If you require a hydroponic garden to be successful , in most case , the alimentary resolution will not be enough to give your plants the constant supply of nutrients they take ; you will also need a produce medium .
A growing medium is a firm material , in the pattern of pebbles , parazoan , fibers or shreds and barque that is used to keep back the alimentary solution ( water and nutrient ) and then secrete it tardily to the ancestor of the plants . But which ones are the tried and essay growing medium , and how can you choose the best one for your hydroponic garden ?
Using a growing sensitive has done to hydroponics what ‘ Strawberry Fields Forever ’ by the Beatles has done to pop medicine : it has revolutionized it .
But choose the right growing mass medium is not easy , and you will take to be intimate all the details of the dissimilar ones available and how they behave to opt the best one for your garden and crops .
Main qualities of a growing medium
We ca n’t use any solid as a hydroponic grow spiritualist . It does necessitate to have some basic qualities so as to be functional :
Choosing the good growing spiritualist for your hydroponic garden is a fleck like choosing the Natalie Wood to make a fiddle ; yes , the chain are all authoritative and so is the cast , but unless you select the good material , the sound will never have that perfect ring …
Is a growing medium strictly necessary?
Technically speaking , you’re able to have a aquicultural garden without a originate medium ; however , most gardeners will powerfully apprize that you use one .
What is more , using one will make such a huge divergence on the direction of your garden and of your resources ( water , nutrient etc . ) that the pocket-size disbursement for a growing medium is easily justified , and will in reality salve you hatful of money in the long running .
What are the advantages of using a growing medium?
If you are still not convinced that using a grow medium is a smart and smart choice , just look at the difference it can make to your hydroponic garden :
As you’re able to see , if you use a growing medium , you’re able to have much better control on the growth and health of your flora , on how you habituate nutrients and water , on the atmospheric consideration of the microclimate of your garden , and on the independence of your garden in slip of faults and break .
And all this while really reducing the amount of employment and Energy Department you put in . In 1979 , The Clash had a unmarried out called ‘ Bank Robbers ’ and the bacillus side was ‘ Rudie Ca n’t Fail ’ …
Well , with hydroponic growing mediums , all gardeners can be called “ Rudie ” .
Are there any drawbacks to using a growing medium?
“ Nothing is perfect in God ’s everlasting programme , ” Neil Young used to babble out back in 2011 … Still , when it issue forth to using a raise metier , the disadvantages are really small :
So , if nothing is perfect in God ’s plan , it is also true this may remind us of our part as gardener , help along with the study of Nature , and , at least in this case , she is really require very little from us …
Do all hydroponic systems use a growing medium?
Not all aquacultural systems want one , and not all method can apply one . Some , however , depend so much on it that doing without is almost unheard of , even nonsensical .
This should give you a all-encompassing view on using ( or not ) a growing medium according to the aquicultural method acting you take .
This is a good start , but now , after this cosmopolitan “ overture ” , it is meter to plunge deep into the “ underwater world ” of growing mediums , a bit like Wagner does in Tristan and Isolde …
Ready for the some “ drama ” now ? Not material drama , actually , just lots of fact , details and tips …
How Many Growing Mediums Are There?
aquacultural gardeners have been experimenting with dissimilar develop culture medium for decades , but it was only when rock candy and roller started from vinyl record that researchers understood grandness of using the correct medium ; in the 1950s , in fact , cogitation in hydroponics find out that using a hapless , inadequate growing medium had a damaging impact on the plants you grow .
Over the years , three main group , or type , of growing mediums have come out as being the best for aquacultural gardens :
Not all material that fall into these categories are suitable ; however , these are three groups of materials that comprise all the grow mass medium .
1:Pebbles and stones
From the idiom “ a rolled stone forgather no moss ” come the name of one of the most far-famed band in history , but this old expression also tell us something about why pebbles like expanded remains , lava pebble , vermiculite etc . are unspoiled growing culture medium … Let me tell you why …
2:Foam materials
Growing medium like rockwool , oasis regular hexahedron , floral froth and even polyurethan froth insularity can be used as growing mediums .
I will be straight with you : they are not my preferent pick and they do not the most popular among hydroponic gardeners . But first , let ’s look at their advantages .
However , there are some off - putting factor you will want to take into circumstance :
3: Natural organic fibers
tank farming is a branch of organic horticulture , thus , the ebullience for eco - favorable solutions should get along as no surprisal .
If you are coming to tank farming with this perspective , then natural constitutive fibers may be a very appealing pick for you .
Pine bark , pine shaving , coconut coir , coconut tree chips and even Elmer Leopold Rice Kingston-upon Hull have now become common so , you will be drawing on a well established custom .
Still , they have many pros but also some con .
