Indoor
Hydroponic Systems
Anyone who has a garden in their backyard is
able to enjoy fresh vegetables throughout the entire
summer. But what about the rest of the year? Not a problem, if
you want fresh vegetables 365 days a year, you can turn
to setting up your own indoor hydroponic
systems.
 Hydroponics is soilless gardening.
For quite a few years scientists have known that plants can be
cultivated in a medium other than soil. To apply this
principle of soilless gardening, they developed an
agricultural systems such as indoor hydroponic systems that
don't require soil for plant cultivation.
There are
several different methods used to apply indoor hydroponic
systems. Typically, instead of soil, an inert growing material
or plain water is used to grow plants.
The
growing material could consist of vermiculite, gravel or
one of many other types of inert substances that permit water
to flow through, the rule being that the more porous the
material is, the better it will be for growing. Thus, coconut fiber, bran, moss and
anything similar could be perfectly suited for indoor
hydroponic systems.
For the plants’ nutrient source,
indoor hydroponic systems use nutrient solution. It was in the
1890s that Russian researchers developed the right
formula conducive for plant growth. The nutrients, of
course, are made up of nitrogen, phosphorous,
potassium and other trace minerals, which are dissolved in
water and allowed to flow throughout the growing
area. This system then delivers the necessary
nutrients to the roots of the plants.
An
advantage of indoor hydroponic systems is that they don't use
standard fertilizers. Rather, they
use the nutrient solution, which is really just a
specially designed fertilizer. Since there is so
much concentration of nutrients in these solutions, the
essential growth elements required for plants to
grow are more readily available to them.
Indoor
hydroponic systems can be quite simple to build. In fact,
you may not need to purchase a lot of materials to
start building your own system. Depending on the size of your
planned indoor hydroponic system and the interior space you
have available, you can even use an old aquarium
tank as a tank to contain the nutrient
solution.
Besides the tank or the reservoir,
most indoor hydroponic systems consist of a growing tray or
tube, a timer, and a pump. You must also provide a
source of light, which in the case where sunlight may not
always be available, should be a special lighting device
designed specifically for growing plants. You can find these in any garden
shop.
The air pump is responsible for keeping oxygen
levels in the nutrient water adequate for the plant roots to
survive. An air stone, which is a kind of porous stone
that produces air bubbles, is usually used to produce the
oxygen necessary for the plants.
Some
stores sell indoor hydroponic systems in kits. These
are composed of materials you need to build the system, plus
the design. It’s a very convenient way to start your own
indoor hydroponic system, especially if you know almost
nothing about designing, let alone building, a hydroponic
system. Others who already have some background in hydroponics
prefer to design and build their own.
Any type
of plant may be grown indoors. Indoor hydroponic systems can
cultivate anything from green vegetables and tomatos to
mushrooms and many more.
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