Hydroponic System Design Plans Tower Garden at Home

Hydroponic system design plans tower garden at home - Getting fresh vegetables without pesticides is one of the hopes of growing your own vegetables. The problem is, not everyone has enough land to grow these vegetables. So that one solution is to grow vegetables by utilizing water as a medium for replacing soil or commonly known as hydroponics. Historically, hydroponic gardening has existed for thousands of years (± 2600 years ago). Hanging Gardens Babylon is one of the seven wonders of the world. This garden is the first application of hydroponic techniques in recorded history.

The hydroponic gardening method began to enter Indonesia around the 1970s and became a lecture material in universities. The hydroponic system can be a solution for the development of fruit and vegetable crops with various advantages over conventional farming systems.

For those who like gardening, growing vegetables using hydroponic methods can relieve stress. But not everyone still understands how to grow simple hydroponics for beginners. No need to worry, Desus will discuss how to grow simple hydroponics.

What is Hydroponic Gardening?

Hydroponic garden

As is well known, hydroponics is a way of growing that uses water as a medium so it doesn't require land or large areas of land. Simply put, hydroponics is a method of cultivating plants using water instead of soil enriched with nutrients. This makes nutrition, pest control and lighting issues easier to manage.

One of the added values ​​of hydroponics is that it does not require the use of toxic herbicides and pesticides so that it is more environmentally friendly and the vegetables produced will be healthier. Planting with hydroponics will produce plants of good quality and free of chemicals.

For information, all the equipment for gardening with the hydroponic method is widely sold, either online or coming directly to a farm supply store. You can use the hydroponic method to grow various vegetables, such as: kale, mustard greens, chilies, shallots, and celery.

Advantages of Hydroponic Gardening

After understanding the explanation related to hydroponics, you also need to understand the advantages of the hydroponic method. Especially now that the hydroponic method is being underestimated, so it is important to pay attention to what are the advantages that can be obtained from this hydroponic method.

1. Does not require soil media. This makes the gardening area cleaner because it does not use soil at all.
2. Plant growth looks faster. Because the nutrients needed by plants will be absorbed better considering the media used is in liquid form, not solid.
3. No need to do watering plants like gardening in general. This is because the media used is water.
4. The power required is also small. Because, there is no need to do land processing, planting and harvesting. The method is more practical and efficient.
5. The process of harvesting plants will be easier when compared to gardening methods that use soil.
6. Yields from the hydroponic method also tend to be higher. Not many people know the advantages of hydroponics, so many people still doubt it.
7. Planting using the hydroponic method will certainly save more space. We do not need land up to several hectares for gardening. In fact, the hydroponic method is more suitable to be carried out in narrow areas even in urban areas.
8. Fruits and vegetables produced from the hydroponic method will be more sterile because they are free from harmful pesticides or herbicides. This is certainly much more profitable than vegetables and fruit grown on plantations that still use pesticides.
9. The chances of plants being attacked by pests and diseases will be smaller.
10. The method of gardening using hydroponics will not depend on the weather. You can keep gardening at any time even if the weather is hot or cold.
11. The last advantage of hydroponics is that the use of fertilizers in this method is more efficient and economical.

Disadvantages of Hydroponic Gardening

Besides the advantages, there are also disadvantages when gardening using the hydroponic method. You also need to know the disadvantages of this hydroponic method. This is because not only to be complacent with the advantages mentioned above but also to be prepared to face the disadvantages below.

1. The first drawback of hydroponics is that this method tends to require large capital. Hydroponics is very suitable if we want to cultivate plants on a large scale, so that the large capital spent will also return more quickly.
2. Because the hydroponic method is still relatively rare, devices for maintaining the hydroponic method are also relatively rare. Certain tools are still difficult to find and obtain, especially because there are still very few hydroponic experts in Indonesia. This makes it difficult for you when you need certain equipment maintenance.
3. Another drawback of hydroponics is that this hydroponic gardening method requires extra precision. Because in gardening with the hydroponic method, we must really pay attention to and control the nutrients given to plants, including the pH acidity level. If you don't have an agricultural background, it will be difficult to garden using the hydroponic method.
4. The next shortage of hydroponics, the investment needed to grow hydroponically is also fairly high. This is mainly to purchase equipment, supplies and maintenance costs.
5. Lastly, hydroponics also requires special skills in the field. You are also required to have high creativity in making various hydroponic equipment yourself so you don't have to buy the ones that are quite expensive.

