-James Gordon- Hello again everyone, and welcome back to another Fifth Season Blog on hydroponics. Last hydro blog, we kicked off with an introduction to growing hydroponically and talked about water quality and pH manipulation. Today we are going to talk about feeding, pH meters and calibration, and nutrient amalgamation. So again, let's keep an open mind, maybe take some notes, and hopefully this will be a good tool to reference. As we said in the previous blog, to start, we need clean … [Read more...] about Intro to Hydroponics Part II: Nutrients and pH
pH
How to Tell if Your Garden Soil Is Ready for Planting
-Ryan Blankenship- The very first step in determining if your soil is ready for planting is to simply dig yourself a small hole where you would like your planting site to be. By digging this small hole, you will be able to determine if you have loose or clay soil. Like many people in our area, we typically have a lot of red clay where we would like to plant. I also like to send a soil sample out to our state agricultural extension program to get tested to understand the NPK … [Read more...] about How to Tell if Your Garden Soil Is Ready for Planting
Electrical Conductivity and hydroponic gardening
Electrical Conductivity (EC) measures a material's ability to conduct an electric current and the conductivity of a solution is directly related to the amount of salts dissolved in it. The more salts, the higher the EC. Why is this relevant to hydroponic gardening? Well, hydroponic nutrients are primarily composed of mineral salts, so Electrical Conductivity can give you an idea of how many nutrients are in your solution. Each ion in the solution has a different specific conductivity and … [Read more...] about Electrical Conductivity and hydroponic gardening
How weeds can help you understand your garden
As cultivators, we are constantly competing with mother nature for growing space. If a space in your yard is left bare, you can be certain that some type of weed is going to move in, if the conditions are in its favor. Weeds, just like cultivated plants, thrive in conditions that are favorable for them to be successful. By observing the most prevalent types of weeds growing in one area, we can get an idea of the soil’s pH, nutrition content, moisture, compaction and can even help identify the … [Read more...] about How weeds can help you understand your garden
Time to get the planting beds ready
The time is coming that we gardeners have been waiting for -- getting the planting beds ready. Start now and you'll have more time in season for the actual seeding and planting! Here's a checklist of things to do: Plan out what you're going to plant in each bed, taking into consideration putting plants together that require the same soil conditions. A simple diagram of each bed on a piece of paper will do. Check your soil pH in each bed. If needed, add amendments to each bed to raise … [Read more...] about Time to get the planting beds ready
Are your hydroponic plants eating their nutrients?
In hydroponics gardening, plants get all of their nutrition from the minerals found in hydroponic nutrients. Getting your plants to eat their minerals is a bit more complicated than simply providing enough minerals, however. There are many types and brands of nutrients available on the market, but no matter what kind you choose, plants can only consume the minerals if the conditions are right. A grower can mix nutrients in a reservoir, but this doesn't necessarily make them available to the … [Read more...] about Are your hydroponic plants eating their nutrients?
