General Hydroponics Pest
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Is hydroponic for you or not? At first glance, it seems like a great way to produce healthy plants and avoid weather, pest and soil issues. There are, however, a few negative points that should be taken into consideration. Lets have a look at the pros and cons to weight before one commits to this method of gardening.
The Pros:
When compared to traditional methods of growing, hydroponic gardening can be more productive in two areas: First, you will save a lot of space and grow more plants since you can place the plants much closer to one another mostly because of the way nutrients are provided to the roots. The economy of space is more than considerable since you can grow up to 4 times more plants in the same area as you would if using soil.
A second positive point with hydroponics is that the method being soil-less, you eliminate the problems that are associated with it such as sick plants, damaged or even wasted crops.
The nutrient mix that is used can be customized to the grower's needs and taste. This can be quite a strong point if, in certain conditions, the gardener has to compromise to be able to grow in the most favorable areas of the available space. Nutrient mix can be customized to the needs of any variety of herbs, with the proper ratio every time, no guessing!
Water consumption is another favorable factor to take into account. A hydroponic crop will consume 1/10th of the water needed to accommodate a similar soil-based garden. The water is also used more effectively to the exclusive needs of the plants. For instance, there is no weeds present to consume any of the water or the nutrients mixed through it.
Being grown in a contained environment, it is a very eco-friendly. It involves no pesticide or its run-off water damaging immediate and surrounding ground
Of course, with the absence of soil is also the non-existence of soil-based diseases. Based on these strong points, the hydroponic method is certainly a very efficient alternative to the traditional ways of growing healthy, flavorful herbs.
The Cons:
Sound quite good up to here, doesn't it? Well as in all good things, comes a few quirks... Though great benefits are to be obtained with hydroponic growing, the costs can be quite hefty especially nutrient mixtures and growing mediums.
Another expense is electrical energy. Since hydroponic growing is most often done in an interior or greenhouse environment, a sizable quantity of light is needed by the growing plants.
It is a rather sad situation to consider the financial barrier that keeps this food producing marvel to be made available in areas that would it need it most. But research is addressing these problems and progress is being made, of course new technologies are eagerly awaited.
This pretty much sums up the weighting of hydroponic herb gardening, if this is right for you is up to you of course. If you would like more on hydroponic or herd gardening information in general, follow the links at the bottom of the page.
About the Author:
Eustache Davenport is a gardening enthusiast and author. He lives in Montreal and enjoy teaching his gardening secrets to work groups on how to setup, optimize and maintain an amazing herb garden. For more great tips and information on hydroponic herb gardening
amd more, visit http://www.herbgardeningonlineguide.com
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Pros and the Cons of Hydroponic Herb Gardening
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on Thursday, January 4th, 2007 at 2:38 pm and is filed under Hydroponic Kits.
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HydroponicsWizard
Hi Andi,
You generally don’t need to add full strength nutrients each time you top up, only maybe quarter strength. This is because your plants will use up different elements at different rates and may also be consuming more water than salts which will affect your nutrient strength reading. The reason to top up with quarter strength nutrients is so that all of the trace elements are replenished without over feeding on other macro elements which may not have all been used up. In addition to these 1/4 strength top-ups, you should completely change your nutrient tank once a week.
In regard to nutrients, yes you are right there are lots of choices and “which one is best” is a very subjective question. It first depends on where you are in the world (as to what is available) and also in what medium you are growing. Assuming you are growing in an NFT , Flood & Drain or DWC system, there are a number of very good balanced base nutrients to choose from including Vita Link, General Hydroponics Flora or Canna. Once you have a good base nutrient, the biggest impact additive you can use will be a PK flowering booster and virtually every manufacturer has one of these. I always advise it is best to start basic and then test things out as you become more experienced. Don’t be fooled by manufacturers guides telling you to add 10-15 different additives – you’ll never know which one made the difference to your plants.