How to prepare a low cost chelated micronutrient solution
Micronutrients constitute only a small portion of a plant’s nutritional requirements but are still vital to growth and development. They are mainly comprised of heavy metals (Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu,…
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Is my water source good for hydroponics?
Before starting your hydroponic project it is important to know whether your local water source can actually be used to water plants. Not all water sources are compatible with plants…
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A guide to different pH down options in hydroponics
The control of pH in hydroponic nutrient solutions is important. Plants will tend to increase the pH of solutions in most cases – as nitrate uptake tends to dominate over…
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Nutrient solution conductivity estimates in Hydrobuddy
People who use Hydrobuddy can be confused by its conductivity estimates, especially because its values can often mismatch the readings of conductivity meters in real life. This confusion can stem…
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Sugars in hydroponic nutrient solutions
Carbohydrates are an integral part of plants. They produce them from carbon dioxide, requiring no additional external carbon inputs for the process. However, since plants can absorb molecules through their…
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Controlling pH in hydroponics using only electricity
The ability of plants to assimilate nutrients changes as a function of pH. This makes maintaining the pH of nutrient solutions within an acceptable range – most commonly 5.8 to…
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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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Five reasons why a dedicated hydroponic testing room is a great idea
Most commercial hydroponic setups completely lack testing environments. The most common reason for this is that commercial crops are meant to produce revenue and a testing environment means dedicating space,…
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The use of phosphites in plant culture
Plants normally get most or all of their phosphorous from inorganic phosphorus sources. Most commonly these sources are monobasic or dibasic phosphate ions (H2PO4– and HPO4-2), which are naturally formed…
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