Hydroponics is the method of producing food without using soil. You should know what is required to start an hydroponic system. The following are the things you should do to start an hydroponic system.
You should first get a water reservoir for the hydroponic system. The nutrients which the plants will require for their growth will as well be contained in the reservoir. If you have enough money, you can buy a big and expensive variant, but if you don’t have enough money, go for a small one. The reservoir needs to have a lid. The lid plays a role of preventing evaporation of water which may lead to an imbalance. This imbalance will affect the general growth of the plants planted in the hydroponic system. You should also avoid the reservoirs made from metals because they may react with water and the chemicals to form undesired solutions.
Another thing you need to have is the water pump. You will require to have reliable water pumps which will play an important role in ensuring that all your plants get supplied with sufficient water and nutrients. The water pumps are classified into non-submersible and submersible and you can choose ones that suite your purpose. While submersible water pumps need to be installed within the solution containing nutrients, non-submersible water pumps can only be used outside the nutrient solutions. You also need to look at the output of the pipes in terms of gallons per hour, because there are other classifications based on this. If the setup is small, you don’t need an expensive water pump because a small and cheaper one will still serve the purpose. A timer is required to regulated a lot of functions within the hydroponic system which are very essential. The timer plays a major role in regulating essential functions such as ventilation, watering, and even lighting. You can choose an advanced timer or analogous and simple timer depending on your budget.
Finally, you should get grow lights for your system to enhance growth of the plants. You may decide to use fluorescent lights in place of natural light, but the spectrums of light they produce cannot be sufficient for the growth of your plants. You can get metal halide lights because they mimic natural light to the closest extent. This type of lights produce high spectrums of blue light, which is known to support a plant’s vegetative growth. There are high pressure sodium lights which you can also consider installing in your hydroponic system, because they are durable and consume less energy. You should, however, know that these lights produce a spectrum that is narrower compared to metal halide lights. Since there is no soil required in hydroponics, you need to get a growth medium for your plants. Whereas the medium needs to provide anchorage, it should also be able to allow for drainage and air exchange.