Home Improvement

Soil less Mixtures

There is a fantastic amount of soil less mixtures available, which contain different ingredients. Sphagnum moss, perlite, and vermiculite are the most widely spread hydroponics components, used in such mixtures.

Being organic, soil less growing media are usually used for container gardening wick systems or on-recovery drip systems. It is also possible to use soil less mixtures in recovery systems, but, it is necessary to remember that because of very fine particles in such mixtures, they can clog tubes, pumps and drip emitters, when used without a excellent filtration system. By the way, according to the urban gardeners, one can use panty hose as a filter: just fit it to the return line and to the pump inlet, and all the tiny particles will be filtered out.

Most soil less mixes form a excellent growing medium for multiple hydroponic and organic gardens, because they can hold water well, have fantastic wicking action, and, at the same time, they provide a reasonable amount of air to the roots of growing plants.

Coconut Fiber

The popularity of coconut fiber as growing medium increases rapidly around the world. Being the first really organic growing medium, providing highest performance for hydroponic systems, coconut fiber may soon become the most well loved growing medium ever. It is fascinating to note that coconut fiber is, really, a waste product, which contains the powdered husks of coconuts.

In comparison to rockwool, coconut fiber is characterized with higher oxygen capacity and water retaining. These features are vital advantages for hydroponic systems with intermittent watering cycles.

Coconut fiber also contains a lot of root stimulating hormones, thus offering some protection against fungus infestation and other root diseases. The mixture of 50% coconut fiber and 50% expanded clay pellets is considered to be the perfect growing medium.

But, it is necessary to underline one precaution when buying coconut fiber. Avoid purchasing a low grade coconut fiber, which is very fine grained and contains a high level of sea-salts. Such coconut fiber will have negative and disappointing effect on hydroponic system.

The most widely-spread growing medium is, perhaps, rockwool. Originally used for insulation purposes and also known as mineral insulation, rockwool was first used as growing medium by Dane gardeners. Now, it is frequently used for drip-style indoor gardens around the globe.

Rockwool is produced by a process similar to making cotton candy: a particular mixture of sand and rock is melted and then turned into fibers by spinning the mixture to form products of multiple shapes and dimensions, from 1″ starter cubes and up to large slabs of  3″x12″x36″ in size. The variety of available forms and sizes turns rockwool into one of the most widely-used growing mediums.

Key advantages, as well as disadvantages, of this well loved growing medium are listed below.

Rockwool’s Strong Points

HOLDING WATeR – rockwool as a growing medium in hydroponics systems is capable of holding a large amount of water. This makes an additional protection for situations, when water is not supplied because of power outages or failures in pumping or other gardening equipment.

ACCUMULATING AIR – up to 18 % of air are constantly kept by rockwool. Due to this capability, there is a very small risk to over water rockwool; besides, the plants are always supplied with enough amount of oxygen.

MULTIPLE SHAPES AND SIZES AVAILABLE – whether it is a small 1″ cube for seeds propagation or a large 3x12x36 inches slab for huge plant, rockwool offers a wide variety of shapes and sizes to choose from. Besides, loose rockwool is also available, designed for filling different plant containers.

NO DUST AND EASY TO USE – since rockwool maintains its form nearly perfectly, it cannot be scattered accidentally. Besides, usually packed into plastic rockwool is a very clean material that is easy and comfortable to work with.

Rockwool’s Weak Points

NOT A “GREEN” MATERIAL – rockwool is claimed to be not environment-friendly material, because of its nearly indefinite time of breakdown.

HEALTH HAZARDS – rockwool particles and fibers pose serious health danger, especially for human lungs. That is why it is necessary to wear a protective dust mask, while working with rockwoll.

pH PROBLEMS – because of rockwool’s high pH level, it is necessary to balance pH level in the nutrient solution properly and make it suitable for the plants, you are growing. In general, the use of rockwool requires more routine work to keep pH level of your nutrient solution at steady level.

LONG PRE-SOAK PERIOD – before rockwool can be used in the hydroponic system, it should be soaked for at least 24 hours beforehand. Other growing media usually do not require pre-soaking, it is enough just to well-water them.

Along with water, hydroponics plant nutrients, CO2 and oxygen, grow lights is the key basic component, required by plants to live. Providing additional light is necessary for indoor gardening. Furthermore, light should resemble the sunlight as much as possible. The major concern with other types of lights is that they do not produce light in the appropriate spectrum, required by plants.

Being the most efficient bulbs, HPS bulbs are commonly used by gardeners. Producing light in red and yellow spectrum, light generated by high pressure sodium lamps resembles the natural sunlight during autumn. Due to this peculiarity, HPS light is the best for promoting plants blooming. But, some plants may react negatively to this type of light, growing with oblong stem, etc. To address that issue, new HPS bulbs with color correction have been developed. For example, Son Argo feature properly balanced light spectrum, which suits perfectly for the needs of indoor gardening.