However , they do have some small disadvantages as well :
A last note , more on fading than a high C , to born constitutional fibers is that not all of them are amply inert ; some , like pine bark , require to be age if you require them to be as inert as potential . Once they are dry , though , they will not release nutrient into your result or absorb them from it .
11 Different Hydroponic Grow Mediums And Their Pros And Cons
you could even ad-lib your own make shift grow medium ; this has been done by amateur ( and not just ) hydroponic nurseryman with a “ free jazz ” inclination or brainchild .
Yet , while break conventional rule and render and tested method acting can be good for experiment , if you require to be on the safe side , you ’d better flummox to a list of growing medium that have prove to be reliable …
On top of this , the list of mediums is fairly long , including common construction material , trashy mulch and even plain moxie … Shall we now look at them in turn ?
1: Expanded clay (a.k.a. grow rock or even hydrocorn)
enlarge clay is the Pachelbel ’s ‘ canyon in D ’ of all uprise mediums ; peradventure the most common , most easily recognized and most eclectic of all the 1 we use .
If you hot up cadaver , which is a fully natural material , at 2,190oF ( or 1,200oC ) it exposit , forming small air bubbles inside , in a honeycomb structure .
It is widely used edifice material , cheap , Christ Within and very undestroyable . Hydroponic gardener shortly found out that this is a very good growing medium , because it can hold the nutrient solution in its porous structure and then turn it tardily . But there is more …
Even if flourish clay pebbles are very common , they are not stark :
Still , because they are very meretricious and durable , they can be used in combination with other mediums with foresighted water retentiveness , like pumice or vermiculite .
2: Pumice and lava rocks
Still within the “ pebble ” family , another bum and readily available option is pumice and other poriferous lava rock ‘n’ roll .
Pumice is a volcanic rock formed when a volcano break through lava with lots of water and gas in it . The water evaporates quickly and this take form lots of bubble and pockets inside of it .
It does have some good advantage , and it is also used in filth gardening .
pumice stone is very mutual with tomatoes and herbs grown with the nutrient film technique .
It needs wash and sterilizing before you utilize it , as it break well bring forth dust . The most common range of mountains of pebble is between 1 and 7 millimetre in size . While some gardeners herald it as the “ perfect growing culture medium ” for hydroponics , it is sometimes too light for some hydroponic systems ; in fact , it floats on water , so , while it is excellent for drip systems , taper systems , nutrient picture show technique , it does model some problems with ebb and menstruum and cryptic water culture system . Pumice ( and standardised lava rocks ) too can be used in combination with other growing mediums , like coconut coir .
3: Vermiculite
This mineral with a beautiful name has the internal structure of an squeeze box ; it has , in fact , many internal layers with lean plate which make pockets that occupy with water and air .
This , however , only after you wake it at 1,652oF ( or 900oC ) . In fact , this growing spiritualist expands with heat , a behavior that sets it aside from other mediums .
This mineral has many pros as a growing spiritualist :
However , vermiculite is not a everlasting growing medium either . It does have some major drawbacks :
This is why vermiculite is often used in combination with another metier , one that allows just aeration , very often coconut fibers or , even more frequently , perlite , which we will see next .
4: Perlite
Another material with a beautiful name , derive possibly from its snowy “ skin colour ” . It is a glass discover in vent , which , when erupted hold up on to water inside .
When it is heated at 1,600oF ( which is 870oC ) , it “ pops ” , a second like popcorn and it expands to up to thirteen time its original size , becoming spark and filled with belittled pocket of air . We could see perlite as the complemental growing sensitive of vermiculite ; in fact , while it does not hold water for long , it is splendid for aeration .
This is why the two are often discover together , in unlike rations , though , ordinarily 50:50 is the most common .
start up with the advantages …
Still , you will never determine a professional hydroponic gardener using perlite on its own , and this is because of its many drawback :
5: Rockwool
Yet another building material that has find its way into the list of hydroponic growing mediums , rockwool has that feeling of early synthesiser used in music alongside authoritative instruments in the sixties and seventies …
Not only does it look like something from a picture show or even television serial from that geological era , but it is also an early industrial product come from the transformation of constituent material .
In fact , it imitate the fibers of flora , while being produced industrially .
It is , in fact , an insulation fabric which hydroponic gardeners have accommodate into a growing medium .
If you are fain to put up with a grow medium that looks cheesy and industrial , then rockwool may be a practicable alternative for you . In fact , it does have some advantages :
However , it also does have some major disadvantages , and its circumstances as a grow medium seems to be decline steady :
6: Polyurethane foam insulation
Little did Pink Floyd hump that their experimentation with synthesizer would lead to full blown techno music , but it did …
likewise , with the development of the crude oil diligence , come to the full synthetic insulating stuff , like polyurethane , a synthetical froth with a spongelike and semi - rigid grain .
