Some of the most basic Tips on Increasing Your Crop Yield With Hydroponic Farming

 

Tips to Increasing Your Crop Yield With Hydroponic Farming

If you follow these tips perfectly then you will get a good harvest.

If you’re wondering how you can increase your crop yield with hydroponic farming, then there are some things that you need to keep in mind as you move forward.

First of all, it is important for everyone who wants to improve their production capacity and volume to understand the basic principles of how a plant grows and what impact hydroponic farming has on the process.

The Basics of Plant Growth

If plant growth is the first thing you want to focus on, it’s important to have some basic knowledge of how plants grow. When grown in soil, they will initially receive nutrients from their roots with water and sunlight providing most of the activation energy needed for the chemical reactions that form into sugars. Although plants can produce sugars using other sources of energy, obtaining nutrients from the soil is a very effective method because it reduces the amount of time and energy needed to form those sugars into carbohydrates that are then used as building blocks for new cells, which in turn creates the plant’s yield.

As time goes on, the soil becomes depleted of certain nutrients, decreasing the plant’s growth. You can combat this by using fertilizer to replace the minerals and chemicals lost to keep the plant growing. Although this method works great for all kinds of plants and flowers, hydroponic farming has a different approach.

Different Kinds of Hydroponic Farming

Hydroponics is all about growing plants without the use of soil. Instead, it uses either air or water to provide nutrients absorbed by the plant’s root system. There are three kinds of hydroponic farming methods that you can choose from when applying them to your crops, according to the people at UK-based hydroponics supplier Pro grow:

• NFT Method: Used primarily with plants that have fibrous root systems, this kind of hydroponic farming involves growing the roots in a channel filled with nutrient solution. The plant’s stem is then hung over the top to receive light from above. Although this method doesn’t require you to control the pH value of your crop, it does need regular cleaning to avoid dirt and debris from accumulating in the channels.
• Deep Flow Method: This method is best if you want to grow tall flowering crops like tomatoes or cucumbers because it allows the roots to be suspended directly into a reservoir of nutrient solution that’s continuously pumped through them. It’s important for this plant type because the root system must constantly be in the water and be exposed to it for your tomato or cucumber plants to grow. This is the kind of hydroponic farming that uses a timer.
• Aeroponics Method: This method is mainly used for crops with less-developed root systems such as leafy greens like spinach, lettuce, and basil by growing them in trays with individual cells filled with nutrient solution. The roots are kept in the air while water is constantly sprayed onto them through tiny nozzles – once again, this method requires you to use a timer to regulate the number of times it should be sprayed.

Tips on Increasing Yield

Now that you know the basics of plant growth, you can already see the difference in approach between traditional soil-based farming and hydroponic farming. To get bigger crops with a better yield, however, there are some things that you must keep in mind when applying this new method to your crops:

• Choose Your Crops Wisely: Just because you’re using hydroponics doesn’t mean you can grow any plant type. Keep in mind that your plants must have well-developed root systems, or they won’t be able to absorb the nutrients properly. For the best results, choose plants like tomatoes, cucumbers (with fibrous roots), leafy greens (which use less developed roots), and flowering plants with more developed roots.
• Provide Enough Light: Your crops can’t grow without light. They use the energy from light to produce sugars and other organic compounds, which are then used as building blocks for new cells within the plant. Although there is no set amount of time for how long your crop should receive light, it’s best to pay attention to the growth rate and adjust it to keep up. Remember: they can grow without sunlight, but the process will be slower.
• Find the Right Temperature: The temperature is also important for your crops when using hydroponic farming because different plants have different ideal temperatures that work best for them. Although you will most likely not need to adjust this value as much as the light cycle, it’s still something to keep in mind for your plants.