Hydroponics - at Home and for Beginners

Step 8 Maintenance

Every other week, you need to replace your nutrient solution. Otherwise, the water will become toxic to the plant and it will stunt its growth or cause death. Larger operations don't do this as they have adequate filtering and methods of removing toxins generated by the plants - we don't have this. Besides, the plant is going to soak in those nutrients thus removing it from the water anyway ;)

Monitor your fluid levels in between water changes... If the water gets too low, go ahead and top it off.

When you first start, you want to keep the water level just above the base of the pot. The root system will works its way down into the container (out of the pot) and into the water. When this happens, lower the water level slightly (about an inch below the pots) and make sure to keep aeration going. Aeration prevents the root system from becoming "too wet" and having some of the root system exposed to air helps.

Comments

[TVarmy]

How long can a hydroponics system wait between waterings? IE, say I changed the water, went on vacation for a week, and came back. Would the water be too low?

[chanson87]

What do you do with your water when you need to change it? Do you change all the water, or just replenish the nutrients?

[ki10]

Change the whole solution. It's too well-mixed to get just the toxins out without some kind of filter.

[00Ruth7]

Or you can add a wick to your netted/meshed pots. For example a strand from the mop or a felt. One end reaching into the nutrient solution and the other end reaching into the rockwool.

See this link for visual information:
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f95/blogagog/hydro1.jpg
http://ottawaorganizers.com/ottawa/hydro2.jpg

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[tibby_]

how high should the water level be. should it just touch the bottom of the plants or should they be submerged ??

[00Ruth7]

The water level should be high enough so that a small amount of liquid touches the netted/meshed pots. So that the rockwool is in contact with the liquid and is moist. The rockwool must receive water, or your plant will likely die, even if some roots are in the nutrient solution.