Tips for Growing Hydroponics at Home

Having a hydroponic plant at home has great advantages, including access to organic food that you can grow yourself. Hydroponics has its origin in the Greek word hydros, which means water, and in ponos, which means work…together it means work in water.

The main advantage of hydroponic crops is that they adapt to all spaces and climates and you’ll be the one who controls the conditions that the plants require to grow, regardless of the weather conditions. Similarly, these types of crops don’t require major construction or development. In fact, if you have children you can build one with them.

Another of their advantages is that they optimize the water added to them and therefore reduce consumption, as indicated by an article from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This also highlights that these types of crops don’t require the use of pesticides.

Tips for growing hydroponics at home

Next, we’re going to explain how to have a hydroponic culture at home and we’ll give you some tips that’ll help you to maintain it.

1. Build your hydroponic grow

The first thing to do is build your own hydroponic. These are the materials you’ll need:

• A large dark container, (if it’s not dark, the roots won’t grow well).
• Wooden board (the same size as your dark container).
• Oxygenation pump, just like those used in aquariums.
• Vegetable sprouts.
• Solution with nutrients.
• Plastic lid.
• Substrate for hydroponics such as coconut fiber, rock wool, clay, or perlite stones.

Now we’ll provide step-by-step guidelines for its construction:

• Make a hole in the dark container, through which it’ll be possible to drain and change the water.
• Take the wooden board and make some holes in it between ten and twenty centimeters apart.
• Place the substrate in the container and secure the plants by the stem. Pull the roots very carefully between the holes in the wooden board.
• Oxygenate the water twice a day with the aquarium pump.

2. Growing hydroponics at home: nutrients

Help your hydroponic plants to grow healthy and strong by applying the necessary nutrients for it. These are divided into two types: macro and micronutrients. Among the former are carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, hydrogen, sulfur, and oxygen, and they have the function of contributing to the cellular metabolic function of plants.

Second are micronutrients such as iron, zinc, manganese, boron, copper, chlorine, molybdenum, and nickel. You can buy special solutions that already contain all of these nutrients. Make sure you change the water every 15 days and take care that pests don’t appear and damage your crop.

3. Types of plants

Among the vegetables that stand out for being easy to grow hydroponically, those such as lettuce and spinach stand out. As well as aromatic and medicinal herbs such as lemon balm, mint, chamomile and fennel. The list below also mentions other plants:

• Root: cassava, carrot, radish, and beet.
• Stem: potato and asparagus.
• Leaf: garlic, onion, chard, coriander, cabbage, and celery.
• Of flowers: cauliflower and broccoli.
• Fruit: melon, watermelon, eggplant, and tomato.

Cultivating your own hydroponics at home is very easy

The materials you need to create your own hydroponic grow at home are basic and installing them is even easier. Go ahead and grow those vegetables that you consume more frequently. This technique will also save you money and you’ll see from the result of your crop that it’s much better quality than those that you buy in the market.

To avoid problems with your plants, check your growth often and don’t allow bad odors to appear. Although this is a crop that requires good sunlight, don’t allow it to enter from the front, as it can burn the leaves and cause the growth to stop.

Without a doubt, having an organic crop at home is the first step to start healthier eating and a more organic and sustainable lifestyle. Your body and the planet will thank you.