Simple Hydroponic Gardening at Home

One of the advantages of using hydroponic gardening is that it reduces the risk or cultivation problems associated with the soil, such as insects, fungi, and bacteria that live in the soil. This method is also easier to maintain as it does not need to involve the process of weeding and tilling the soil. Then the cultivation process is carried out in cleaner conditions without using animal manure fertilizers.

This is what makes simple hydroponic planting methods popular in people's homes with minimal land. Here's how to grow hydroponics that can be applied at home.

How to Hydroponic Gardening with the NFT System

The hydroponic gardening method has many advantages. Although relatively new, there is a simple way of growing hydroponics. How to grow this simple hydroponic course can be done in the environment around us, including at home. One of them is the Hydroponic Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) system. This system is a hydroponic method that uses a thin flow technique. In a sense, this hydroponics only uses the flow of water (nutrients) as a medium.
The advantages of the NFT hydroponic system include not too much water, dissolved oxygen levels in the nutrient solution are quite high, water as a medium is easy to get at a cheap price or even free, and the pH of the solution is easy to adjust and the hands can be supported with gutters.

NFT hydroponics is usually suitable for short-lived vegetables, such as pakcoy, caisim, lettuce, kailan, spinach, and kale. Tomatoes and peppers. Some cucumbers are cultivated with the NFT system but one bed is only filled with 2-3 rows of gutters so that the plants can grow wider.
As plant supports, NFT hydroponics uses ropes tied to wires at the top of the greenhouse. Keep in mind that the weight of fruit vegetable biomass that is produced is approximately 3-5 kg/plant. Typically, biomass exceeding 5 kg can cause the wire stretched upwards to bend. Gutters can also be curved so that the flow of nutrient solution will no longer be normal.
As a substitute for mattress straps, you can use a 3 m high bamboo split that is plugged into the side of each plant. This bamboo split is used as an upward propagation. Then, the weight of plant biomass will rest on the soil through the bamboo. Gutters are not burdened by biomass so that they remain flat and do not warp. How to make a simple hydroponic installation with the NFT system is also not complicated. To grow vegetables with this system, here are the steps:

Making an NFT Hydroponic Framework

• Make a construction frame made of aluminum or wood
• The height of the wood is reduced by 5 cm per meter so that the gutter placed on it will have a slope of 5%.
• Next, install a paragon rain gutter made of U-shaped PVC with a length of 4m, a height of 12cm, a base width of 11cm, and a flat shape.
• Both ends of the gutter are capped and made of PVC as well.
• Then, the lid on the top of the gutter is given a hole for an 8mm PE hose as an inlet or the entry of the solution into the gutter. Don't forget to close the end with a hole for a 13mm PE hose as an outlet or for an excess solution to come out.
• The PE hose is connected to a paragon which empties into the reservoir pond.
• Finally, in the pool, there is a submersible pump or submersible pump that pumps the solution back into the gutter inlet as a recirculation or flow recycling operation. With a slope of 5%, the nutrient solution flows through the inlet into the 1.5L gutter per minute and the solution will flow to the lower end. The flow thickness is only 3-4 mm so it is called a film (thin layer). With this large discharge, the plants at the bottom end will still get the solution flow so that plant growth along the gutter will be the same.

