Month: June 2021

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Tips on Growing in Deep Water Culture

When mastered, deep water culture (DWC) systems have the highest potential for water, nutrient and labour savings. Not to mention, if the right strain is selected for a DWC system, there is essentially no limit to the size of plant you might grow. Other benefits to DWC systems include a relaxed and automated feeding schedule, enhanced growth rates, simplistic scalability and clean, aromatic, sugar-coated flowers. While deep water-culture operations have amazing potential, the path to creating a reliable system is often challenging, as inputs like water temperature, soluble fertilizer, aeration and recirculation need to be set in place and managed at all times. For tips on growing a successful crop in deep water-culture, follow the passages below:

What is Deep Water Culture? 

Like most other hydroponic systems, deep water culture is the method of growing outside of mediums like soil; however, DWC takes the science of hydroponics a step further and submerges plants completely in aerated water, which affords plants the most oxygenated and nutrient-filled environment possible. DWC systems can be constructed in varying patterns, are highly scalable, and use nothing but water, nutrients and hydroponic medium to support plants during growth. While it is possible to construct your own DWC system, this process can be extremely complicated. So, if your experience in engineering hydroponic systems are limited, this job may be better left to the experts. You can find DWC systems to suit all kinds of growers, from novice to commercial. To browse GreenPlanet Wholesale’s selection of recirculating deep water culture systems, click here. 

Current Culture H2O Under Current System
Current Culture H2O Under Current System Evolution XL 13
Current Culture H2O Under Current System Double Barrel

The Benefits of DWC Systems 

Because the root-zone is surrounded by nutrient solution, there is no buffer-time between root and nutrient exchange. This leads plants to grow faster and more vigorously throughout periods of growth and bloom. Royal Queen Seeds, an international proponent of the growing potential of DWC systems, affirms this claim in the lines: 

Plants grown in DWC setups have easier access to oxygen and nutrients, which means they spend less energy searching for nutrients and developing roots. As a result, plants will reward you with fast vegetative growth and excellent yields. In a good DWC set up with the right nutrients and strain, cannabis can grow as much as 10cm in a single day!

(Royal Queen Seeds, 2018, para. 4)

Now that the method and potential benefits of growing in deep water-culture are clear, let’s look at some of the features of DWC that protect your crop from unwanted issues. 

Water Temperature

One of the most important features of a DWC system to manage is water temperature. Because the environment of an indoor garden is quite warm, usually sitting around 80-85 degrees Fahrenheit (26-29C), the water inside hydroponic reservoirs can begin to heat up as well. As the temperatures of the reservoir rise, say above 72F (22C), this can cause major issues for plants growing in DWC systems. For instance, in warm water, oxygen levels begin to plummet, creating an anaerobic environment, and leave plants exposed to issues like root-rot, pythium and unwanted bacteria cultures. To combat this issue, it is highly recommended to use fans, coils, insulation or chillers to cool your water source. GroWell, an online source of knowledge and growing equipment, has this to say on the importance of temperature in DWC systems: 

One of the best methods for preventing pythium from occurring in recirculating hydroponic systems is to maintain the optimum nutrient solution temperatures by insulating the reservoir and using a chiller. Most pythium species responsible for hydroponic crop damage are very active at a temperature range of 20-30C, so try and keep the solution at a cool 18-20C.

(GroWell, 2014, para. 21)

In short, for your best chance of fighting against root disease, keep water temperatures cool, provide your roots with vigorous amounts of oxygen, and if necessary, install external chillers to keep rising temperatures at bay.

Soluble Nutrient Systems 

The next feature to examine when managing a DWC system is nutrients.In short, not all types of nutrient systems are meant to be used in hydroponic gardens. Variants of fish fertilizers, for instance, would perform very poorly in an aerated, and constantly recirculating system like deep water culture. In a matter of days, if not hours, the enzymes, microbes and proteins found in fish hydrolysate would begin to bubble, foam, and gurgle, quickly becoming the perfect breeding ground for harmful bacteria and fungi. Instead of sticking to your favourite outdoor or organic fertilizer, try finding a soluble, highly concentrated and well-reviewed nutrient system that is specific for soilless mediums. To browse GreenPlanet’s selection of nutrient systems, click here. 

Aeration and Recirculation

Two features, aeration and re-circulation, are both fundamental aspects of a well-functioning deep water-culture system. Since plants in DWC systems are submerged in water and are outside of their “normal” environmental conditions, oxygen levels within the reservoir must remain high to both enhance the plant’s metabolism and simulate an oxygenated environment. Likewise, a recirculating system can provide plants with a steady stream of nutrients, fresh water and oxygen from connected buckets and water storage tanks. For the best results in a DWC system, make sure your equipment functioning as advertised, and change airstones, pumps and additional parts when needed. 

Check Your Water Pumps
Remember To Change Your Air Stones
Ensure Your Air Pump Is Running Smoothly.

Want to start growing in your own deep water-culture system? GreenPlanet is here to help! Discover which fertilizer, medium or method would work best for your garden. For all other questions, contact a member of the GreenPlanet sales team, or your local garden supply store for product information and purchasing inquiries. 

