Hydroponic culture has a very good fame of giving optimal conditions for plant growth and nutrition. It is known that hydroponic crops grown with the best possible conditions can attain results far superior than those obtained with any form of soil gardening. However, the research community has just recently became aware that hydroponic growing may not only be used to provide the best conditions for growth but to enhance the plant’s nutritional values in ways that were not possible before.

So how do we enhance plants beyond what can be done with traditional hydroponics ? One way is to add certain non essential nutrients to the solution that can make the plants become more nutrient rich. This for example, can be done with the addition of selenium to certain plant cultures, specially lettuce.

Selenium (Se) is a chemical element which is essential to human life. Selenate, the chemical form in which Selenium is absorbed, is a powerful anti oxidant whose daily recommended value is rarely attained with traditional diets. By adding Selenate to the nutrient solution of hydroponic lettuce crops the plant’s Selenium content can be enhanced to supply the required daily values of Se.

Recent peer reviewed studies have shown that concentrations from 2 to 6 ppm of Selenate can increase the Selenium content of both lettuce and tomatoes as well as provide an important increase of other antioxidants in tomato crops. This is a clear example of how the inclusion of additional chemicals in the nutrient solution can enhance the nutritional quality of plants and make them go beyond what they would achieve under “optimum” natural conditions.(Below, the chemical structure of the Selenate anion)
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As I have said on previous posts, the problem of disinfection in hydroponic gardening continues to be a main issue in the area of soil less culture. Although there are many chemical solutions such as sodium hydrochloride and hydrogen peroxide, they continue to be non discriminant oxidants with the potential to damage roots and more importantly beneficial symbiotic microorganisms. Therefore, the use of chemical disinfectants takes away the possibility of using applications of beneficial organisms to boost crop yields.

Non chemical ways of disinfecting nutrient solutions do exists but are most of the time extremely expensive and only viable to large commercial growers. Examples of these are UV and ozone sterilization. Both processes are more friendly than chemical disinfectants and are friendly with root beneficial microorganisms, their only drawback is the high cost and difficulty of installation.

Nonetheless there is another potential way of sterilizing nutrient solutions which is both economically feasible for small growers and friendly with beneficial microorganisms that interact directly with plant roots. This new sterilization mechanism uses titanium dioxide as a mean of fighting pathogens inside the hydroponic nutrient solution.

Titanium dioxide is an innocuous, insoluble solid which is vastly used in the food and paint industry. Besides this, antase, a specific crystalline form of this material, has very interesting photocatalytic properties. For example, when irradiated with UV rays (the sun’s being enough) antase is able to decompose organic matter into non harmful chemicals. It has been widely studied as a means of replacing hypochloride in water treatment plants and now offers a great way to sterilize nutrient solutions in hydroponic growing.

Degussa P25, an anatase containing nano crystalline commercial form of titanium dioxide, is very cheap and adequate for it’s use as a sterilizer in hydroponic growing. Simply, the solution is passed through a shallow open container that has several tiles of cheap glass covered with a small layer of sinthered Degussa P25. This sterilizer can eliminate microorganism spores, bacteria, etc, from the nutrient solution while keeping costs and chemical disinfection down to a minimum. This is something I am going to try in the near future so stay tuned to see my results ! (below, a SEM image of titanium dioxide nano particles)
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Growers often think that they need to buy pH meters in order to accurately control the pH level of their hydroponic nutrient solution. Actually, there are a couple of ways in which pH can be readily monitored without any digital equipment. One of the cheapest ways in which this can be done is through the use of an acid base indicator.

An acid base indicator is a substance whose protonated and deprotonated molecular forms have different electronic structures with different spectroscopic properties. Therefore, an acid base indicator changes it’s color according to the pH value of the solution and this color change can tell us if the pH of our nutrient solution is right or wrong.

Every indicator has it’s own characteristic proton affinity which means that it changes at a different pH value. Since the optimal pH in hydroponic growing for most species is between 5.5 and 6.5, we will use an indicator that changes around this value and can tell us if the nutrient solution differs from the ideal setup.

