Hydroponic Gardening Techniques

Basically there are two types of hydroponic gardening. These are:
• Medium culture
• Solution culture

Medium Culture

This is a hydroponic gardening technique whereby there is a medium used in which the roots may be held. There are many alternatives for soil in medium culture. These include, but not limited to, mineral or rock wool, gravel, clay pellets, brick shards and vermiculite. These are simple to use with hydroponic gardening and not only provide stable suspension for the plants but also a storage facility for hydroponic nutrient solutions.

Solution Culture

There are three subtypes of solution culture;
•   Static solution culture
•   Continuous flow solution culture
•   Aeroponics

Basically the concepts of all the three types of solution culture are more or less the same since the plant is dangled and the hydroponic nutrients supplied to it. There are however some few notable differences.

Static Solution Culture

In static solution culture, the plant is left to exhaust the hydroponic nutrients completely by being kept in the solution throughout. Upon exhaustion, the hydroponic nutrients are replenished but only to a point where just some portion of the root can access it.

Continuous Flow Solution Culture

For the continuous flow solution culture, the plant is left in the hydroponic nutrient solution throughout. Since the hydroponic nutrient solution flows through the containers for the plants, this technique is more suitable for large scale hydroponic farming that may require use of more advanced equipment.

Aeroponics

The other type of hydroponic gardening is aeroponics. This is whereby the hydroponic nutrients are availed to the roots of the plant via fine mist or droplets. The mist, which carries with it the hydroponic nutrients, is regularly administered to the plants and absorbed directly by the roots while the droplets hang on to the plant. Most plants have shown positive response to this type of solution culture.

Hydroponic herb gardens and vegetable gardens are among the most common form of hydroponic gardening. This is because hydroponic gardening is not hard to start. Research has shown that hydroponic is more effective in terms of plant growth and crop production. Since soil does not feature anywhere, cases of soil borne diseases are not common with use of hydroponics.