Works Cited

  • Royal Queen Seeds: Cannabis Blog. (2018). Get huge yields using deep water culture (DWC). Retrieved January 15th, 2020 from Royalqueenseeds.com
  • GroWell: UK. (2014). Got rotting roots? Pythium: An in-depth analysis. Retrieved January 15th, 2020 from Growell.co.uk. 

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Understanding Plant Nutrition and Factors That Influence Availability

Making sure you are grabbing the proper bottle of fertilizer for your crop is as important as other factors in a garden that influence a successful harvest. But even choosing a high-quality nutrient doesn’t necessarily automatically equal success. In order to produce a consistently healthy crop, gardeners must understand the connection between plant biology and the factors available which can influence a successful outcome. Understanding this connection, even at its most basic level, can help gardeners achieve faster periods of growth, and heavier, more quality-focused yields. Throughout this article, we will be examining the parts of plant food, as well as tools available to gardeners that ensure nutrient availability across periods of growth and bloom. 

What is N-P-K? 

N-P-K is an acronym for the most readily available macronutrients found in plant food. These important elements, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K), are the building blocks of plant nutrition and are an essential part of a plant’s diet throughout the periods of vegetative and flowering growth. Nitrogen, arguably the most important soluble macronutrient is responsible for creating the green parts in plant stems and leaf growth (Rienders, 2001, p. 108). Phosphorous and potassium, on the other hand, are utilized by the plant as energy, sugar, and essential oil carries, while also promoting plant disease and temperature hardiness, as well as early maturity and enhanced flavour and colour in flowering plants (Rienders, 2001, p. 108).

Nutrient Availability and pH

What’s even more important than understanding the parts of plant food, is realizing the potential these elements have under ideal conditions. The unit of measurement which directly affects the uptake of fertilizer in any hydroponic and soil-based system is the pH, or, the potential hydrogen of a given nutrient solution or substance. pH is the measurement of acidity or alkalinity in any given substance on a scale of 0-14, with 7 being neutral. In the field of gardening, however, pH is the main factor that dictates the uptake of nutrients in the root-zone; and so, depending on the pH of your plant’s medium and nutrient solution, your plants may uptake more or less of a specific element.  Author of The Growers Handbook, David Robinson, dives deeper into the subject of nutrient uptake, availability and pH, by stating: 

pH is an essential factor in the uptake of nutrients. While available nutrients remain fairly stable in regular soil, pH fluctuations in a hydroponic garden will dramatically affect whether nutrients are more or less available. Study the chart provided to understand how different nutrients are more or less available on different sides of the scale.

(Robinson, 2012, p. 14)

The pH Scale and Nutrient Uptake

The chart that Robinson mentions can be found below; this guide illustrates a list of available elements that have the potential for uptake at various pH levels. As you can see, for plants, the “sweet-spot” for nutrient uptake seems to fall between the ranges of 6.0 – 6.5. At this level, plants have the ability to uptake essential macro-elements such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium discussed in the former half of this article. Furthermore, at an adequate pH range, plants have access to abundant sources of micronutrients which help ward off common deficiencies and lead to the faster and healthier development of new growth. 

Adapted from www.plantsgalore.com

Tiers of Feeding: PPM

Another tool of measurement available to gardeners is PPM, or Parts Per Million, which measures the concentration of a nutrient solution (Robinson, 2012, p. 17). The affordances of this tool have led to some general conclusions about the tiers of feeding in the gardening community. For fruiting and flowering plants, for example, there is a general consensus regarding the scale at which plants in different stages of growth can be fed. Again, borrowing from The Growers Handbook, David Robinson illustrates this consensus in the lines: 

In most situations, plants do not require a PPM any higher than 1400. Often the same results or better can be achieved without exceeding 1000 PPM. It is very important to know the requirements of the particular plant that you are growing. Some plants are heavy feeders while others can only handle moderate food levels. The size of the plant also plays a role in the amount of food needed. Obviously larger plants can handle more food while smaller plants cannot..

(Robinson, 2012, p. 18) 

If you’re curious about acceptable tiers of feeding throughout the different stages of plant growth, consult the guide below for a general program (Robinson, 2012, p. 18). 

  • Cuttings – 300 PPM
  • Babies – 400-600 PPM
  • Vegetative 700-1000 PPM
  • Flowering 1000-1400 PPM 

Maximizing Nutrient Uptake: Connecting N-P-K, pH and PPM

To maximize the rate at which your plant’s uptake available nutrients, combine the knowledge of this article in your daily gardening practices. First, make sure you’re using a nutrient system with a well-rounded N-P-K ratio. Second, measure and buffer the pH of your nutrient solution to maintain an acceptable range; as stated above, the most common range for steady nutrient uptake is between 6.0 – 6.5. Lastly, utilize available testing equipment to measure the inputs of your garden. PPM is one among many ways of testing the content of your nutrient solution, and is, as Robinson states, “your eyes when it comes to mixing a nutrient solution” (2012, p .19). 

Cover Your Bases 

To ensure a clean, quality-focused crop, cover your bases with a GreenPlanet Nutrients feed program. To learn more about the base nutrient systems offered by GreenPlanet Nutrients, read the blog titled: Understanding the Parts of GreenPlanet Nutrients Base Fertilizer Programs. For all other inquires, contact a member of the GreenPlanet sales team, or your local garden supply store for product information and purchasing inquiries. 

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