Soils & Medium
Using Perlite in the hydroponic Culture
There are many different growing and propagating mediums used in hydroponic culture, and everyone has their personal favorites for a myriad of reasons. Rockwood traditionally has been a popular choice for a growing medium, but recently, perlite has been receiving more and more attention.
Perlite is very versatile and has been used successfully in nearly every horticultural application imaginable, from landscaping and stadium turf to greenhouses. In hydroponic gardening, perlite has shown great promise. It has produced crops that are 7% healthier and more abundant than hydroponic goods grown in other mediums.
One reason perlite works so well in hydroponics is because it is ideal of retaining moisture. Because hydroponic growers must supply their plants will all of the nutrients soil would normally provide via their water supply, maintaining the proper levels of moisture is the absolute key factor in the success of hydroponic plants. Perlite has a strong system of capillaries that attract water at the same rate that water is removed by plants.
Because the water attraction and removal rate is the same, the guesswork is taken out of maintaining the correct moisture level in plants. Under watering and over watering are both consistent problems that face hydroponic growers, and perlite effectively solves this problem. Any excess water added by the grower simply stays in the reservoir, and the grower can easily determine if they have under watered their plants if the reservoir begins to run dry. In this way, perlite helps cut down on wasted crops, as it minimizes the chance of growing sickly plants. Another attraction of perlite to the hydroponic culture is that is extremely physically stable. While experimenting with growing hydroponic tomatoes, gardeners discovered that perlite growth mediums can be reused year after year. Because effective hydroponic growth medium can be expensive, and in some cases, even cost prohibitive, the ability to use perlite for more than once growth cycle is extremely significant. It can make hydroponic growing an option for people whom previously could not afford it. Perlite growth medium is an extremely forgiving substance with which to work and very easy to manage. One complication that often faces hydroponic growers working in greenhouse environments is correctly grading the floor for optimum plant growth. With perlite, this floor grading becomes unnecessary. Perlite will take root and grow with any floor grading. These benefits of perlite mean it is fast replacing rockwood as the growth medium of choice for hydroponic growers. One common criticism of hydroponic gardening is that the nutrient solutions and growth mediums are very expensive; making hydroponics an impossible solution for many of the people it is touted to help – people who live in impoverished areas without viable soil in which to grow food. The ability to use perlite for more than one growth seasons, coupled with perlite’s efficient delivery of water to plants goes a long way to solving this problem. Perlite’s effective use of water also helps end the waste associated with damaged crops and unused water. In this way, perlite makes the already environmentally friendly growth technique of hydroponic growing even more environmentally sound. Perlite is easy to use for small scale or hobbyist hydroponic gardeners, and because it is so forgiving and easy to handle, it is a great growth medium for beginning hydroponic growers. It is also just as effective and useful growth medium for hydroponic growers who are producing plants for commercial sale. With its ease of use and wide array of applications, experts expect perlite to become the hydroponic medium of choice in the near future.
Perlite is very versatile and has been used successfully in nearly every horticultural application imaginable, from landscaping and stadium turf to greenhouses. In hydroponic gardening, perlite has shown great promise. It has produced crops that are 7% healthier and more abundant than hydroponic goods grown in other mediums.
One reason perlite works so well in hydroponics is because it is ideal of retaining moisture. Because hydroponic growers must supply their plants will all of the nutrients soil would normally provide via their water supply, maintaining the proper levels of moisture is the absolute key factor in the success of hydroponic plants. Perlite has a strong system of capillaries that attract water at the same rate that water is removed by plants.
Because the water attraction and removal rate is the same, the guesswork is taken out of maintaining the correct moisture level in plants. Under watering and over watering are both consistent problems that face hydroponic growers, and perlite effectively solves this problem. Any excess water added by the grower simply stays in the reservoir, and the grower can easily determine if they have under watered their plants if the reservoir begins to run dry. In this way, perlite helps cut down on wasted crops, as it minimizes the chance of growing sickly plants. Another attraction of perlite to the hydroponic culture is that is extremely physically stable. While experimenting with growing hydroponic tomatoes, gardeners discovered that perlite growth mediums can be reused year after year. Because effective hydroponic growth medium can be expensive, and in some cases, even cost prohibitive, the ability to use perlite for more than once growth cycle is extremely significant. It can make hydroponic growing an option for people whom previously could not afford it. Perlite growth medium is an extremely forgiving substance with which to work and very easy to manage. One complication that often faces hydroponic growers working in greenhouse environments is correctly grading the floor for optimum plant growth. With perlite, this floor grading becomes unnecessary. Perlite will take root and grow with any floor grading. These benefits of perlite mean it is fast replacing rockwood as the growth medium of choice for hydroponic growers. One common criticism of hydroponic gardening is that the nutrient solutions and growth mediums are very expensive; making hydroponics an impossible solution for many of the people it is touted to help – people who live in impoverished areas without viable soil in which to grow food. The ability to use perlite for more than one growth seasons, coupled with perlite’s efficient delivery of water to plants goes a long way to solving this problem. Perlite’s effective use of water also helps end the waste associated with damaged crops and unused water. In this way, perlite makes the already environmentally friendly growth technique of hydroponic growing even more environmentally sound. Perlite is easy to use for small scale or hobbyist hydroponic gardeners, and because it is so forgiving and easy to handle, it is a great growth medium for beginning hydroponic growers. It is also just as effective and useful growth medium for hydroponic growers who are producing plants for commercial sale. With its ease of use and wide array of applications, experts expect perlite to become the hydroponic medium of choice in the near future.
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Paul Lavakis has been an avid gardener and since discovering Hydroponics has been a experimenting and evaluating the best ways to grow almost any fruit or vegetable without soil For More Informations Please Click here http://www.AmazingHydroponicSecrets.com
