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…
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Iodine in Hydroponic Crops: An Emerging Biostimulant
Introduction Iodine sits in a weird spot in plant nutrition. It is essential for humans, not officially essential for higher plants, yet low, well chosen doses often push crops to…
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Cobalt in hydroponics as a biostimulant
People ask about dosing cobalt in recirculating systems to “stimulate” growth or flowering. For the crops that matter in hydroponics and soilless culture, peer-reviewed work does not show reliable growth…
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Common questions about silicon in nutrient solutions
Introduction We know that silicon can be a very beneficial element for many plant species (see some of my previous posts here and here). It mainly enhances disease resistance and…
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Connecting a low cost TDR moisture content/EC/temp sensor to a NodeMCUv3
I have discussed moisture content sensors extensively in the past. I have written posts about the use of capacitive moisture sensors to measure volumetric moisture content, including how to create…
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How to prepare your own hypochlorous acid cleaner using bleach
During the past couple of years, cleaning products based on hypochlorous acid derived from electrolysis have become popular in the hydroponic industry. This is because, in the USA – per…
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A cost analysis of fertilizers for hydroponic/soilless growing in 2022
Why fertilizer costs matter Fertilizer can be one of the largest expenses of a hydroponic growing facility. This is especially true when boutique fertilizers are used, instead of large scale…
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How to reuse your coco coir in soilless growing
Why reuse media Buying new media and spending labor to mix, expand, and even amend it can be a costly process for growing facilities. Dumping media also involves going through…
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Are Iron chelates of humic/fulvic acids better or worse than synthetics?
Why Fe nutrition is problematic Plants need substantial amounts of iron to thrive. However, iron is a finicky element, and will react with many substances to form solids that are…
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A guide to different pH up options in hydroponics
When is pH up needed? The control of pH in hydroponics is critical. Most commonly, we need to decrease the pH of our solutions as most nutrients will initially be…
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