many crops, including lettuce, have been grown in space using hydroponic methods.

Leafy vegetables can be grown hydroponically in outer space. Photo courtesy of NASA.

6 Uses less water
Hydroponics uses less water because you may reuse any irrigation water not directly taken up by the crop. In soil, much of the water is lost to evaporation and drainage. In hydroponics, evaporation can be reduced or eliminated by covering the water reservoir, and all drainage water is collected to be reused.

7 No weeding and no herbicides
No weeding. It may seem like a small point at first, but after a season of pulling garden weeds, most traditional soil gardeners would love to have spent that time doing something more fun, like preparing dishes from their harvest. Hydroponic growers also have no need to purchase herbicides. Furthermore, hydroponic growers never have to face the potential crop damage of herbicide drift when a breeze accidentally blows herbicide onto your garden and injures or kills your precious plants.

8 Can reduce or eliminate need for pesticides
Hydroponic gardens, especially those outdoors and in greenhouses, are rarely pest free, but hydroponics does have the potential to reduce pest pressure. Hydroponic gardens present fewer hiding places for pests that will burrow into soil or hide in decaying plant debris. When hydroponics is combined with indoor growing techniques it is possible to have a completely pest-free garden if the gardener practices preventive pest control techniques. Preventive pest control techniques are covered in the Equipment for Growing Indoors section of the Equipment chapter.

9 Can reduce or eliminate agricultural runoff
It is difficult to manage runoff in a traditional garden. The gardener may fertilize the garden and the next week a rainstorm washes away much of the nutrients. It is also possible that the nutrients will be carried away by normal irrigation. Using advanced hydroponic techniques it is possible to have zero runoff. This is a practice best suited for professional hydroponic growers as it involves advanced water testing, chemistry, and an extensive knowledge of a crop's specific nutrient requirements. For home hydroponic gardeners, it is common to flush or dump out the nutrient solution in the hydroponic system every few weeks to avoid potential nutrient disorders in the crop created by an imbalance in nutrients. Plants do not consume all nutrients at the same rate, so over time some accumulate and some become deficient. Periodic flushes, or changes of the nutrient solution, help reset the system and ensure the crop has access to the correct balance of nutrients. This wastewater does not have to be simply flushed down, though; most hydroponic gardeners use this water for their outdoor garden or potted plants. A traditional soil-based garden is a great companion to a hydroponic garden.

10 Ability to manipulate nutrient content
One of the most common misconceptions surrounding hydroponics is that hydroponic produce has a lower nutrient density than soil-grown produce because hydroponic crops are grown in water. There have been many studies comparing the nutrient density of hydroponic and soil-grown produce and the results are evenly mixed. There are so many factors that affect the nutrient density of a crop, and although fertilizer does play a role in which nutrients are present, the environment has a huge role in which nutrients the plant actually uptakes. Light intensity and specific colors of light can affect antioxidant c...