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Advance Hydroponic Nutrients

Hydroponic growing is one of the most efficient and effective ways to grow plants and get more yields from crops. Indoor and soil-free, this marvelously effective and surprisingly inexpensive growing style is made possible by directly providing the roots of the plant with water containing essential nutrients. Hydroponic nutrients, then, are the single most important ingredient of any indoor growing system. In order to achieve the healthiest hydroponic plants with the best yield, one most have an understanding of these nutrients, their importance to hydroponic growing, and how to use them.

What are Hydroponic Nutrients?

Both hydroponic and soil-grown plants need 16 elements in order to grow. The top three elements, known as macronutrients, include nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. Three other elements essential to plant growth, known as secondary nutrients, are calcium, sulfur, and magnesium. The remaining nutrients are called micronutrients. All sixteen of these nutrients are vital to any growing system. In a hydroponic system, the plant receives all these elements in its water.

Advantages of Hydroponic Nutrient Systems

- Plants grown outside of a hydroponic system must expand their roots in search of the nutrients that would be provided directly to them in a hydroponic growing system. Plants grown in a hydroponic system are able to focus energy on upward growth, or growth in the parts of the plant we find most valuable: leaves, buds, and flowers. Because of this, hydroponic plants grow up to 50% faster than regular soil-grown plants, and produce a much greater yield.

Hydroponic plants are automatically provided with all the nutrients they need, meaning they have a perfectly measured diet, with all the necessary nutrients provided to them several times each day and without the high probability of human error that kills many plants grown outside of a hydroponic system.

A hydroponic growing system is remarkably low-maintenance. As mentioned before, human error rarely causes problems in a hydroponic system, because the plant is daily and automatically saturated in the nutrients it needs. The grower needs only to check the plants' pH levels and the nutrient reservoir. Every two weeks, the hydroponic nutrients should be refreshed. Aside from that, the hydroponic grower has little to worry about.

Different Types of Hydroponic Nutrients and How To Get Them

Store-bought preformulated nutrients are the quickest and simplest way to provide your hydroponic system with the nutrients it needs. A certain amount of hydroponic nutrient concentrate is mixed with water and the system is set for two weeks of growing. After two weeks, the grower need only refresh the nutrient-water formula and make sure that the pH levels are within a safe range. Preformulated nutrient solutions, such as the acclaimed Flora Series from General Hydroponics, come in powder and liquid form (usually with two or three separate containers, for different phases in the growing process) and can be found at most gardening or hydroponic specialty stores and websites.

- The advanced hydroponic grower may find that formulating his or her own nutrient solutions for their specific plants and crops may be the most effective way to provide nutrients to their system. After years of watching one's own hydroponic system and studying the way nutrients effect it, many growers find that they can mix and match different solutions to achieve optimal results for their unique crop.

How to Use Hydroponic Nutrients in Your Hydroponic Growing System

One of the most important aspects of a successful hydroponic system is monitoring the pH levels of your nutrient solution. pH is a way to measure the hydrogen-hydroxyl ion content, or acidity, of a solution. On a scale of 1-14, seven is neutral. In order to achieve plant growth, the pH level of a hydroponic nutrient solution must be within a certain range or the plant will not be able to absorb nutrients in a healthy way. In a hydroponic system, the pH levels should be no higher than 6.8, but a 6.3 seems to be the ideal level. To ensure that your hydroponic nutrients perform to their optimal ability, it is essential to monitor the pH levels of your solution. Most garden and hydroponic specialty stores offer pH-testing kits, which should be used at least once a day to check the acidity of your hydroponic nutrient solution.

Every hydroponic nutrient solution should be changed biweekly to avoid nutrient imbalances and get rid of nutrient build-up.

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