Home Hydroponics

By Dennis DeLaurier

You have read the news about tainted food? Also if you have been to the grocery store lately (if you eat) then you have noticed that food prices are inching up from month to month. Food is becoming a large part of the family budget.  Also, we have no way of knowing what is in our food unless we have some sort of lab. Because of big agriculture, we have no idea just how safe GMO foods are and they are ending up in all our foods. It is getting to the point unless you grow it or know who grew it, then you may be risking your health. I am not writing this to place fear in your mind, but to make you think. 

If you have a small property or a garage, then you could grow a large portion of your food. Hydroponics and Microgreens (there is a section on this) is a good way to provide good nutrient dense foods for your family. It's even possible to grow hydroponic food without electricity and Microgreens don't need electricity to grow.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dennis DeLaurier
• Release date: Mar 10, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224917723

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Copyright

This document is copyright © 2024 by Crescent Hill / Dennis DeLaurier,

All rights reserved.  No part of this course publication shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

Information contained in this BOOK IS offered as is and has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable by Crescent Hill and its authors. However, Crescent Hill and its authors do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any information offered and published herein. Crescent Hill nor its authors shall be responsible for any errors, omissions, or damages arising out of THE use of this information. This BOOK is released with the understanding that Crescent Hill and its authors are not attempting to render engineering or other professional services. If such services are required, the assistance of the appropriate professional should be sought.

Note: for any reason if any of the text used in this document is not used appropriately, please contact Crescent Hill using the email address at the bottom of this book. Thank You

Contents

Copyright

Food Safety and Security

Starting Thought - Why Hydroponics?

Organic Growing

Yuck Chemicals!

The Question Answered

Advantages of Hydroponics

Bad Things about Hydroponics

History of Hydroponics

Water Culture Systems

Aggregate Systems

NFT

Aeration (Bubbler) System

Aeroponic System

Floating Bed or Raft System

Drip System

Ebb and Flow System

Wick System

Which is Best?

Growing Mediums

Sand Culture

Gravel (Aggregate) Culture

Rockwool Culture

Perlite Culture

L.E.C.A. Culture

Vermiculite Culture

Coconut Fiber Culture

Hydroponic Nutrients

A Good Nutrient

Nutrients and EC

Water Problems

Hydroponic System Plans

Simple Simon System

2 Liter Special

Dip Stick Special

Bubble Machine

Dutch Treat

Blue Box Special

Down the Gutter

1 Gallon Bubbler

Soda-Pop Special

Bubble Cloner

Mister Cloner

2 Liter Wick System

2 Liter Wick System

Round-er-up System

2 Container Wick System

2 Container Wick System

Light Talk

Measuring Light

Fluorescent Lights

Led Lighting

Metal Halide Bulbs

High-Pressure Sodium Bulbs

Reflectors and plant distribution.

Light Movers

Glossary of Grow light Terms Courtesy Hydrofarm

Cooling HID Lights

Light Talk Conclusion

Electrical Safety

Shock Review

Fatal Current Paths

Conclusion

Plant Information

Carbon Dioxide in Your Grow Space

CO2 – Things about it. How do you use it?

CO2 Equipment

Low Energy Hydroponics

Extra for those who just want to grow Microgreens for their family.

Contact The Author

Food Safety and Security

You have read the news about tainted food? Also if you have been to the grocery store lately (if you eat) then you have noticed that food prices are inching up from month to month. Food is becoming a large part of the family budget.  Also, we have no way of knowing what is in our food unless we have some sort of lab. Because of big agriculture, we have no idea just how safe GMO foods are and they are ending up in all our foods. It is getting to the point unless you grow it or know who grew it, then you may be risking your health. I am not writing this to place fear in your mind but to make you think. 

If you have a small property or a garage, then you could grow a large portion of your food. Hydroponics and Microgreens (there is a section on this) are a good way to provide good nutrient-dense foods for your family. It’s even possible to grow hydroponic food without electricity and Microgreens don’t need electricity to grow.

This book is a bunch of ideas on getting started. I hope you think about growing food as hydroponics is a good clean way to do that. Don’t just limit yourself to growing lettuce and tomatoes, but take a look at the large types of Asian greens that grow well in these systems and are very good for you. Many are cool or cold-weather plants.

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Starting Thought - Why Hydroponics?

In the last twenty or more years, people have become much more aware of what they are eating and how it is produced. I had a recent conversation with a good friend of mine who could not understand why I was concerned about food safety. He responded that all food is inspected by the government. While a little of this may be true, for the most part, only a very small portion of the food that this country consumes is actually inspected and even worse, little or absolutely nothing is known about the growing conditions. If human nature has anything to do with growing food and making money and I can say as a fact that it does, then your health will not be considered if a crop of expensive vegetables can be saved with pesticides. This is called the bottom line and if you realize this, then you should be concerned about how food is produced and what it contains.

