Hydroponics Department Technological Studies High Point Regional High School

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HydroponicsDepartment Technological Studies
High Point Regional High School
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What is Hydroponics

• Hydroponics comes from the Latin language and it
  means working water.
• "hydro" means "water"
• "ponos" means "labor".
• Soil less growing!

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Plant Needs

• What is needed for a plant to survive?
• Water
• Sunlight
• Air
• Nutrients (usually soil)
• Anchorage (root system)

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Soil Less Growing?

• What is used as a growing media is soil isnt
  present?
• Gravel -Rockwool
• Sand -Styrofoam
• Vermiculite - Anything Inert!

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History

• The process of hydroponics growing in our oceans
  goes back to about the time the earth was
  created. Hydroponic growing preceded soil
  growing.

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History

• One of the 7 wonders of the ancient world.
• Hanging gardens of Babylon, somewhere in (Iraq)
• The gardens were built in 604-562 BC by
  Nebuchadnezzar II for his wife who grew up in the
  mountains.
• http//www.moorsmagazine.com/images/Hanging-Garden
  s-of-Babylon.jpg

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History

• Floating gardens of the Aztecs of Mexico
• A nomadic tribe, Roughly treated by their more
  powerful neighbors, denied any arable land, the
  Aztecs survived by exercising remarkable powers
  of invention. Since they had no land on which to
  grow crops, they determined to manufacture it
  from the materials at hand

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History

• Egyptian hieroglyphic records date back several
  hundred years B.C. describe the growing of plants
  in water."
• Hydroponics is hardly a new method of growing
  plants. However, giant strides have been made
  over the years in this innovative area of
  agriculture.

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Why?????

• Q. Why have scientists and horticulturists
  experimented with different methods of
  hydroponics?
• A. It is a simple fact that some people cannot
  grow in the soil in their area (if there is even
  any soil at all).

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Advantages

• Faster Growth- Hydroponics works by automatically
  getting the complete nutrient mixture and water
  to the roots without drowning the plant. Plants
  get everything they need all the time, so they do
  not waste growing a lot of roots or searching for
  nutrients.

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Advantages

• No Weeds or Pests- Gardening without soil
  eliminates the weeds do you do not need weed
  sprays. Also, because there are no weeds, there
  will be no backache from a hoe or rototiller.
  Since most pests live and breed in the soil, you
  do not need to use pesticides or other toxic
  chemicals.

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Advantages

• Great Plant Quality and Taste- Since the plants
  get everything it needs, all the time, it will
  reward you with great taste, strong and fast
  growth, and overall plant quality.

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Advantages

• Grow in Any Condition- Systems may be constructed
  and used in any location from space to under
  water exploration.
• Smaller Growing Area

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Disadvantages

• Cost of initial investment on hydroponic systems
  is high.
• Hydroponic production is management, capital and
  labor intensive.
• A high level of expertise is required.
• Daily attention is necessary.
• Specially formulated, soluble nutrients must
  always be used.
• Pests and diseases remain a big risk.
• Some water born diseases can spread rapidly in
  recirculation system.

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Passive vs Active

• Passive systems (no moving parts) are great for
  beginning hydroponics gardeners because they are
  inexpensive, portable, and simple to set up.
• Active systems employ pumps and other devices to
  deliver nutrient solutions to plant roots.

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Plant Tissue Culturing Process

• Capillary System (passive)
• The capillary or wick system do not use pumps or
  timers. Water and nutrients are drawn up to the
  roots by capillary action. These systems may be
  important when designing a system to operate in a
  space station where gravity is nonexistent.

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Plant Tissue Culturing Process

• Flood and Drain System (active)
• Most versatile. Each time the water floods from
  the lower reservoir into the upper growing tray,
  the roots are bathed in the fresh nutrients.
  When the nutrient drains back to the reservoir,
  fresh air is drawn through the root system
  refreshing oxygen to the roots.

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Plant Tissue Culturing Process

• Nutrient Film Technique (NFT)
• The NFT systems provide a constant film of water
  and nutrients along the bottom of a channel. In
  effect, part of the roots grow down in the water/
  nutrients and parts of the roots above the water
  line getting fresh air and oxygen

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Lighting

• Lightening determines what you can grow. Some
  plants such as vegetable require direct sunlight.
  Plants such as violets need indirect sunlight.
• High Intensity Discharge (HID)
• Most cost effective to operate and have an
  extremely long life.
• -High Pressure Sodium Provides more of the
  red/orange spectrum, great for flowering and
  fruiting.
• -Metal Halide Provides more blue/green spectrum
  for vegetative growth
• Fluorescent very inefficient and must be kept
  close to the plants.