Why are different hydroponic formulations required for different situations?
Hydroponic growers tend to have very different experiences with nutrient solutions. It is not uncommon to find a grower who “swears” by product A and another who says product A…
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How tap water affects your hydroponic nutrient formulation
Tap water is often the most reliable source of water for hydroponic growers. However, especially in the North America and Europe, tap water can contain a significant amount of dissolved…
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How much Phosphorous are you adding to your solution to adjust pH?
Phosphoric acid is one of the most commonly used pH down agents in hydroponics. This is because phosphoric acid is available in high purity, is easier to handle and has…
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How to deal with nutrient solution waste in hydroponics
Hydroponic nutrients contain a wide array of chemicals that are fundamentally contaminating to water sources and can heavily contribute to eutrophication. Both run-to-waste and recirculating systems eventually generate significant amounts…
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Factors limiting the life of a recirculating hydroponic nutrient solution
Hydroponic systems that use recirculating nutrient solutions can be more efficient in terms of water and nutrient usage. However, despite how good the management of a solution is, there are…
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Preparing your own low cost A+B generic hydroponic nutrients at a small scale from raw salts
In a recent post about the cost of custom hydroponic nutrients, I talked about the cost of preparing nutrients equivalent to those of a commonly used brand (general hydroponics Flora…
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The cost of reproducing the label of a commercial hydroponic fertilizer with raw salts at a small scale
Creating your own hydroponic nutrients can dramatically change the amount of money you spend in fertilizers per crop cycle. Commercial pre-blended hydroponics nutrients carry significantly high margins, so making your…
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Hardware for building a wifi-connected DIY monitoring/control system for a hydroponic crop
Success in hydroponic systems can be increased by having adequate control over a wide array of different variables. Having automated monitoring and control will mean faster reaction times and provide…
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Building a DIY control infrastructure for a hydroponic crop: Part one
Controlling an entire hydroponic crop using electronics is not a trivial task. This includes everything from the automated control of things like relative humidity and ambient temperature, to other variables,…
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Five common misconceptions around nutrient management in hydroponics
After many years of experience as a consultant in the hydroponic industry and interacting with dozens of different customers growing different plants with different systems, there are some common misconceptions…
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