Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Growing Hydroponic Fruits and Vegetables at Home: Information Search


Growing hydroponic fruits and vegetables at home is pretty easy if you just have the right attitude to it. Hydroponics is actually a method that allows any individual to have the opportunity to grow fruits and vegetables in places where it would seem impossible. This is one of the amazing undertakings that hydroponics gives people. This gardening method will be most appreciated by those living in the city and those who do not have any space for traditional gardening. This is because it will give them the best chance to grow healthy and nutritious crops indoors.

Your first step in learning how to grow hydroponic fruits and vegetables at home is to get as much relevant and accurate information as you can. The Internet is a fantastic source of information about hydroponics, however as with all other areas of internet research there's just as much useful information as there are inaccurate ones. Knowing the difference between the two will determine your chances of success or failure. However, one way to get relevant and useful information on the net is to subscribe to hydroponic newsletters that are from a reputable source.

The very best hydroponics newsletter is available from the following url: http://www.advancednutrients.com/newsletter.
You can also solicit information about hydroponics through books and manuals to broaden your knowledge about the method.

Getting armed with the right information about hydroponics can help you produce vegetables and fruits with higher nutritional value. Visit this blog regularly for more useful information about growing hydroponic plants and vegetables at home.

Grow Lights


Grow lights are electric lamps designed to promote plant growth by emitting an electromagnetic spectrum that is needed for photosynthesis. The emitted light spectrum is similar to the sun, thus allowing outdoor condition possible in indoor gardening. The natural color of daylight has a high color temperature that appears to be bluish. With the use of the color rendering index, it is possible to compare how much the lamp matches the natural color of the sunlight. There are several types of grow lights. These are as follows:

1. Incandescent grow light—has a red-yellowish tone and low color temperature. This type of grow light is solely used to highlight indoor plant groupings. It has a life span of 750 hours and considered to be less energy efficient because it produces more heat rather than light.

2. Fluorescent grow light—a standard fluorescent is usually used for growing vegetables or for starting seedlings. It produces twice as many lumens per watt of energy consumed as incandescent. It has an average usage of up to 20,000 hours.

3. Metal-Halide (MH) HID grow lamp—has a white light in the range of 2700 to 5500 Kelvin and a color rendering index of 65-75. With this type of grow light, plants appear to be almost identical to those grown outdoors. Metal halide lamps are five times as efficient as incandescent lamps and can last up to 25 times as long. It has a usable lifespan between 10,000 to 20,000 hours, depending on the wattage.

4. High-pressure sodium lamp—has a yellow light in the range of 2200 Kelvin and color rendering index of 22. Actually, the light is toward the red end of the spectrum. Most plants need red spectrum light when they are flowering. HPS lights are sometimes used in conjunction with the blue spectrum Metal Halide lights. Or you can buy conversion bulbs, and use a blue bulb for vegetative growth and the regular HPS bulb for budding and flowering.

5. Combination HPS/MH lamp-- combines a metal halide bulb and a high pressure sodium bulb in the same reflector, either with a single integrated ballast assembly or two separate ballast assemblies. The combination of blue metal halide light and red high pressure sodium light creates an ideal spectral blend and extremely high outputs.

6. Switchable, convertible and two-way lamp—is used to burn either a metal halide bulb or an equivalent wattage high pressure sodium bulb in the same fixture. This fixture is used for propagating and vegetative growing plants under the metal halide, then switching to a high pressure sodium bulb for the fruiting or flowering stage of plant growth.

7. LED grow lamp—is attractive to indoor growers since it does not consume as much power, does not require ballasts, and produces a fraction of the heat of HID lamps. The lamp consists of arrays of many wide-spectrum red and a few narrow-spectrum blue LED’s of specific wavelengths. LED grow lights have shown promise through plant research by NASA and many universities, and have even surpassed HID lights in some tests, when all the other variables are the same.

To discover more about hydroponics, please check out the best hydroponics newsletter on the web, at http://www.advancednutrients.com/newsletter.

Why Choose LED Grow Lights?


LED or light-emitting diodes is an electric light source which uses a cluster of semiconductor diodes. When the diodes are switched on, electrons are able to recombine with electron holes and energy is released in the form of a light. LED lights are usually compact with integrated optical components to shape its radiation pattern and assist in reflection.
In hydroponics or indoor gardening, the use of LED Grow lights is recommended because it presents many advantages over traditional light sources and the use of such lighting is much favored compared to the traditional HID Lights because of the following:

1. Efficiency. LED produces less heat, energy and pollution. Because it has a directional pattern, the emitted energy does not get wasted on the rest of the spectrum. In addition, it also produces more light per watt than incandescent bulbs.

2. Economical. LED saves you energy and therefore saves you money. Compared to using an average HID Light that only lasts for 10,000 hours or 1.1 years, a LED Grow Light can extend to 60,000 hours which is equivalent to 6.9 years.

3. Excellent plant growth. Because of the accurate lighting that LED supplies your plants, the precise amount of light that your plants need to flourish is obtained, thus, giving you healthier, nutritious and remarkable crops.

4. Extra simple. With the LED Grow Light as your light source for your plants, you won’t be needing anymore bulbs, ballast, reflector and cooling system.

5. Extra safe to use. LED is perfectly safe to use on plants. It is also safe for gardeners because it replaces at least four hydroponic instruments in the facility thus reducing the risk of short circuit.

