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The Fundamentals of a Hydroponics System
Understanding Vegetative Growth and Flowering / Bloom cycles
Plants undergo a number of changes throughout each life cycle. The two most distinctive are Vegetative Growth and Flowering / Bloom. During vegetative growth the plant will concentrate its energy on root formation and growing vertically towards it energy source (either the sun of lighting), it will also show significant increase in foliage. During the Flowering / Bloom stage the plant will undergo a short burst of intensive Vegetative growth which then initiates flower set. These flowers then move along to provide fruit, which will fill out and ripen in the late stages of bloom.
Lights - As a general rule for vegetative growth a plant will require long periods of light, this is generally considered to be 18 hours. For the flowering / bloom the lighting hours can be reduced to 12 hours.
Room Temp - The optimum day time temperature range is 26⁰C to 28⁰C (78.8-82.4 degrees). While the optimum lights off (night temperature for vegetative growth requires a drop of no more than 6⁰C to 8⁰c. During the flowering /bloom period the temperature drop should be no more than 10°C to 12°C.
Root Zone Temperature - This is dependent on the type of crop, but as a general rule 18⁰C to 22⁰C (64.4-71.6 degrees) is ideal range. For Winter crops use the lower end of the range and for tropical crops use the warmer end of the range. This also applies to the water temperature of the nutrient solution.
Ideal Humidity - As a general rule 40% to 65% is optimum. The conditions to consider in this situation is if the humidity is too high the breeding rates of pathogens will increase, as to will the probability of mold, botrytis, fruit rot and powdery mildew.
Prevention - Just like humans plants are prone to disease and pest attack. The best form of protection is prevention. Keep your system clean by continually sanitizing. The best option for this is to use beneficial micro organisms instead of chemical sanitizers, which are generally harmful to the plants.
Air movement - As part of photosynthesis and respiration plants require CO2 and Oxygen to survive. The simplest way to do this is to continually exchange the air within the room. As a minimum it is important to exchange the air in the room at least once every 15 minutes.
Understanding Vegetative Growth and Flowering / Bloom cycles
Plants undergo a number of changes throughout each life cycle. The two most distinctive are Vegetative Growth and Flowering / Bloom. During vegetative growth the plant will concentrate its energy on root formation and growing vertically towards it energy source (either the sun of lighting), it will also show significant increase in foliage. During the Flowering / Bloom stage the plant will undergo a short burst of intensive Vegetative growth which then initiates flower set. These flowers then move along to provide fruit, which will fill out and ripen in the late stages of bloom.
Lights - As a general rule for vegetative growth a plant will require long periods of light, this is generally considered to be 18 hours. For the flowering / bloom the lighting hours can be reduced to 12 hours.
Room Temp - The optimum day time temperature range is 26⁰C to 28⁰C (78.8-82.4 degrees). While the optimum lights off (night temperature for vegetative growth requires a drop of no more than 6⁰C to 8⁰c. During the flowering /bloom period the temperature drop should be no more than 10°C to 12°C.
Root Zone Temperature - This is dependent on the type of crop, but as a general rule 18⁰C to 22⁰C (64.4-71.6 degrees) is ideal range. For Winter crops use the lower end of the range and for tropical crops use the warmer end of the range. This also applies to the water temperature of the nutrient solution.
Ideal Humidity - As a general rule 40% to 65% is optimum. The conditions to consider in this situation is if the humidity is too high the breeding rates of pathogens will increase, as to will the probability of mold, botrytis, fruit rot and powdery mildew.
Prevention - Just like humans plants are prone to disease and pest attack. The best form of protection is prevention. Keep your system clean by continually sanitizing. The best option for this is to use beneficial micro organisms instead of chemical sanitizers, which are generally harmful to the plants.
Air movement - As part of photosynthesis and respiration plants require CO2 and Oxygen to survive. The simplest way to do this is to continually exchange the air within the room. As a minimum it is important to exchange the air in the room at least once every 15 minutes.