Hydroponic Systems Blog

Suppose you have saved your seeds from a prior year or you have some older 'store bought' seeds. Many times when planting such seeds only 60% may sprout. There is a more efficient way to go about this. Seed viability can be pretty much accurately determined before planting.

I think of a seed as a small factory just waiting for someone to flip the 'on' switch and start production. They are small airtight and sunlight proof capsules just waiting for heat and dampness to trigger them into production causing a seedling. Due to their complexity many things could go wrong making the seed unviable.

If air were to penetrate the seed casing the integrity of the 'seed factory' would be compromised and dampness would soon follow along with bacteria causing the seed to rot.

A foolproof way to check a seed for viability is to determine whether the seed casing is compromised. This can be done by dumping the seeds into a glass of water. The seeds that float are bad because air has penetrated the seed casing while the ones that sink are viable.

This is simple and extremely effective as a viability test. Using this method will give you a much greater rate of germination. Try it out ...

November 22, 2006 16:42 - Make a water fountain into a hydroponics garden

Have a water fountain in your home? I'm talking about a small mechanical-type waterfall or some kind of water fountain that pumps water up and over a rock or plate allowing the water to splash back down to the base of the fountain. If you do, you are very close to having a ready-built hydroponics garden.

To survive, plants need water, oxygen, light, nutrient and adequate temperature. A home water fountain fulfills 3 of these requirements: water, oxygen and adequate temperature. Water is recycled and aerated by splashing back into the base of the fountain so all you really need is a good light source and nutrient in order to have a hydroponics garden. Simply add hydroponics fertilizer to the water and position the fountain near a window or under artificial grow-type lights and you have a fully functioning hydroponics garden!

Of course you still need something to grow... In this case I would float plants in the base of the fountain allowing the roots to hang into the water. You can use small wooden platforms or pieces of styrofoam with a hole drilled through the middle of the float in which to insert a plant. What to plant? Lettuce or spinach would be perfect or any kind of low growing herb. I may just try this out myself...

November 18, 2006 10:26 - Growing rice in your hydroponics garden

Did you ever wonder how rice was grown? I have, and I've seen pictures and gathered small bits of information here and there and after some research I have learned that rice is absolutely perfect to be grown in your hydroponics garden.

The variety of rice grown in Asia is planted and grown to maturity in flooded fields. First it is germinated in small containers the same as any seedling and after the first 'true' leaf, transplanted into flooded fields. It resembles a grain plant such as wheat, develops brownish flowers and later become seeds which is the rice we eat.

It matures in 3 to 6 months and shortly after seeds form the fields are drained which hastens plant maturity. When pods are fully developed the plant is picked and threshed the same as a grain to separate the seeds from the plant and then the seeds are dried for use. Rice containing some of the outer pod is brown rice and rice with no pod becomes white rice.

So how would we grow this hydroponically? An ebb and flow system is especially suited for growing rice. First, buy some rice seeds from any of the many online sources, then germinate them in an ebb/flow hydroponics system, periodically flooding the system with nutrient solution. Rice is slow to germinate taking as long as 2 weeks to a month so have patience.

Once the first true leaf forms, set the timer to flood the system for 12 hours, drain and immediately reflood for another 12 hours, over and over. Once seed pods form, reset the system to flood periodically keeping the growing medium slightly damp but not saturated. After 2 weeks of this, harvest the pods and press them through a colander to separate the rice from the plant. Finally, spread the rice out on a screen until dry and it is ready to cook with...