“Introduction to Hydroponic System and its Types”
What is Hydroponics?
Hydroponics is a sort of horticulture and a subset of hydroculture, which is a strategy of developing plants, ordinarily crops, without soil, by utilizing mineral supplement solutions in an aqueous solvent.
3 Types of Hydroponic Systems
- Deep Water Culture System
Deep Water Culture System is essential to plant suspended in aerated water. Deepwater culture systems, also known as a DWC system, are one of the easiest and most popular strategies of hydroponics on the market. A DWC system dangles net pots holding plants over a profound supply of oxygen-rich supplement arrangement. The plant’s roots are submerged within the solution, giving it never-ending access to nourishment, water, and oxygen. Deepwater culture is considered by some to be the purest shape of hydroponics.
Advantages of Deepwater Culture System
- Low Maintenance
With the setup of a DWC system, you require very little requirement for maintenance. You just need to replenish the nutrients when required and make sure your pump is running oxygen to the Air Stone.
- DIY Appeal
They can be set very easily and cheaply at home with a quick run to local nurseries to pick up air pump and nutrients.
Disadvantages of Deepwater Culture System
- Limitations
They are adapted at growing herbs and lettuce as they struggle with large and more slow-growing plants.
- Temperature Control
It is vital that your water solution should not drip or exceed 68 F and doesn’t go below 60 F. it becomes more difficult to regulate the temperature as in a DWC system, the water is static.
- Wick Systems
In a wick system, plants are settled in growing media on a tray that sits on top of a reservoir. This supply houses a water solution with dissolved supplements. Wicks travel from the store to the growing tray. Water and nutrients stream up the wick and immerse the growing media around the root systems of the plants. These wicks can be made of fabric as basic as rope, string, or felt. Wick frameworks are by far the foremost basic form of hydroponics.
Advantages of Wick System
- Simplicity
A wick system can be set-up by anybody and does not demand intemperate attention after it is running. The wicks will constantly supply your plants with water, so there’s no hazard of them drying out. Besides, plants like lettuce will thrive in a wick framework, giving an extraordinary return on your hands-free venture.
- Space Efficient
Wick systems are subtle and can be installed anywhere, seeing as they don’t need electricity to run. It is an idealized system for teachers, apprentices, or anybody inquisitive about exploring hydroponics.
Disadvantages of Wick System
- Limitations
Lettuce and herbs like rosemary, mint, and basil are fast-growing and don’t request expansive amounts of water. Tomatoes, on the other hand, will struggle to flourish in a wick framework because of their high demand for supplements and hydration. Other plants cannot flourish in an environment that is perpetually sodden. Root vegetables like carrots and turnips will not succeed in a wick system.
- Susceptible to decay
A hydroponic wick system is continuously sticky and soggy. This creates the chance that fungal outbreaks and rot can develop in the natural developing media and on the roots of your plants.
- Nutrient Film Systems
Nutrient film technique (NFT) systems suspend plants over a stream of continuously streaming supplement solution that washes over the ends of the plant’s root systems. The channels holding the plants are tilted, allowing water to run down the length of the grow tray before depleting into the reservoir underneath. The water within the reservoir is then circulated air through an air stone. Even even though nutrient film technique systems are always reusing water, it is wise to drain the supply and renew the nutrient solution each week or so. This guarantees your plants are being delivered plentiful nourishment.
Advantages of NFT
- Low Consumption
Since NFT hydroponics recycle the water they don’t demand huge amounts of water or supplements to operate. The consistent flow also makes it harder for salts to accumulate on the plant’s roots. Nutrient film technique systems moreover don’t require growing media, so you spared the cost of purchasing media and the bother of replacing it.
- Modular design
Nutrient film technique systems are perfect for large-scale and commercial endeavors. Once you have got one channel set up and working, it is exceptionally simple to extend. You can fill your nursery with multiple channels supporting different crops. It’s a great idea to bolster each channel with a separate store. This way, if pump failure happens or malady spreads within the water, you will not lose your whole operation.
Disadvantages of NFT
- Pump disappointment
In case the pump fails and the channel is not circulating the nutrient film, your plants will dry out. In a matter of hours, your whole crop can perish in case it isn’t being provided with water. Maintaining an NFT hydroponic system does require vigilance. You may need to constantly watch the performance of your pump.
- Overcrowding
In case the plants are dispersed too near together or the root growth is too proliferate, the channel can end up clogged. If the channel is deterred by roots, water will be incapable of flow and your plants will starve.
Hence, Hydroponic cultivating can be an extraordinary way to economically develop sustainable organic food.