Different types of hydroponics

Hydroponics allows the growth of plants without soil. Plants, like all living organisms, need nutrients to grow, and normally they get these nutrients from the soil via their roots. However, plants can be grown using nutrient solutions instead of soil very effectively. The roots of the plants are still the main source of nutrition, however they are able to intake much higher levels from the nutrient solution than they would soil.

There are two different types of hydroponics, both of which can be carried out using cheap hydroponic systems. Solution culture and medium culture. Solution culture is where the plants grow in pure nutrient solution. The static solution technique involves growing the plants in containers that have nutrient solution, this will need changing regularly to ensure the plants are receiving maximum nutrition. Continuous flow solution is the method where plants are grown in containers with a constant flow of solution running over the roots, this solution is maintained via a central tank to make sure it is the correct strength and temperature. Space and containers allowing, it is possible to use a very effective system called NFT, this stands for Nutrient Film Technique. This is where the level of water is so low it is just a film, hence the name. The plants roots grow into a thick mat that is on top of the water so they can absorb maximum nutrients.

Medium culture uses some type of medium for the plants to bed their roots into such as rock wool or gravel. The nutrient solution runs across the medium to give the plants their nutrients.  Gravel is one of the cheapest and easiest mediums to use in homemade hydroponic systems as it is very easy to sterilise and re-use. Weight is the only real disadvantage.

Lights are also used to promote growth using hydroponic growing systems. It depends where the plants are being grown as to which lights are needed. There are varying spectrums of light available. You can buy lights to add a few more daylight hours to the day when natural sunlight is in short supply. Lights are also available that give a spectrum to promote growth.