Yes, permanently submerging roots in water is a bad thing for all but aquatic plants. But, it turns out that if you bubble enough air into the water and keep it at the right temperature, roots will thrive. Add some mineral-based nutrients and you have a powerhouse hydroponic growing method!

Only bare roots should be submersed, up to the base of the rooted stalk. Do not allow the stem to become submerged.

Plants grow well only within a limited temperature range. Temperatures that are too high or too low will result in abnormal development and reduced production.

Warm-season vegetables (tomatoes, peppers) and most flowers grow best between 60° and 75° or 80° F.

Cool-season vegetables such as lettuce and spinach should be grown between 50° and 70° F. Herbs are a bit more flexible but prefer temperatures in the 60 to 70-degree range. If the temperature is too hot the plant will “bolt” or start to produce seed because it is experiencing stress.

Direct sunlight is approximately 32,000 to 100,000 lux (a standard unit to measure the amount of light in a specific area). Full-sun plants usually need at least 25,000 to 50,000 lux to do well, with increased productivity occurring when light levels are near full sunlight. All vegetable plants and many flowers require at least 8 to 10 hours of sunlight (or equivalent amount of light) each day to produce well.

A greenhouse care keeper’s goal is to keep dew point and the temperature of plants from overlapping. In greenhouses, which tend to have both warm temperatures and lots of humidity generated, dew point should never be reached if temperature and humidity levels are monitored.

One way to manage temperature and humidity is to have good air flow. Nearly all greenhouses have some kind of ventilation system that uses fans to move air around the greenhouse. The moving air helps to keep the temperature uniform throughout the greenhouse, helps to cause evaporation of water, and ensures that plants have a fresh supply of carbon dioxide near their leaves.

Yes, root diseases are one of the major problems that you may face. If you see the roots start to turn dark brown/black. Warm water, high nutrient strengths and dirty growing conditions are the culprits.

Mineral based nutrients are used here. There are some commercial products containing a well-balanced mineral ratios designed for hydroponic applications which will be used in the system.

Similarly to upwards leaf curling, the plant is trying to retain moisture by reducing its leaf surface area. A downward curl would indicate that your nutrient solution is too strong. To remedy this problem, reduce feed strength, move your light up and make sure oscillating fans are not blowing too heavily on the leaves.

Leaves curl up at the margin and tip in an attempt to retain water. If they are curling up, this would indicate slight environmental problem: either your light is a little too close to the plant, or your oscillating fans are drawing too much moisture from the leaves. To remedy this problem, move your light up and make sure oscillating fans are not blowing too heavily on the leaves.

This would be quite normal in a high light situation. The large leaves at the bottom of the plant will lose color as they get old and younger leaves nearer the light will take over as the main leaf engines of the plant.

There are different types of nutrients in the nutrient solution, and plants absorb the nutrients differently. It can happen that certain nutrients is still in high number even though total nutrient concentration is low. So, if you add new nutrients, toxicity of the previously existing nutrient may occur. So, it is best to replace the whole solution and add newly prepared solution.

A well-hydrated plant typically grows incredibly fast and growers should adapt by shortening vegetative times by around 15-25%.

While most commonly used plants are lettuce and other leafy greens, you can grow a wide variety of crops. Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and green beans are a few that can be grown quite successfully. However, in order to grow fruiting crops in a hydroponics system, you will need to change several aspects of the system to make it suitable for such plants.

Plants need water to survive. But what happens to that water once you pour it at the base of a plant? The roots absorb the water, which then moves throughout the plant’s tissue. It eventually evaporates through the leaves and into the air. This process is known as “transpiration,” and it serves to cool a plant down so it doesn’t overheat. Transpiration also helps plants to draw nutrients from the soil, which is important for photosynthesis. (Think “sweating” for plants!)

Relative humidity affects the speed of transpiration. The higher the relative humidity, the slower the speed of transpiration, and vice versa. Any dramatic change to the speed of transpiration can damage a plant’s tissue. This is why it is important to keep conditions in your greenhouse stable over time.