Hydroponic Farming: How to Set Up Your Irrigation System?
Farming and agriculture are among the oldest human vocations. They are associated with the advent of great civilizations. Still, millennia of tillage takes a toll on the soil.
Especially in this age of large-scale, commercial farming, the land reflects this cost in terms of erosion, runoff, soil toxicity, and compaction.
One way to give our fruited plains a break is for consumers to adopt hydroponic farming.
Growing vegetables and plants in a nutrient-infused, water-based solution can yield an ample harvest while hastening the recovery of abundant farm acreage.
Hydroponics can sometimes call for significant investment in both time and funds.
Outdoor farming exposes the systems to the effects of weather and the elements. The infrastructure of any farm must, therefore, be monitored and maintained.
Jared Lowe from Century Rain says that it is important to clean out your water pumps and drainage system after Autumn when the fallen leaves are likely to clog your system.
As a leader in retailing, installing and maintaining irrigation systems, this organization is well informed when it comes to responsible stewardship of hydroponic structures.
Kinds of Hydroponic Systems
There are various ways to farm hydroponically. Among them are:
- Deep water Culture is considered the most elementary method of hydroponic growing. Here the plant roots are dangled in the nutrient solution while an air pump provides enough oxygen to prevent suffocation.
- Nutrient Film Technique, or NFT, makes use of running water to feed and enrich the roots. The entire growing apparatus is tilted, allowing gravity to compel the solution flow.
- Aeroponics is just as it sounds. The roots are actually hanging in midair as the plant food is applied in the form of a mist.
- Deep Flow Technique (DFT). is an easy and cheap hydroponics system to setup. Deep flow technique is mostly used to grow leafy crops and places with limited space.
Whatever the manner of cultivation, certain fundamentals relate to setting up hydroponic systems.
Putting Together a Hydroponic Farm
- The first order of business is to select the optimal location for a hydroponic assembly. It could be a greenhouse, basement or outdoor patio. Of course, factors like how much to grow, when to grow and what to grow will inform this decision.
- The suspension systems described above are ordinarily equipped with six-inch PVC pipes; a supportive structure and framework upon which to set the apparatus and suspend the plants; a tank to hold the solution and a pump to convey it. If the pipes are not already perforated, this is the next step since they will serve as the growing tubes.
- Make sure to mix the water and nutrients in the right ratios, bearing in mind the size of the solution tank. The plant food labels should specify the appropriate proportions.
- Extract all the soil from the roots of the seedlings prior to setting them in the growing tubes. Stabilize the plants with perlite, clay pellets, peat moss or vermiculite.
- Attach the plants to the framework or trellis by means of a string. This will guide the growing vegetation to ascend in a straighter manner rather than sprawl.
Hydroponic farming also precludes the presence of soil-based pests and weeds.
Whatever the mode of growing, plants grow faster and fuller with hydroponic hosts.
As there are several different ways to build these systems, certain details vary as to their construction.
At the same time, there are common steps to be executed in most every hydroponic assembly.
The results are worth the work.
