Just Add Water: Try Hydroponics for a Low-maintenance Garden
Most potted plants show real fortitude around mid summer. They don't have much choice in the matter. While we're out tending our lawns or enjoying cook-outs, they wait patiently for us to return-and remember to water them! Too bad they can't just water themselves. In a sense, though, they can.
You may never have considered it before, but hydroponics is a low-maintenance alternative to traditional container gardening. Plants grown in well-tuned hydroponics systems never get too little or too much water. They never become overgrown with weeds, and they are less susceptible to soil-borne disease. And gardeners using hydroponics can grow more plants in smaller areas using less water than they would with traditional gardens.
How It Works
Plants grown hydroponically are fed breakfast in bed. No soil is used in hydroponics; instead, plants are supported in an inert medium and plant roots are continually bathed in a nutrient-rich solution. That means they can concentrate on growing rather than expending valuable energy looking for food.
Although hydroponics is often associated with large-scale, commercial greenhouses, hydroponics systems can be used very effectively on a smaller scale, outdoors. Want to grow fresh lettuce in the middle of summer? You can grow it hydroponically under the shade of a tree with no trouble. And, in full sun, peppers, tomatoes, basil, and other sun-lovers will also grow very well via hydroponics.
Kinds of Systems
If you've ever grown a philodendron or rooted an avocado in a jar of water, you've already experimented with passive hydroponics. With no moving parts, passive systems are great for beginning hydroponics gardeners because they are inexpensive, portable, and simple to set up.
Wick systems may not be the most effective hydroponics method, but they are inexpensive and low maintenance. Plants grown in wick systems are anchored in an inert growing medium such as expanded clay pellets or shredded coconut fiber. Because absorbent materials are used to naturally wick nutrients from solution to the plant roots, no pumps or machinery are necessary.
Active systems, on the other hand, employ pumps and other devices to deliver nutrient solutions to plant roots. Ebb and flow, aeroponic, and the drip method are some common active hydroponics systems.
Ebb and flow systems-sometimes called flood and drain systems-do just that. Plant roots are supported in a growing medium which is periodically flooded with nutrient solution. Once the solution has reached a set level, an overflow pipe drains the excess back into the main reservoir. As the cycles of flooding and draining are repeated, oxygen-rich air is regularly pushed to plant roots, increasing nutrient uptake and plant growth.
In some aeroponic systems, plants are suspended without the use of a growing medium and plant roots are sprayed directly with a fine nutrient- and oxygen-rich mist. Plants may also be grown in net cups with some inert growing medium for support. With this virtually unlimited access to oxygen, roots have maximum potential to absorb nutrients and plants can grow at a phenomenal rate. This method does require greater attention to detail. Delicate sprayer nozzles must be kept free of debris as they can clog easily.
With the drip method, a submersible pump is placed in the nutrient solution reservoir and individual supply lines drip solution to the roots of each plant.
Using Hydro Outdoors
No matter what method you choose, your plants will have access to a special nutrient solution all the time, and you need only make sure it is fresh and topped off. Depending on what you are growing, it's a good idea to change your nutrient solution once per week.
Finally, as long as you use an all-weather extension cord, it is safe to use hydroponics systems outdoors. Use PVC or a plastic protector to seal water out of connections between plugs and extension cords. Also, to compensate for the occasional heavy rain, it may be necessary to drill a small hole near the top of your nutrient reservoir to act as an overflow.