Planting

• The planting process begins by placing the seedlings in the middle of the paralon.
• If the seedlings do not touch the nutrient solution, then spread the newspaper clippings as wide as the bottom of the gutter and along the length of the gutter. The newspaper here serves as the axis of the introduction of the solution to the roots of the seedlings.
• As plant support, use Styrofoam with a length of 100cm, a width of 11cm, and a thickness of 1.5cm.
• So that the styrofoam is not at the bottom of the gutter, it is given a buffer in the form of split stones. Split stones can be 2-3 cm in size and are placed in a zigzag manner at the bottom of the gutter at a distance of about 25 cm. The size of the split stone means that there is an air cavity as thick as 2-3 cm between the base of the gutter and the styrofoam sheet.
• The 2-3 cm split stone used to support the styrofoam strands can be enlarged to 3-4 cm for kailan vegetables. Kailan has a very long hypocotyl or stem base.
• Styrofoam pieces superimposed on split stones were given planting holes with a diameter of 1.5cm every 15cm.
• In the styrofoam hole, the seedlings are plugged with or without being wrapped in foam.
• In hydroponic fruit and vegetables, it is necessary to provide bamboo support so that the weight of the fruit does not bend the paralon. This avoids the jamming of the flow of nutrients in the paralon.

Wick System Hydroponic Gardening

Apart from NFT, one of the hydroponic gardening methods is the wick system. The Wick system is a hydroponic growing method with a passive system. The system components include a nutrient container, a net pot, a net pot container, and a wick or cloth.
On the other hand, the wick system is the simplest hydroponic system. Wick itself in Indonesian means axis. This gardening system can use used mineral water bottles as a place to plant them. The wick is usually flannel or other material that easily absorbs water. Meanwhile, the nutrient solution is placed in a container in the form of a plastic tub or plastic bottle. Thus, the roots do not directly come into contact with nutrients but through the intermediary of the wick and the cloth.
Plants that are suitable for using this hydroponic system are usually leafy vegetables, such as kale, spinach, lettuce, and celery. For planting media, Rockwool and foam are suitable. The advantage of this wicked system is that it is simple, inexpensive, and easy to manufacture. So it is suitable for beginners as a medium for learning hydroponics.
In addition, it can be made with used materials such as plastic bottles, and there is no need to water the plants every day. For those of you who are still beginners, of course, you can try it. However, this system also has weaknesses. The system is run manually, so there must be a periodic stirring of the nutrient solution so that the nutrients do not settle to the bottom of the container. After the plants are large and of course, they need more water supply than the absorption capacity of the wick, because hydroponic plants can experience a lack of water and nutrients. So don't let the lack of water complement it.
Here's how to do hydroponic gardening with a fairly simple wick system. You can apply it at home.

Materials and Tools for Making Hydroponics Wick System 600 ml

• bottle of used drink
• Scissors, knife, or cutter
• Wick, used cloth, or flannel as a nutrient diverter (wick system)
• Plant seeds that have been developed in Rockwool media
• Water
• Nutrients A & B fertilizer (in the form of liquid or powder). You can find them at plant or agricultural specialty stores. Adjust the type of nutrition with the plant you choose (vegetable or fruit).
• Nails

For plant seeds, you can easily get them in specialty agricultural stores or online. An important note, before being transferred to the hydroponic growing media to be made, first develop the seeds using Rockwool. Rockwool is also a planting medium, but it is only suitable as a place for sowing seeds until they grow into seeds.

How to Grow Simple Hydroponics Wick System

1. Cut used drink bottles in half using a cutter, knife, or scissors. Make sure the bottom of the bottle is bigger than the top.
2. Pour water into the bottom of the bottle then add the A & B nutrient fertilizer according to the dose. The comparison is every 5 ml for every liter of water. Set aside.
3. Punch holes in the surface of the neck of the bottle using small nails at several points. Also, make a hole in the bottle cover as a way to enter the axis later.
4. Insert the wick, scrap cloth, or flannel into the opening of the bottle cap to be made. Make sure the wick is long enough on both sides to absorb the water to be poured and also to hit the seeds of the plant. Then place it upside down into a bottle that already contains water.
5. Insert the seeds that are still embedded in the Rockwool into the bottle that has been turned over.
6. Make sure the seeds are exposed to the wick that has been moistened with a nutrient solution and water. You can also use planting media such as roasted husks, crushed red coral, and sponges to keep the shape of the plants so they don't break easily.
7. Place the bottle in an area that is warm to the sun but not prone to rain so that the seeds grow well.
8. Do this process to make other planting media.

