Selenium in hydroponic culture
The element selenium (Se) is not commonly used in hydroponic culture – as it’s not necessary for plant life – but the fact that it’s necessary for human life has…
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Five ways to save money in hydroponics
Commercial hydroponics can be extremely expensive, given the technological complexity and supplies required for a successful crop. The biggest costs are usually related with the initial setup but subsequent crops…
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Using electro-degradation to enhance yields in recirculating hydroponics
The efficient use of nutrient solutions is a very important topic in hydroponics. Although some commercial growers use run-to-waste systems where solutions are not recirculated, the economics of fertilizer use…
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Using machine learning control methods in hydroponics
Properly controlling the hydroponic environment is perhaps one of the most challenging tasks the modern grower must face. Either with a small grow room or a big green house, it…
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Calcium’s behavior in hydroponics
Calcium is often one of the most puzzling elements in hydroponic culture due to its ability to respond fairly non-linearly to nutrient concentrations in solution. This behavior is the result…
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Better understanding pH dynamics in hydroponic culture
Plants require specific conditions within their root zones to give optimal yields. The negative of the logarithm of hydronium concentration (a.k.a pH) is a very important measurement that tells us…
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Five important things you should know about humidity in hydroponics
Humidity is one of the most important metrics in hydroponic culture. In order to have a successful crop it is critical to understand what humidity actually is, how we measure…
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DIY Warm white LED lamp PAR measurements, not so exciting after all!
If you read my last few posts about DIY LED lamps built using 150W warm white LED cobs (which do not require an independent driver) you might have been excited…
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Cheap DIY high power LED grow lights: Introducing the Zip-tie lamp
Make sure you also read this post, where I studied the PAR of these lamps and realized they are not as good as I thought! Several months ago I wrote…
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Potassium concentration and yields in flowering plants
From the different nutrients that are needed by plants we have known for more than 4 decades that potassium is of critical importance to flowering/fruiting plants. Potassium is one of…
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