#Hydroponics:-
• -) Hydroponics comes from the Latin word or language and it means Working water ‘hydro’ means ‘’water’’ & ‘’ponos’’ means “ labour” . It’s Soil less growing.
• Hydroponics is a subset of hydroculture (the growing of plants in a soilless medium or aquatic based environment) and is a method of growing & it is a method of future farms.
while hydroponics Gardening needs dedicated efforts….
• Hydroponics reduces the time spent , automates, irrigation,gives best nutrition to stay put with our gardening efforts.
• In Hydroponics,Our vegetables gardening guide for beginners will help me to plan a garden self- sufficient for our family and get guidance on growing vegetables from seed to harvest in hydroponics…..
#Make us good for use of your location:-
• In hydroponics, the advantages of success Of our gardens depends greatly on location is that it is soilless. The space we have identified might be our appartment balcony or our house terrace . There is a no need to shift loads of soil nor is there need of waterproofing.
• There is a water saving upto 90% because of which urban Gardening , sunlight to produce healthy and high – Quality vegetables.
• If we will be an options for limited to a balcony that doesn’t get enough of sunlight , our options will be limited to few leafy greens that do not demand heavy sunlight.
# Planning for our gardening :-
• Deciding the size and arrangements of hydroponics system depends on space that we have, if our space is limited to a small balcony of our appartment, we can use “ HYDROPONICS NFT SYSTEM”.
• These systems can be designed to fit into small spaces such that indoor gardening is also possible with these systems. If you have enough space like your home terrace, start with making a list of greens and vegetables that your family enjoys.
• NFT systems are suitable for growing all leafy greens, herbs and small vegetable plants. For growing large vegetable plants please choose a Dutch bucket system which gives good root space and support needed for the large plants.
• The list of leafy-vegetables and Herbs that can be grown in NFT:-
| Warm Season Crops | Cool Season Crops |
| Spinach | Broccoli |
| Baby Spinach | Lettuce - all varieties of lettuce |
| Coriander , parsley , Celery | Cauliflower & cabbage |
| Amaranthus ( Red,Green & Bi-color variety ) | Strawberry - Perennial in nature , requires, cool season for flowering and fruiting. |
| Swisschard | Kale |
| Mint and most of Indian herb varieties | Bokchoy , Watercress |
• By seeing the growing season of different vegetable crops , plan in a staggered manner so that you can have at least uniform weekly harvest of all vegetable crops for the kitchen.
• Successive plantings are desirable if you wish to have a continuous fresh supply of certain vegetables. Don't plant too much of a crop at any one time. Two or three small plantings of leaf lettuce and radishes may be made a week to 10 days apart.
• Tomatoes and Chillies may be planted every two weeks until you have used up all your dutch buckets reserved for that plant variety.
#Showing of seeds :-
• Showing of seeds in a coco peat tray and Leca balls.
• It is available in the form of brick in compressed form.
• For hydroponic its ph and EC should be neutral.
• It is mostly used media in hydroponic .
• Because it is cheapest and recyclable media.
• It can hold water around 88%.
• The temperature for seed germination and transplanting period varies with different crop varieties.
• Transplanting of seedlings in different Hydroponics systems mostly depends on the Root system of the plant , growth pattern & growth cycle of the plant.
#NFT (Nutrient Film Technique) :-
• Nutrient Film technique growing is primarily used for growing Leafy green plants. In this system a thin stream of water (Nutrient solution) flows through rectangular channels. Because the nutrient solution stream forms a thin film in the bottom of the channels it gives the method its name .
• When you see roots at the bottom of the cube or when the seedling produce 2 leaves, transplant into NFT channels and fertilize until the plants reach harvestable size. Try to do the transplanting of seedlings during the late afternoon/evening.
• The nutrient solution flow in the channel should be in continuous mode and the circulation pump should be running 24×7 hrs because of recirculation there is a fall of the nutrient solution from the return pipe to the reservoir, the fall also causes aeration.
#Dutch Bucket system :-
• For indoor gardening, a hydroponic Dutch bucket system gives growers a way to grow large nutrient demanding crops separately. In this system we are going to grow large-statured vegetable and fruit plants like Tomato, Capsicum, Chilli, melons; Herbs; large-rooting plants like Turmeric, ginger, potatoes etc.
• The design of Dutch buckets systems is quite simple, with multiple variations on irrigation and equipment. A reservoir pump runs nutrient solution through a straight line over the buckets. Drippers control the flow to each bucket, and the solution runs through the media and then drains out of the bucket.
• Clay pellets, coco peat, perlite, and vermiculite can be used as grow media in the buckets. When using granular media like pellets the water can be recirculated between the dutch buckets and the reservoir. This gives excellent nutrient supply and aeration to plant roots.
#Grow bag system :-
• Grow bags can be economical alternatives to dutch buckets however they will not have long life and durability like buckets.
• Granular media like clay pellets cannot be used with grow bags. Any porous media like cocopeat and perlite can be used, hence only drain to waste or drip irrigation system is used with grow bags.
#Hydroponic Nutrients :-
• Hydrilla provides 'Grow' and 'Bloom' formulas containing all macro and micro nutrients necessary for plant growth. Grow formulation is used to promote vegetative growth. We can use this nutrient for all leafy greens and for the first few weeks for vegetable plants to promote good leaf growth. Bloom formulation has to be used approx. from second month after transplant for flowering, vegetable and fruiting plants to promote bloom and fruiting process.
#Deficiency in Hydroponic plants :-
• The main cause of deficiency in plants is water hardness. Due to water hardness the plant roots are unable to take up the nutrients. It is important that a water test is conducted before going for Hydroponics.
• Water containing too much calcium and magnesium (called "total Hardness") may create serious problems. Contact your municipal water supplier who can provide you with an analysis of your water supply.( Use RO water only).
#Plant protection in Hydroponic plants :-
• Vegetables are affected by a number of pests and diseases, but the severity may vary according to locality. Insects and diseases can cause much damage to our crops if precautions are not taken before these pests arrive in our garden. Select good disease resistant seed varieties for planting.
#Control of pests & diseases naturally/Organically :-
• Use Yellow and blue sticky traps for early pest and disease detection.
• Remove dried and affected plant parts.
• Neem-oil extract
• Alcohol spray at minor concentration
• Herbal water spray
• Garlic / pepper spray
#Harvest at Peak Quality :-
• The quality of our vegetables cannot be improved after harvest. It is therefore important to harvest our crops at the proper maturity. For example, tomatoes have to be picked when they are crossing orange and turning red however if the temperature is high pick them a little early and allow them to ripe in little lower temperature.
• To maintain quality after harvest, handle vegetables carefully. Avoid bruising or damaging them, for injury will encourage decay.