As a child, I was always amused when my Grandmother always said that when growing a garden you should plan to feed the bugs as well. This statement was actually true, as my Grandmother never used pesticides in any of her gardens and the only bug prevention was picking any obvious bugs off plants which quickly became part of the soil. The chicken manure and kitchen waste provided the only fertilizer the plants ever got. Needless to say, as I look back on this, I was never worried about going into that garden and picking a juicy ripe tomato and eating it right there. It never occurred to me to wash it off or even worse, take some soap and water to it!

Hydroponics is growing plants in a nutrient solution (water-containing fertilizers) with or without the use of a medium. These mediums (discussed in detail later) can be things like sand, gravel, vermiculite, Rockwool, perlite, peat moss, and sawdust. The medium is used to provide mechanical support for the plant and to hold nutrients. In almost all cases, the medium does not provide nutrients to the plant it supports and is composed of inert substances that do not react with the plant or the nutrient.

Some systems (liquid only) do not use supporting mediums and the roots of the plant are fed by being immersed in the liquid nutrient. Additionally, some systems recycle the nutrient (closed system) and some use the nutrient only once. Finally, some systems borrow from all the above-described systems.

What type of system is best for you? Hopefully, after going through this e-book, you can decide what direction you would like to take. You can build your own system with the supplied plans or purchase a commercial system which comes with every thing except the plants. Hopefully, you will be as excited as the author is about hydroponics and will enjoy growing fresh vegetables right in your home.

Why would anyone want to grow plants using a hydroponics system? There are many answers to this question and if you want to give hydroponics a try, then you probably will agree with some or all of the reasons.

The main reason I started the hobby was the desire to grow my own vegetables and be assured that they did not contain pesticides and other chemicals that are not good for any living thing. I also really enjoyed just watching things grow. And finally, I liked the fact that I was doing something that was interesting and fun! Although the systems are quite simple, they will need your devoted attention at times as all things worth doing are and there is some effort that must be made to obtain those prize vegetables.

The world is quickly running out of good quality water and one of the great things is that hydroponics uses only 1/4 (or less) as much water as a garden planted on Mother Earth. So hydroponics is a great way to save water. The world is also quickly running out of land that can grow crops. Hydroponic gardening can be done anywhere. Large hydroponics sites can and have been built in the middle of a desert and on land that was barren and completely nonproductive. A hydro garden can be built in an apartment in the middle of New York City or on a rooftop. Groups of people in the inner city could grow all the vegetables they could ever eat.

Hydroponics is a good, healthy, earth-friendly way to feed the world. Hopefully, you found your reason in all of this and why you want your own system.

Organic Growing

I must admit that I had at one time had mixed feelings about organic growing, but before you get ready to write me a nasty letter let me explain what I mean. First, organic gardening is a fantastic way to use the huge piles of bio-mass that we place in landfills every day. What we do with grass clippings and the waste we produce in the kitchens across this country is almost beyond comprehension. Because organic growing is very earth-friendly, everyone who grows flowers or plants should use this method if at all possible. What I do object to is the idea that all food should be grown this way. It is not possible to produce enough food using this process to feed the world (at the moment). While what happens in this world affects all of us, you as an individual have the opportunity to control what happens in your little part of the world. This, I think is the main advantage and power of growing organic produce.

It is this simple idea that each of us can produce good, wholesome, and pesticide-free food in our back yards that makes organic growing worth doing. All this leads me to the point of this chapter. I think that there is another way that is just as good as organic growing, and that is the use of Hydroponics. It is my feeling that almost anyone in almost any environment can grow food using hydroponics. That is very hard to say about any other method.

Post Script

The Author also supports organic growing on his farm and has borrowed from the hydroponic industry many methods of growing in organic soil. At present, I am building a large high tunnel and will produce organic and hydroponic vegetables. To reduce work, I am using grow bags for my organic food production.

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Grow Bags

These bags can be used for organic and hydroponic growing using a drip watering system.

Yuck Chemicals!

When I explain to people that I grow most of my vegetables using hydroponics there are normally only two responses I get. The first is very enjoyable as it usually starts with a little history of hydroponics and ends with a real interest shown by the listener. The second response is the chemical response. Gee, don't you grow your plants in water containing chemicals? or just a big Yuck. Normally my response to the chemical thing is to ask them what they think I do with all those chemicals. Usually, this leads to an understanding on my part that the chemical response is caused by ignorance. The definition of ignorance is not something bad but just means that they do not have all the facts. These facts are:

·  The whole living world is made up of and uses chemicals.

·  The chemicals that I use in my hydroponics garden are the same ones that exist in the soil of their organic garden. I just don't use their soil.

·  Plants in an organic garden need the same chemicals that a plant in my hydroponics garden needs.

·  A lot of the chemicals they use and I use exist in common drinking water.

The Question Answered

This chapter began with a question. As in all good things worth doing, the answer to any question may come from you and your experiences or just your own personal choices. When I first started hydroponic gardening it felt a little strange. In the area where I live, there was only 1 hydroponics store and was too far away to spend any time bending the poor store owner’s ear. I quickly found that hydroponics was not a daily topic of conversation with anyone I knew and just mentioning the word caused puzzled looks on people’s faces. At home, things were no different. My wife was just as puzzled as anyone else. With all these walls to climb over I