The indicator which best suites our needs is Chlorophenol Red. This substance changes color from yellow (pH 4.8) to red (6.4) (wikipedia is wrong about it changing to violet !), at the pH of our interest, which is 5.5-6.0, the indicator is orange. You can buy an already prepared solution of the indicator ready for testing here. A 100mL solution will allow you to perform thousands of tests at 1/10th of the cost of a regular pH meter.

In order to test the pH, add about two tablespoons of the nutrient solution inside a transparent glass, then add two or three drops of the indicator, mix and watch the results. If the indicator is either red or yellow, you are off the desired value. If the solution turns orange, your nutrient solution’s pH is just about right ! (Below, the color change of the indicator as a function of pH, notice that the orange region is precisely around 5.5-6.0 .

In an earlier post, I talked about a static hydroponic lettuce system that needed no aeration or recirculation and worked by providing an air space between the nutrient solution and the plants. Today I am going to explain how to build this very simple system from cheap materials. These are the things you will need :

– 8 Nails – 2 inches (5cm) long
– 40 Nails – 1 inch (2.5cm) long
– 4 wooden boards – 100 x 10 x 2cm
– Plastic lining (greenhouse polyethylene) – 1.20m x 1.20m
– Knife
– Styrofoam board – 100 x 100 x 2 cm
– Silicon Paste Sealant
– 1/4 gallon white latex paint
– painting brush

The first thing you need to do is nail the boards together forming a 1 x 1m frame. To do this I used 8 large Nails.
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After the boards are nailed together (like it is shown above) paint the outside using white latex paint. This provides protection for the wood from water, light, bacterial and fungal damage. Now line the frame with the plastic, nailing it on the borders using small nails.
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Your system should look like the one shown above. After this part, we need to build the cover of the system that will hold the lettuce plants. Cut 42 2×2 cm holes on your Styrofoam board in a 6 x 7 fashion, keeping a distance of 12 cm between holes. This is shown below.
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Now you need to glue this Styrofoam piece on top of the frame you built before. Do this using silicon paste, taking care to afford a good seal along the whole structure. This will prevent light from reaching the nutrient solution. The holes are fit to accommodate 42 plants (but you may do less holes if you desire to nurture less plants) germinated in polyurethane foam. Later this week I will continue to explain how plants need to be germinated and transplanted in order to use this system and how the nutrient solution is used and replaced. Below, a picture of the finished system (total cost for me, 25 USD).

In the past few days, several people have asked me how to use my carbonate/citrate buffering system as a means to control the pH of their nutrient solutions. For this reason, I decided to write a post which explains the simple way in which my buffering system can be prepared and a little more about how it works and what you can expect from it.

A pH buffer’s function is to provide reaction “alternatives” for strong acids and bases when they contact the nutrient solution. These acid or basic substances generally react with water and this changes the value of pH. When a buffer is present, they react with the buffering molecules instead of water. This of course, makes pH remain approximately constant. Since the generation of species can be perfectly controlled and predicted by the use of mathematical methods, we can create very good buffering system by “experimenting” with different substances using a computer, as I mentioned in an earlier post.

As a result of my simulations I concluded that a mixture of citric acid/carbonate acts as a good buffer in hydroponics both towards the addition of acids and bases. The actual species involved are citrate and the bicarbonate ion, the bicarbonate ion reacts with acids, providing basic pH buffering, while the citrate reacts with acids providing an acid range buffering effect.

It is very easy to use this system by using your regular pH meter. Prepare your nutrient solution as usual, at the end, add 5g of citric acid for 500 liters of solution (this will acidify the pH of your solution a lot). Now, take back the pH to the value you want (5.8 to 6.2) by adding potassium carbonate. It is important not to use bicarbonate as this will react quickly with citric acid to form carbonic acid and then carbon dioxide (which will leave as a gas !). Also make sure you add both chemicals previously dissolved in water to afford quick chemical equilibrium achievement inside the solution.

