Solve your problems
- Low yields
- Nutrient deficiencies
- High nutrient costs
- Inconsistent results
Services
- Hourly consultation
- Nutrient solution design
- Growing setup optimization
- Custom crop monitoring automation
My Blog
Through my blog – a top 50 hydroponics blog according to feedspot – I share my insights, research and experience in hydroponic culture. I strive to make this blog a reliable source of high quality, practical information for both commercial hydroponic growers and hobbyists alike. These are some of the blog’s most popular posts:
Welcome to my site!
My name is Dr. Daniel Fernandez, and I have been a consultant in the hydroponic industry since 2009. I specialize in nutrient formulations, crop management, and automation, providing tailored solutions to optimize growers’ results. I hold a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, as well as a master’s and Ph.D. in nanoscience and nanotechnology. With over 15 years of experience in nutrient solution chemistry and crop management, I am dedicated to helping you elevate your crop production to the next level.
Our services
I provide different types of services to suite your particular needs.
I understand that not everyone needs the same type of assistance and I have therefore designed three specific type of services depending on your needs .
- An hourly consultation service where you can ask any questions and get answers to help you solve problems (250 USD/hour).
- A service for the formulation of a specific hydroponic nutrient recipe for your particular needs coupled with guidance in preparing this formulation.
- An on-going consultation service where you will have me available to answer questions and help guide you through your nutrient needs as your crop or hydroponic project progresses.
Hydrobuddy - Open source software for Nutrient Formulations
This site hosts HydroBuddy – a software I programmed – which is the most popularly used open source calculator for the formulation of hydroponic nutrient solutions and fertilizers. This software has been helping hobby and commercial growers prepare their own fertilizer formulations from 2011 with more than 10 thousands downloads in its lifetime. There are also many peer reviewed academic publications that have used hydrobuddy. Feel free to use or modify this software for your nutrient preparation needs. It’s free and OpenSource! Get the software here.
Latest blog posts
Recent findings in hydroponic and soilless strawberries: a data-first look at the last decade
Strawberry in controlled environments is not short on opinions. Research from the past 10 years has given us a lot of information on strategies to increase yields and reduce costs. Below I synthesize recent findings, aiming to provide you with practical information that can help you improve your crop. I focus first on mineral nutrition, […]
Recent advances in the cultivation of CEA tomatoes: evidence from 2015–2025
Hydroponic tomato yields are already high, yet many operations still leak performance through nutrient scheduling, canopy design, and stress control. Below is a blunt, data-driven synthesis for controlled environments based on recent scientific studies. The pattern is consistent: stabilize nutrition and irrigation first, then layer biostimulants or hormones only where trials show a payoff. Mineral […]
How to easily lower the costs of your Athena nutrient regime
You can make your Athena schedule much cheaper by replacing the pH up products with simple raw salts. Branded pH management and buffering products like Athena Balance and Athena Pro Balance are, at their core, just sources of potassium bases delivered in carbonate or silicate form. They are however, very over priced for what they […]
Chitosan in hydroponic and soilless crops: what actually works
In hydroponic and substrate systems chitosan can help, but only inside fairly narrow windows of dose, molecular traits, and crop context. Here is what the strongest hydroponic and soilless evidence shows for common greenhouse crops, with doses in ppm and forms that have actually been tested in peer-reviewed trials. What matters before you dose Form […]
