Hydroponic Grow Systems

These days, there are less and less fertile farm lands to grow crops in. But contrary to what you may think, this doesn’t pose such a huge dilemma for our growers. Why? You might ask. The answer lies in hydroponic grow systems.

Ever since the Biblical times – the time of Babylon to be precise – we have already come up with a means to grow plants without need of soil. How else do you think the Hanging Gardens of Babylon remained hanging up there and still managed to wow people all over the ancient world? Simple: The Babylonians used a form of hydroponic grow system to keep the plants’ nutrient and water supply running.

Today, we don’t have the Hanging Gardens anymore. But what we do have are miniature gardens that survive even indoors in a small apartment space. These “gardens” are no more than water tanks powered with an aeration system and a steady supply of nutrients through a formulaic solution. This is hydroponics for you, more popular known as “soilless gardening.”

Below are the different types of hydroponic grow systems currently in use:

The Wick Hydroponic Grow System

The Wick system is by far the simplest of hydroponic grow systems. Its main components are:

* Grow tray
* Growing medium
* Wick
* Air pump
* Air stone
* Reservoir

The wick system is a passive system, which means that there are no moving parts. The nutrient solution is placed inside a reservoir, which is really nothing more than a water tank or an old aquarium you no longer use. The growing medium can be anything from perlite, vermiculite, pro-mix or even coconut fiber.

In order to draw the nutrient solution into the growing medium where the plants are, a piece of straw or tube called a wick is used. The air pump is placed just outside the water tank and is used to pump air into the air stone, which produces bubbles containing oxygen necessary for the plant roots to survive.

Because of its inherent simplicity, this hydroponic grow system is the commonest type of system used by home gardeners. You can even fashion your own wick system from old containers and aquarium devices so you don’t need to purchase anything besides the nutrient solution.

The biggest drawback of this hydroponic grow system, however, is that large plants or those that use large amounts of water may use up the nutrient solution faster than the wick can supply it.

Nutrient Film Technique Hydroponic Grow System

Often abbreviated to N.F.T., this hydroponic grow system is the kind of system most people think of when they think about hydroponics. N.F.T. systems are typically composed of the following:

* Grow tray (tube)
* Nutrient pump
* Reservoir
* Air stone
* Air pump

This hydroponic grow system has a constant flow of nutrient solution so no timer for the submersible pump is required. The growing tray, usually a tube, is pumped full of nutrient solution, which flows over the roots of the plants, and then drains back into the reservoir.

Usually, this hydroponic grow system does not use growing medium other than air. This thus saves you the expense of replacing the growing medium after every crop. Normally, the plant is supported in a small plastic basket with the roots dangling into the nutrient solution.