By using this method you will have a nutrient solution that is perfectly buffered at your desired pH and that will remain at that pH value for a good amount of time. This of course, depending on the solution’s volume and the type and number of plants you grow with it. (below, the distribution of species diagram or the carbonate family)
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Most hydroponic systems today are a fairly complicated combination of holding materials, irrigation systems, aeration pumps, etc. For most people wanting to grow a single plant in hydroponics it has become quiet impossible to figure out where to find a cheap system to do so.

One of the cheapest systems available for hydroponic gardening of small plants (ideal for experimentation and school projects) is the hydroponic wick nutrient system. This system uses an absorbent fiber to carry on nutrient solution by capillary action towards the plant which usually rests above it. Wick systems are very easily built and are a very good fit for the growing of small plants.

Medium sized and large sized plants start to have problems with hydroponic wick systems due to the inherent capillary flow limitations that physics impose on the flow of nutrient solution. The absorbent fibers on capillary systems are also often clogged because of nutrient salt buildup (due to water evaporation because of the large surface area of the fibers). Water evaporation increases the concentration of salts along the fiber and starts to precipitate insoluble calcium and other metal phosphates. These are very hard to redissolve and often cause the system to stop working.

However, as I said before, wick systems such as the one built here are very appropriate for experimentation, growing a single hydroponic plant or doing school projects. The system is very easy and cheap to build.(below, a photograph of plants being grown on this system, note that they are very etiolated due to lack of proper lighting)
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Most hydroponic gardening techniques demand strict control over the growing media and ambient variables in order to have a crop in optimum conditions. However, most small hobby and commercial hydroponic gardeners do not have the budget necessary to build a greenhouse and need to have their systems exposed to the elements. This is why I decided to write a post about growing hydroponic plants in outdoor conditions, to show growers that hydroponics can be grown outside if adequate precautions are taken.

So what is the problem with the outdoors ? Well, the main problems are temperature changes, rain, haze, snow and excess light. Plants grown outside a greenhouse do not have any protection against direct sun, rain, haze or snow and are therefore most likely to be damaged by the elements. This of course, does not mean that the crops cannot be taken outside.

In countries where there are four seasons (and winter has snow), care needs to be taken not to grow any plants during the winter, because snow will most likely kill all the crops. furthermore, low temperatures are likely to freeze the nutrient solution, something that can be a really bad problem in a hydroponic garden.

Another precaution that needs to be taken is to be specially watchful of the levels of EC in the hydroponics garden. In this special case, nutrients need to added in order to compensate for dilutions caused by rain. Electrical conductivity levels need to be taken before and after a rain storm in order to know the change in EC and return it to normal after. Note that this is a special case, normally nutrients should never be added to a solution which was naturally depleted by the plants. Please read the EC FAQ post for more information about this.

Another important thing is that plants should be protected from excessive evaporation by using hydro-gels. These polymers are applied over the plants root ball and effectively retain moisture for the plant so that possible stress from excessive evaporation becomes minimal. If the sun is too strong, additional measures such as nutrient reservoir cooling (with ice for example) have to be done in order to maintain adequate temperatures around the root zone.

It is clear that hydroponic crops can be grown outside but growers have to take special precautions with this area of hydroponics and commercial growers using this technique should have the losing of one crop a year in their budget (for crops such as lettuces) due to ambient conditions ruining their growth. (below, an image from a special program done by the UN to help poor people use hydroponics as a stable source of income)
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Currently, hydroponic growers rely on a combination of electrical conductivity and pH measurements in order to assess the quality and durability of their hydroponic nutrient solutions. However, many are unaware that hydroponic gardening can be much furtherly enhanced by the addition of ion selective electrodes.

In a certain sense, all hydroponic gardeners have used an ion sensitive electrode since the pH meter they use to measure the concentration of H3O(+) ions is actually selective to that ion. Imagine if every time you read pH you had interference from all the other ions present inside the hydroponic solution. Nonetheless, there are currently a large variety of ion selective electrodes available and many of them can be used in hydroponic gardening to accurately control the concentration of several elements.

For example, ion selective electrodes with very good selectivity and little interference exist for the nitrate ion. These type of electrodes can be purchased from many manufacturers but can be easily found here. For just 229 USD, the grower is able to accurately control the amount of nitrate ions present inside the hydroponic solution independently from other nutrients.