It is not very common with aquicultural gardeners , but it may be used as a stopgap growing mass medium in case of essential . In fact , it does have some of the key quality of a growing medium :
However …
7: Floral foam
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If polyurethan is “ in your typeface ” man-made , flowered froth is a bit like EDM medicine ; it may “ search ” more lifelike , but it is still synthetic . You may picture it covered in thin flowers in a beautiful composition , because this is how flower store have made it popular . But you could also use it as a grow medium .
However , there are some main disadvantage :
On the whole , while some the great unwashed use it , it is maybe well only with limited and small program program . For instance , if you have some and you desperately need it for seeding , you may as well reprocess it , but I would not recommend buying it on function nor using it extensively .
8: Sand
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receive back to the natural globe … After a trip into unreal growing mediums , from now on , we will emit only fresh aviation , a moment like propel from information processing system generated to instrumental euphony . Sand is a pronto usable growing medium ; it is fundamentally rock in very tiny pieces , so , it has some good qualities as rise medium .
Still , even sand is not arrant :
aquicultural gardener who use sand also like to merge it with another grow medium , unremarkably perlite and vermiculite or even coconut coir ; this is to provide better aeration , with a ratio of 70:30 or 80:20 between sand and other medium . last , if you bid to habituate grit , choose the one with the biggest possible grains ; this way , the pocket between them will be heavy .
9: Aged pine bark
Pines and coniferous tree are fast growing trees , used to make furniture , whole home base and many musical instruments , like guitars and even violin .
But what make them appealing to hydroponic gardeners is their barque ; thick and with natural chunk that are easy to separate , they have been used for epiphytes like orchids as a develop spiritualist as well as mulch for decennary . However , before you use pine bark as a growing medium , you need to render it neutral ; fresh pine bark will absorb atomic number 7 from your nutrient root .
Professional gardeners can remedy this by contribute nitrogen like a shot to the barque they utilize , but if you want an easy life , your good option is to get of age barque . In fact , it does have some great qualities :
However , even pine bark does have some problem , as nurseryman know quite well .
Pine bark is often also used in combining with other natural medium , like perlite and vermiculite .
10: Rice hulls
Rice Kingston-upon Hull break down easily , but they also have a very firm texture ; this means that while they will absorb your nutrient solution , they will also have a basic strong body structure . If you are think about them , here are the advantages :
On the other hand …
Elmer Rice hull are seldom used as the lone growing medium . or else , they are often used specially with pine bark , usually 30:70 or 40:60 rice and pine bark .
11: Coconut coir and coconut chips
The Stradivarius of growing mass medium is coconut ; you’re able to use both the coir ( the vulcanized fiber outside the husk ) or chaff chips . Both are excellent in many ways :
“ But , ” you may require , “ is there a dispute between the two and are there any disadvantages?”Apart from the aesthetic difference ( chips look good than coir ) , cocoa palm chips also spring bigger pocket .
you could , of course use both together , peradventure with the coir lower down and the chips on top .
Finally , a minuscule item that aquacultural gardeners know well … Removing coconut palm coir from the root word when you want to change crop can be a flake “ fidgety ” …
What Grow Medium Is Right For You?
The range of aquacultural maturate mediums is like full orchestra ; there are so many “ instruments ” that choosing the best one for your “ piece ” , garden or crop , can take some time … But in the remainder , you will ask to choose which “ representative ” you wish your garden to have … Most aquicultural nurseryman prefer amply organic medium with low environmental encroachment , and here , coconut coir and fibers are by far your good choice .
Others may prefer natural pebbles , like expanded clay and vermiculite or even sand . Few will opt a synthetical stuff , not just because they are not constituent , but they also have quite a few drawbacks … Then again , you may combine growing medium to get the best “ harmonic composition ” for the plant you want to grow . Still , whichever you choose , my net tip is to gift in the long terminal figure ; a pH neutral , long-lived and reusable get medium will spare you disbursement in the future and a quite a little of work as well .
await at it like choosing a violin ; a lowly quality one may be skillful to study the basics , but a unspoiled one will go past down from multiplication to propagation and always regale us with its beautiful annotation .
Written By
After many years as an faculty member in London , Adriano Bulla became a author , publishing Book like A History of Gardening , Organic Gardening and Elements of Garden Design ; he then adjudicate to become a gardener , following his childhood dream , and has been following his ambition writing and gardening professionally in Southern Europe , where he has specialized in new and innovative organic horticulture fields and technique , like permaculture , regenerative agriculture , food forests and hydroponics .
