Hydroponic: Difference between revisions

  There are different methods of irrigating the roots. Flooding or partial flooding, where a pump fills a trough or a tray, which then drains out to a holding tank again to air the roots a little, and then gets reused later. This system needs to be kept clean from germs, which can infect a whole supply of plants being watered by the one source. This saves a lot of water though, if water is in extremely short supply.

You can use drip irrigation or sprinklers to “water and waste”. This will require a substrate that retains water better than marbles or river sand, or the plants will dry out too rapidly. Pine bark is good for that, or a finer grit (clean) sand. You'll need to compensate extra nitrogen though for the pine bark because the nitrogen will get used up trying to decompose the bark, and the plant will run short. Sand does dry out fast, so may require extra irrigation cycles. It depends on the volume that the container holds, whether it is a seedling tray with really small cavities, or a grow bag that can come in various sizes.