To discover more about hydroponics, please check out the best hydroponics newsletter on the web, at http://www.advancednutrients.com/newsletter.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Hydroponic Horticulture Has Advanced Our Food Supply



The use of hydroponics as a method of producing crops has been proven to increase food production in modern greenhouses. It has been labeled to be the most effective and practical way of growing healthy crops today because it reduces costs of farming with pest control procedures and introduces the precise nutrient intake to plants. Moreover, the method requires less water (only 5% of water is required) compared to the water requirement of traditional farms yet it produces five to six times the produce per square foot that field agriculture is able to do.


This new agricultural technology has been a breakthrough in the need for a less spacious venue for farming yet guarantees maximum yield to the producers, plus safe and unblemished produce. With this method, more healthy crops are expected to be produced, thus, allowing us to advance our food supply. Also, greenhouses are usually located closer to the urban centers they supply, so transportation costs are reduced. Not to mention that they can produce food year round.


Books and manuals have been made to assist growers on the proper procedures with regards the plant watering system and nutrition feeding of plants. Simple may it seem but proper administration is needed to exactly formulate the nutrition for the plants. Nowadays, there are thousands of Hydroponic gardening centers throughout the United States that aim to establish it as an alternative gardening method, because it is more cost effective and highly beneficial to plant growers. For a hydroponic gardener, hydroponics means produce at its best; meaning, higher yields, environment friendly technology, minimal labor and high return on investment.


To discover more about hydroponics, please check out the best hydroponics newsletter around.

Hydroponic Gardening Leads to Bigger Yields


Growing hydroponically allows the grower to have bigger, healthier plants that usually grow faster and produce more fruit. For example, a seed can grow into a flower in two months or less if you grow it indoors and use the proper lighting.


A hydroponic gardener knows that one of the principal requirements of a successful hydroponic gardening is to have the best lighting equipment. Most cultivated plants need sunlight. However, when you grow plants indoors, artificial light is definitely necessary. The intensity of the light that you are going to use must be high but you’ll have to make sure that it does not increase the temperature. LED lights offer indoor plants a type of light most similar to sunlight, as do High Intensity Discharge (HID) lights, but the latter need a cooling fan, otherwise the temperature in the grow space will be too high.


Moreover, for hydroponics, a pH from 5.5 to 6.2 (which is slightly acidic) should be maintained. This level is suitable for most hydroponic crops. The letters pH stands for Potential of Hydrogen and is the symbol for the hydrogen ion (H+) in liquids. pH has a range from 0 (acidic) -14 (alkaline), with 7 being neutral. Ensuring that the pH remains within this range will help maintain good plant health.


Only Advanced Nutrients is offering a revolutionary new system called pH-PPM Perfect ™ Technology, which allows growers to dispense with laborious pH and PPM readings. The nutrients in four different bundles are specially treated with a coating that causes roots to absorb them very fast, regardless of the initial pH or PPM of the solution. In fact, these products create a Sweet Spot by automatically raising the pH if it’s too acidic and lowering it if it’s too alkaline.


The secret to getting bigger and healthier plants by using hydroponics as a method is as simple as making sure that all essential aspects of the methods are covered. Like the proper lighting equipment to be used, the correct temperature and humidity, the most effective fertilizer to be provided to your plants, etc.


Remember that a successful and healthy harvest is only possible if you have carefully studied the correct ways on how to grow it properly through hydroponics. Just the right attitude and knowledge and you’re all set.


To discover more about hydroponics, please check out the best hydroponics newsletter around.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Hydroponics Grow Robust Plants


In growing plants hydroponically, it is very important to make sure that your plants have all the nutrients they need to grow and resist diseases.


Generally, some nutrients that are found in soil are not present in a hydroponics setting so you will need to add these missing nutrients to produce the best crop possible. You have to be careful, because only the best fertilizers in the market today can help you get great results. All you need to do is to avoid inferior products and understand how the good ones can help you grow robust plants.


Let’s start off with understanding the content of both organic and inorganic fertilizers. Both types of fertilizers are labeled with a sequence of three numbers. These numbers indicate the percentage of the three main compounds found in all fertilizers: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). Nitrogen helps plant foliage grow strong; phosphorus helps roots and flowers grow and develop; and potassium is responsible for overall plant health. Fertilizers can also contain a variety of other vitamins and minerals that vary from one brand to another.


Now, what’s the difference between organic and inorganic fertilizers?


Inorganic fertilizers, also known as synthetics, are made of chemicals that are the components of the nutrients that plants need. Organic fertilizers, on the other hand, are derived from what was once a living plant or animal. Microorganisms break the remains down to release their benefits to your plants. This process is a natural occurrence that enables your plants to benefit as nature intended.

However, plant scientists have developed very refined synthetic nutrients, usually using chelated ingredients, that are just as good for your plants as organics. Used in conjunction with some organic ingredients, such as humic acid, these synthetics perform as well as organics, and some do even better.


As one plant scientist puts it, when plants absorb nutrients on the molecular level, they don’t know the difference between synthetics and organics.


More and more growers, however, especially those that have home hydroponic gardens, are now switching to organic fertilizers because they believe that organics offer more benefits in growing healthier plants. Even if organic fertilizers seem to work slower than inorganic ones, and even if organic nutrients sometimes clog hydroponic pumps and tubing, these growers insist that the produce tastes better. They don’t realize that by flushing the system thoroughly after using synthetics, you are able to achieve the exact same taste and the bigger yields that growers yearn for.


For more information on how hydroponics grows robust plants, you can visit http://www.advancednutrients.com/artcats.php?catID=1.