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mardi 5 janvier 2016

What Goes On In Hydroponics Store

By Thomas Scott


Hydroponics is a branch of hydroculture involved with growing of plants without soil but mineral nutrient solutions and water. Terrestrial plants are now grown without water, but root systems immersed in nutrient solutions. Plants need to receive water to grow well. Methods of delivering water and nutrient are many and diverse. Some major ones include hanging root systems in nutrient solutions directly, placing root systems in substrates in containers, and finally misting the roots.

When suspended in a substrate, the substrate acts as a replacement for soil. Substrates are of many different types these days. Some of the most common ones include wood chips, rockwool, pebbles, sand, sawdust, or perlite among others. Important characteristics that substrates need to have are good water retention capacity and porosity to allow gaseous exchange. Roots develop into the substrate to offer support. This form of agriculture has become very attractive to farmers and it is being practiced worldwide. It is common to see a hydroponics store on the streets.

The technology is old with a long history. Earliest book on the technology was written by Francis Bacon in 1627. The printing of the book was done after Bacon had long died. Upon printing the book, a lot of interest in the technology emerged among members of the public. The result of that interest was research into the method. Several publications were later made since 1699. Modifications of the original inventions and findings have been done over the years.

There are two major kinds of hydroponics today, that is, medium culture and solution culture. In solution culture, there is no solid medium used for plant root system. Only the nutrient solution is used. On the other hand, medium culture involves the use of a solid medium to support the root system.

Solution cultures can be placed into three subcategories. Static solution cultures, aeroponics, and continuous-flow solution cultures are the three kinds of solution cultures. The mediums used in medium cultures determine the name of the culture. That is why there are cultures like gravel and sand cultures. Another criterion that is used to classify hydroponics is mode of irrigation. Here are two main categories, that is, sub-irrigation and top irrigation.

Today, most hydroponic reservoirs in use are manufactured from plastic materials. However, formerly, other materials including wood, metal, concrete, glass, and vegetable solids were in wide use. In fact, there are still some reservoirs made of such materials. The reservoirs must never be exposed to sunlight to prevent growth of algae.

Nutrients are supplied to plants in a dissolved form. Major forms are ionic and inorganic. Hydroponic solutions are made following different recipes and usually involve combining different chemicals to attain certain compositions. Macronutrients are derived from chemicals such as potassium phosphate, calcium nitrate, potassium nitrate, and magnesium sulfate. Salts usually become over concentrated as plants deplete minerals and water. Therefore, close monitoring is necessary.

The technology is being exercised on large scale in several countries. The constant supply of nutrients to plants coupled with lack of pests leads to high yields. However, plant growth is limited by lower levels of Carbon dioxide and restricted sunlight exposure.




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