Hydroponics Department Technological Studies High Point Regional High School

1. Hydroponics
Department Technological Studies
High Point Regional High School

2. What is Hydroponics
• Hydroponics comes from the Latin
language and it means working water.
• "hydro" means "water"
• "ponos" means "labor".
Soil less growing!

3. Plant Needs
What is needed for a plant to survive?
• Water
• Sunlight
• Air
• Nutrients (usually soil)
• Anchorage (root system)

4. Soil Less Growing?
What is used as a growing media is soil isn’t
present?
- Gravel -Rockwool
- Sand -Styrofoam
- Vermiculite - Anything Inert!

5. History
The process of hydroponics growing in our
oceans goes back to about the time the earth
was created. Hydroponic growing preceded
soil growing.

6. History
• One of the 7 wonders of the ancient world.
• Hanging gardens of Babylon, somewhere in
(Iraq)
The gardens were built in 604-562 BC by
Nebuchadnezzar II for his wife who grew
up in the mountains.
http://www.moorsmagazine.com/images/Hanging-Gardens-of-Babylon.jpg

7. History
Floating gardens of the Aztecs of Mexico
A nomadic tribe, Roughly treated by their more
powerful neighbors, denied any arable land, the
Aztecs survived by exercising remarkable powers
of invention. Since they had no land on which to
grow crops, they determined to manufacture it
from the materials at hand

8. History
• Egyptian hieroglyphic records date back several
hundred years B.C. describe the growing of plants
in water."
Hydroponics is hardly a new method of growing
plants. However, giant strides have been made
over the years in this innovative area of
agriculture.

9. Why?????
Q. Why have scientists and horticulturists
experimented with different methods of
hydroponics?
A. It is a simple fact that some people cannot
grow in the soil in their area (if there is even
any soil at all).

10. Advantages
Faster Growth- Hydroponics works by
automatically getting the complete nutrient
mixture and water to the roots without drowning
the plant. Plants get everything they need all the
time, so they do not waste growing a lot of roots
or searching for nutrients.

11. Advantages
No Weeds or Pests- Gardening without soil
eliminates the weeds do you do not need weed
sprays. Also, because there are no weeds, there
will be no backache from a hoe or rototiller. Since
most pests live and breed in the soil, you do not
need to use pesticides or other toxic chemicals.

12. Advantages
Great Plant Quality and Taste- Since the
plants get everything it needs, all the time, it
will reward you with great taste, strong and
fast growth, and overall plant quality.

13. Advantages
Grow in Any Condition- Systems may be
constructed and used in any location from
space to under water exploration.
Smaller Growing Area- This need smaller
area to grow.

14. Disadvantages
• Cost of initial investment on hydroponic systems is high.
• Hydroponic production is management, capital and labor intensive.
• A high level of expertise is required.
• Daily attention is necessary.
• Specially formulated, soluble nutrients must always be used.
• Pests and diseases remain a big risk.
• Some water born diseases can spread rapidly in recirculation system.

15. Passive vs Active
• Passive systems (no moving parts) are great for
beginning hydroponics gardeners because they are
inexpensive, portable, and simple to set up.
• Active systems employ pumps and other devices
to deliver nutrient solutions to plant roots.

16. Plant Tissue Culturing Process
Capillary System (passive)
The capillary or wick system do not use pumps or timers.
Water and nutrients are drawn up to the roots by capillary
action. These systems may be important when designing
a system to operate in a space station where gravity is
nonexistent.

17. Plant Tissue Culturing Process
Flood and Drain System (active)
Most versatile. Each time the water floods from the lower
reservoir into the upper growing tray, the roots are bathed
in the fresh nutrients. When the nutrient drains back to the
reservoir, fresh air is drawn through the root system
refreshing oxygen to the roots.

18. Plant Tissue Culturing Process
Nutrient Film Technique (NFT)
The NFT systems provide a constant film of water and
nutrients along the bottom of a channel. In effect, part of
the roots grow down in the water/ nutrients and parts of
the roots above the water line getting fresh air and
oxygen

19. Lighting
Lightening determines what you can grow. Some plants such as vegetable
require direct sunlight. Plants such as violets need indirect sunlight.
High Intensity Discharge (HID)
Most cost effective to operate and have an extremely long life.
-High Pressure Sodium Provides more of the red/orange spectrum,
great for flowering and fruiting.
-Metal Halide Provides more blue/green spectrum for vegetative
growth
Fluorescent very inefficient and must be kept close to the plants.

20. Thank You