Hydroponic Gardening with Used Bottles

Hydroponic gardening has become a popular gardening method. Enough with the intermediary of water and a place that is not too wide, how to grow simple hydroponics with used bottles will certainly not make people bothered.

By applying how to grow hydroponics with used bottles, you can also provide benefits to the environment. Here's an easy way to grow hydroponics with used bottles.

• Prepare used bottles

First, prepare used bottles. Then, cut the bottle in half. Place the cap of the bottle into the bottom of the bottle. The position of the bottle cap will appear upside down.

The top bottle will be a place for planting media while the bottom bottle will be a place for water that is nutritious or contains nutrients.

• Connect the two halves of the bottle

Connect the two halves of the bottle using a cloth. The cloth used can be a stove wick. If you don't have a stove wick, you can also use an unused sock or flannel cut to the size of the stove wick.

Make a hole in the bottle cap just enough for the cloth to pass through so the cloth can hang down to the bottom of the bottle. Please note, that the cloth serves to connect water nutrients with the planting medium.

• Filling with nutrient water

After all, systems can operate, then pour nutrient water at the bottom of the bottle before the limit touches the upside-down bottle cap. Nutrient water is highly nutritious water that contains minerals needed by plants for photosynthesis.

• Prepare the planting media

Prepare the planting media in an inverted bottle. Fill it with plant seeds or vegetables. Hydroponic growing media can be in the form of roasted husks, Rockwool, or cocopeat.

• Replace nutrient water regularly Nutrient

water will gradually shrink because it is used by plants. After the water runs out, replace it with new water. Also, place the planting media in an appropriate location depending on the need for the sun. Some plants need more sun, while others need less sun. Don't forget to pay attention to the plants and add compost to make the harvest faster.

Benefits of Hydroponic

Gardening and growing vegetables with the hydroponic method are indeed suitable for modern humans who live with all their limitations. The benefits that can be obtained from this method are also many. Here are some of them.

1. Hydroponic Gardening Saves Land

Growing vegetables or gardening with the hydroponic method does not need to worry about large areas of land. Even if you don't have a home page, this gardening technique can still be applied. This is because hydroponic gardening uses water culture or sand culture as a planting medium. You can also put it in the corner of the house.

2. Avoiding the Use of Pesticides

As is known, the cultivation of plants in a conventional way is very rare that does not use pesticides. However, by using the hydroponic method, plant owners can reduce the use of these pesticides.

3. Produce Good Quality Plants

Apart from being time-efficient, fruit and vegetable products produced from the hydroponic system will also grow more fertile so that the quality of the nutrients contained is also better maintained.

You also don't need to bother washing repeatedly because hydroponic vegetables must have been free from the soil so they are cleaner and more hygienic for consumption.

4. Plants Grow Faster

With a water irrigation system that directly distributes nutrients to plants, the growth process is faster than conventional media. Not only that, the shorter the duration from planting to harvesting, the profits obtained by cultivators will automatically increase sharply.

5. Greater

Hydroponic systems also produce harvests up to 75% larger than conventionally grown products. Not only rich in nutrients, but hydroponic vegetables are also healthier because they are free from chemicals that are often used to protect plants from pests.

6. Making the House More Beautiful

Gardening with the hydroponic method is also beneficial for the environment. Besides looking more beautiful, these vegetables can also produce oxygen. The house feels more beautiful and cool.

In its development, how to grow these simple hydroponics began to attract many people. Some of them are people who want to spend their time on useful things. In addition to providing benefits related to the supply of vegetables from their gardens, this activity also has other positive impacts such as making the house look fresher and more beautiful. However, there is one important thing to know, especially if you have a business in the hydroponics field. In farming, of course, some risks of loss occur, especially for business people. It could be a failure during the harvest season which is quite detrimental.

The losses experienced are sometimes not small and of course, there are other costs that need to be incurred. To overcome this, you certainly minimize the financial risk due to crop failure by having agricultural insurance. This insurance will cover all risks of losses experienced, especially in the agricultural sector.

Source : Hydroponic system design plans tower garden at home