High pressure sodium grow lamps are made of a semi-transparent ceramic arc tube, filled with a mixture of sodium, mercury, and xenon. The arc tube is placed into the protective outer glass shield, similarly to metal halide bulbs. The power ranges of HPS bulbs vary from 35w to 1000w, while the most well loved are 250w, 400w, 600w and 1000w.

HPS bulbs are more durable in comparison with MH bulbs: they can be replaced once every 24 months. Though HPS grow lights lose their brightness slowly, in order to keep the brightness at the steady level, it is still recommended to replace the bulb within the specified period.

Among the groundbreaking new types of grow lights are sulfur lights, which are said to feature extremely high brightness and effectiveness. But, these bulbs are still rare on the market in view of the high price, so it is early to evaluate their practical value for those gardeners, for whom indoor hydroponics growing remains a leisure activity.

Hydroponics implies growing of the plants without soil; but, they still need medium to grow in. Hydroponics stores online or local ones offer a wide range of mediums to choose from, and it is better to know them to make the optimal choice.

Different Types of Growing Mediums

Although nearly any substances can more or less serve as the growing medium, the most well loved are those named below:

- Water / Air / Sand / Gravel

- Vermiculite / Perlite

 - Lava Rock

 - Sphagum Moss / Sawdust

 - Expanded clay pellets

 - Oasis Cubes

 - Coconut Fiber

 - Fiberglass Insulation

 - Proprietary Soilless Mix

 - Rockwool

Although rockwool is the last in the list, it can certainly be named the most well loved growing medium among hydroponics gardeners, because it is easy and cozy to use.

Rockwool was initially used as insulation material in building. But, hydroponic gardeners in Denmark were the first to learn its advantages when used as a growing medium. Nowadays, rockwool is highly valued and commercially available in the forms of rockwool cubes and rockwool plugs. To produce rockwool stone and sand are melted together and then spun into various shapes and sizes, which sounds similar to the production of cotton candy.

Rockwool Advantages

Rockwool cubes (sized 36” by 12” by 3”) are very convenient to use, because they can be easily cut to a shape matching your needs. This material perfectly holds water and air, being very porous. Therefore, the roots of the plants will be protected both from rotting and drying out in case of the pump malfunction or other event long enough for you to be able to right the situation.

The granules of the rockwool plugs keep together well and are not less easy to use.

Precautions

Unfortunately, rockwool has weakpoints as well, besides the benefits mentioned above. It can hardly be called environmentally friendly, as it is made of rock and thus does not bio-degrade, requiring some efforts to eliminate it. Moreover, it can be perilous for the human health, causing silicosis if accidentally inhaled. For this reason, it is recommended to wear a face mask with a HEPA filter and handle rockwool carefully. 

One more thing, a gardener should keep in mind while using rockwool, is that this material has a very high pH level, which should be reduced with available acidic substances and regularly checked.

In spite of the rockwool cons, it is still so easy and comfortable to use that it remains the most well loved growing medium type among the hydroponics gardeners. The only thing to do is to take necessary precautions while working with it.

One can delight in hydroponics gardening any season of the year, but it is especially rewarding during the cold and dark winter days. Being a type of indoor gardening, this system implies growing of plants in a special growing medium, supplied with nutrient solution, instead of soil. Similarly to other indoor gardening methods, with hydroponics gardening it is necessary to use grow lights, which allow plants to grow, make food and reproduce themselves through flowers or fruits. For this purpose HID lights are commonly used. There are several types of HID or high-intensity discharge lights: for example, metal halide grow lights and HPS grow lights. Every HID light requires digital ballast, which is necessary in order to control electrical current within the lamp, and thus provide its seamless functioning. Supplying light with a reflector is highly recommended as well, since it allows pointing the light in proper direction and increasing the light, produced by the bulb itself. Other type of grow lights are cost-effective and lightweight LED lights, where light-emitting diodes are used to produce light in colors beneficial for keeping up plant growth. The use of any of these lamps is highly effective for hydroponics growing.

Metal halide lamps contain aluminum arc tube, filled with argon, mercury and a variety of specific metals. It is a set of different metals that provide a particular color of the light, produced by the lamp. The argon gas works to start a lamp, when electric current is introduced at the electrodes on either end inside the arc tube. Under the effect of electric current mercury and metals start to vaporize and the light is produced. The key benefit of these lamps is that being small in size they produce a significant amount of light.

HPS grow lights, also known as high-pressure sodium lights, also have an aluminum arc tube inside, similarly to metal halide lights. But, the filling of the tubes is different: in case of HPS there are sodium, mercury, and the Xenon gas inside. Both metal halide lights and HPS lights require ballast for stabilizing electric current and providing smooth performance.

LED grow lights are small, but work very efficiently providing a lot of bright light. In general, they are similar to the lights, used for decorating Christmas tree. The light is produced when electric current moves between the two crystals inside a diode, which works as semi-conductor. Furthermore, LED grow lights usually have a reflector and a lens to direct the light where it is needed.

 Along with being cost effective and energy saving, there are multiple different color spectrums to choose among in order to suit specific plants needs in the best way. So, irrespectively to what type of grow light you choose, it will work accurately and provide effective growth of your indoor plants.