Hydroponic gardening is simply growing without soil. In this type of garden you provide all of the nutrients your plants need through the water in the hydroponic system. Plants require water, nutrients, and Oxygen at the root level, and different hydroponic systems will provide these three elements in various different ways.
The key to success in an indoor garden is to know the requirements of your plants very well, and then to simply provide for them. This is especially true when it comes to the lighting requirements and feeding requirements of different plants. A crop of lettuce may do very well grown under fluorescent lights, whereas tomatoes and other vegetables require a much more intense light source to guarantee vigorous growth and healthy development.
In addition to nutrient strength and light intensity, every plant has a pH that is preferred. It is also very common for the light requirements and/or nutritional requirements of your plants to change as they grow. For example, they may need a dark photo-period to get them to fruit, or they may require less Nitrogen and more Phosphorus and Potassium as they go from vegetative growth into flowering/fruiting.
Having a feeding plan in advance, tailored to the needs of the plants you are growing, is extremely helpful to getting great results. Once you have a feeding plan, it's just a matter of maintaining your nutrient solution properly on a day to day basis...according to the feeding plan.
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Indoor organic and hydroponic gardening can be very
rewarding, but the challenges of providing for plants indoors can be
overwhelming to a beginner, and can be challenging to even an
experienced gardener.
I started gardening indoors over 20 years ago, and I quickly realized how much conflicting advice
was out there, and how little useful advice there was for indoor
gardening in general, and for hydroponic gardening in particular.
After many years of persistent trial and error, I now enjoy
helping garden lovers all over the world. I try my very best to make the
information here easy to understand, yet very helpful (Easy RSS feeds
to the left).
Find help choosing your indoor grow lights, understanding the different hydroponic systems, and learning some of the finer skills of indoor gardening...such as how to force flowering, how to take clones successfully, and how to maintain your nutrient solution properly. My indoor guide is here to save you time and frustration (and money) by...
Helping you do it right the first time!
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AffordableGarden Design&Setup
YouTube once again censored my last video-- enjoy this throwback from 2016 when we were first getting started!
The ultimate solution to eliminate the cost of your hydroponic nutrients: Imagine a hydroponic system that does not require you to buy any nutrients, does not require you to make your own compost, and does not require you to brew your own nutrient tea. Seriously! No cost and no effort as far as providing nutrients to your plants! Plus, at the end of the gardening cycle you harvest all of your garden vegetables, PLUS YOU HARVEST FISH from the system....
This solution is aquaponics. If you are serious about producing all of your own food and being self-sufficient, this is the ultimate solution for reducing expenses (as much as possible), reducing the total amount of work required, and maximizing the productivity of your gardening efforts. I have been gardening for over 24 years, and it is the perfect food production solution in my opinion.
Besides mastering how to make high quality compost, learning aquaponics is one of the top 3 things you can do to increase your garden productivity, reduce your total costs, and reduce your total work. The product that I learned from is called Aquaponics4you. With all of my hydroponic gardening experience, the first time I came across the Aquaponics4you product I knew immediately that it was something very special! Place an aquaponics system outdoors and use the sun instead of grow lights, and you have reduced every garden expense to nearly ZERO!
The New LED System/ BlackDog LED!
The moment LED lighting can finally compete with HID lighting. Very sweet!
Also, I'm working on a new video host - YouTube sucks!
Going to try THETA video next!