Growing hydroponically drastically reduces the usage of various resources necessary for an indoor grow.  Water is one of them.  The days of run-to-waste or open irrigation have almost come to an end.  Pure water, which is essential in a hydroponic system, is becoming more and more scarce.   It is important for people to re-circulate their water and nutrients to limit the water usage.  When cultivating in your hydroponic grow room you can reduce water consumption up to 80% by using a water recirculation system.  A recirculation system will also allow you to save money on all of the nutrients and additives that make up the nutrient solution.  Water is the key to any hydroponic system.

It is very important to know what is in your water.  If you don’t know what is in your source water, and if the performance of your plants suffers, you will not know where to start to diagnose the problem at hand.  It is important to have a low EC water source so that the water can dissolve the required nutrients and so you wont have a build-up of nutrients.  When dealing with a closed or recirculation system it is important to top off your reservoirs to make sure that the nutrient solution is of the right concentration.  Plants will take up the water in the solution quicker than the nutrients in the solution. When deciding on reservoirs for your hydroponic grow room bigger is better.  This is because the nutrients will stay in balance longer, larger volumes of water helps stabilize temperature, and also enables the grower to make more subtle adjustments to avoid any spikes in EC or pH.

Article by, Brett McCormick, co-founder of Good Green Builders.  Good Green Builders is a grow room contractor in Oakland, Ca.  For a free consultation call today, 415-246-8055.

Source: urbangardenmagazine.com