Beginner and professional gardeners alike are getting tremendous results from using a hydroponic greenhouse. Having the right system and tools goes a long way in making this happen. In this post, we will look at 5 of the best tools you need for maintaining a hydroponic greenhouse at home.
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Want to start a hydroponic garden at home easily? Check out our recommendations for Best Hydroponics Starter Kits for Beginners.
What Is A Hydroponic Greenhouse?
A hydroponic greenhouse is a structure used to grow plants in water using feeders, where the plants are grown in a growing medium such as foam, rock wool, clay pellets, coconut fiber, peat, recycled foam, gravel, or sawdust.
Plants that are grown using this method develop faster compared to those grown in soil. This is to in part to the nutrient-rich water solution used in hydroponic growing. Hydroponics is an excellent method to magnify and yield better vegetables, herbs, flowers, and fruits.
A hydroponic greenhouse cost is highly affordable even to beginners. The cost of starting the system is nothing compared to the cost of the enormous yields. You can build a backyard hydroponic greenhouse to save on space. Additionally, it will be easier to channel water or electricity from the house to the greenhouse in the backyard without any difficulties.
What Is The Benefit Of A Home Greenhouse For Hydroponics?
Though complex for beginners, a hydroponic greenhouse offers several advantages over traditional soil gardening. Let’s take a look at some of those advantages.
Pest And Diseases
Hydroponic greenhouses ensure a reduction in soil dependency, which prevents diseases and infections related to soil. Many of these diseases can decimate a healthy garden in no time.
Quality Crop
The quality of plants from hydroponic home greenhouses is highly guaranteed. The plant quality is superior because there are frequent nutrient absorption checks, unlike plants in soil that absorb all types of pollution from the soil. They produce bigger crops without using pesticides since the solution already has nutrients. Plants grown using pesticides may be a health hazard.
Care And Maintenance
Feeding the crop roots with the nutrient-rich solution improves the growth rate, quantity, and quality, and crops are yielded all year round. Additionally, using LED lights emits different lights of different wavelengths, enhancing photosynthesis and speeding up plants’ growth rate. Maintenance is low because they require no watering or weeding. The systems are automated to water the plants. There are no cases of weed occurrences as in soil gardening.
Water
Water is highly conserved since it is used in the required quantities. The excess water is not absorbed, but rather it is recirculated; hence there are no unnecessary wastes.
Tools For Hydroponic Greenhouse Growing
Before setting up greenhouse hydroponic systems, there are several tools that you should have. These include a pump, growth medium, a nutrient solution, substrates, planters or grow beds, and water flow channels.
Nutrient Solution
The nutrient used is basically the food that a plant needs and should be mixed in water. The most preferred nutrients are potassium, magnesium, and calcium. However, other compounds may be added. This solution should be able to flow through the roots and not submerge them fully.
Growth Medium
The growth medium used should be non-porous to ensure there is good drainage below the plants. These include vermiculite or expanded clay. The medium should be placed in the channels that contain the nutrient solution.
Grow Beds
Planters or grow beds provide a surface for plant growth. They must be sturdy and firm to bear the growth medium, water, and plants’ weight.
Water Pump
The pump is essential for the whole process as it keeps the nutrient solution flowing. If the solution stagnates, it is dangerous to the plants because it may be stale and poisonous to plants. Additionally, large water tanks are needed to run the systems. You can install reservoir tanks and connect them directly to your system for them to run smoothly.
Testing
Another essential tool is a pH regulator or sensor used to determine the pH of the solution. You should check the solution frequently to maintain the levels of the nutrients used.
Lighting
Light timers are also essential tools but apply only in automated systems. However, the more automatic the system is, the more space it occupies. Artificial grow lights are needed for supplemental lighting, especially indoors where there is insufficient lighting. An energy fluorescent is included. The built-in automatic timer provides the maximum light needed for every seed pack. It is essential to check and prevent too much direct sunlight because it may be sensitive to delicate plants.
Where To Buy Hydroponic Greenhouse Tools
Gardeners can buy hydroponic equipment and tools for greenhouse hydroponic systems on Amazon, Alibaba, or Aliexpress. They are sold at affordable prices, and shipment costs are also low. Amazon is the best online store for these tools.
Can I Buy A Greenhouse Kit?
For beginners, it will be an intimidating process to build a hydroponic greenhouse from scratch. The best solution for them is to purchase a hydroponic greenhouse kit. Once you are an expert, you can make a DIY system, and you will surely enjoy the results.
You can use hydroponic kits for indoor and outdoor gardening. Regardless of the kits’ type and complexity, they will all have seeds, plant holders, and water tanks with pumps.
These kits contain everything you will need to grow your plants. The components include; an outdoor air pump to supply oxygen, a bubbling pump to oxygenate the water solution, a base cesspool where the mineral and nutrient solution is placed, growing media like foam and rock wool, containers for plants to sit in the base cesspool, and instructions and tips for growing the plants.
N/B: the mineral and nutrient solutions must be bought separately, and they contain instructions on how to achieve the best and uniform mixture.
FAQs – Hydroponic Greenhouse At Home
Yes. Using a greenhouse for your hydroponic garden will allow for year-round growing. If you don’t have the indoor space for hydroponics, then a greenhouse is a nice alternative.
The first two decisions you’ll have to make are how much space do you have and what plants do you want to grow. These two questions will help determine the right greenhouse and hydroponic setup for the plants you are interested in growing.