By measuring the potential difference given by the electrode when the solution is prepared, the grower is able to easily detect and graph changes within a certain growing period. Best of all, since the ion selective electrode gives a real measure of ion concentrations, the grower is able to resupply spent nitrogen without unbalancing the hydroponic growing solution.

Ion selective electrodes exist for a variety of ions including nitrate, ammonia, phosphate, potassium, iron and copper. This technology will prove to be the future of hydroponics as it will guarantee the grower the ability to accurately control and resupply the exact amount of nutrients needed by his or her growing plants. These electrodes can also be easily wired to computer software in order to monitor nutrient use 24/7 (below a display of several ion selective electrodes)
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While hydroponic gardening is most often done with plants like tomatoes, lettuce and bell pepper, it is well known that the hydroponic growing technique can be applied to a large variety of plants with different degrees of success. One type of plant that is an all time grower favorite is the citrus tree. Plants such as orange, lemon and mandarin (called citric because of their high citric acid content) can be grown effectively in a hydroponic garden.

Before you start your quest for a hydroponic citrus tree, beware that this type of plant demands somewhat warm weather and high amounts of light. These plants are not very good at indoor growing unless some LED growing lamps are used to complement lightning (although high pressure sodium and halide lamps can also be used).

Once you decide to grow a citrus tree the first step is to either find a suitable candidate from a nursery or grow your own from seed. If you want to grow from seed, beware that it will take the plant 3 to 5 years in order to start bearing fruit. If this is unacceptable, find a plant at a local nursery that has the age you require. If you are growing from seeds, soak the seeds inside a napkin for 2 days and then remove the external seed coating. This guarantees effective germination once the seed is planted.

For the best results, I recommend using a 5 gallon container filled with rice husk, perlite or vermiculite fitted with adequate tubing at the bottom for nutrient solution evacuation. I recommend installing a drip irrigation system with at least 3 drip emitters per citrus tree you planted.

As for the nutrient solution, I recommend using a Hoagland solution, first at half strength and then at full strength as the plant starts to grow. Your hydroponic citrus tree will not probably grow as big as an actual citrus tree but will bear fruit of normal size and sometimes even in the same quantities. Since your tree is in a hydroponics system, it will (if the solution is taken care of) never have to face any iron or manganese defficiencies common to soil grown citrus trees. Sometime in the next month I will publish a detailed how to on the construction of the hydroponic system itself.
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In common hydroponic culture, the growing media and the hydroponic nutrient solution are kept sterile in order to guarantee the absence of malicious plant pathogens. This however, changes the root environment dramatically and places plant roots in a media which is totally inert and different from the media in which they evolved, soil.

However, hydroponic gardening offers an important advantage in that adequate beneficial microorganisms can be cultured with our hydroponic plants, making the root environment change towards a much more soil-like beneficial media whith stimulated nutrient absorption, prevents pathogens and increases growth.

Amongst all the microorganisms that can be introduced into hydroponic media, none are as beneficial as the fungi commonly known as mycorrhiza. This term refers to fungi that create important symbiotic bonds with the plant’s roots, activating the plant’s internal defense mechanisms and boosting it’s nutrient uptake capabilities by using the fungus’s hyphae as nutrient uptake vehicles with a much higher surface are than common plant roots.

In practice, I have introduced Trichoderma species of fungi into my hydroponic solution every crop for the past 2 years with very good results. Trichoderma visibly stimulate the plant, making it vigorous and more productive than a traditional hydroponic plant. The fungi also increase the plant’s ability to assimilate phosphorous, something which is a problem where I live due to low ambient temperatures (which hinder P uptake). In order to use Trichoderma efficently in your hydroponic solution you should lower the amount of phosphorous under 40 ppm because higher amounts of this element inhibit the fungi’s development.

With this in mind I hope that all of you who have considered biological help in your hydroponic garden will start using these incredible microorganisms which are very good at helping your plants develop and maintain an adequate level of productivity. (Below a picture that shows the difference between plants with and without beneficial Trichoderma spp fungi)
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