Commercial Hydroponic Nutrients

Cultured Solutions A&B Dutch Style Grow & Bloom Formulas

Commercial hydroponic nutrients have a lot riding on them. Large scale cultivators growing in water culture, rockwool, coco or peat mixes cannot afford to gamble or guess when it comes to crop fertility. Specialty fertilizer blends used in these types of applications must meet some very important criteria to be suited for commercial hydroponic or soilless applications. Let’s review this essential commercial hydroponics nutrients criteria to see how different hydroponic fertilizers might measure up, including of course, Cultured Solutions A&B Dutch Style Grow & Bloom Formulas.

Consistent Formulation & Manufacturing Standards

For optimal growth and flowering, the ratios and concentrations of fertilizer elements supplied in nutrient solutions change weekly in a comprehensive crop feeding program. If crop nutrients differ even slightly from batch to batch, it can have a pretty deep impact on how crops may perform. A small difference at the fertilizer concentrate level can make for big differences in the working solution when diluted and applied as directed. 

Current Culture H2O has been working with thousands of serious growers for over 15 years. In doing so, considerable time has been spent addressing the issue of inconsistency in formulations. This was common with a range of clients working with popular nutrient manufacturers. A big part of the inspiration that evolved into the formulation, development and manufacturing of Cultured Solutions A&B nutrients was that our clients were experiencing a lack of consistency in the nutrients they were using. The crops they grow count on consistent and known fertility values–and Cultured Solutions deliver, with each and every batch. COAs and SDS are available upon request.

Purpose Sourced Materials

When it comes to nutrients, a small amount of something can make a huge difference.  Of course this refers to what’s IN a formula, however, of equal significance can be what is NOT in the formula.

Field grade fertilizers are not a good source material for developing, formulating and manufacturing hydroponic nutrients.  Common fertilizers like Ammonium Nitrate are an inexpensive and a concentrated source of nitrogen widely used by fertilizer makers.  However, that doesn’t mean nutrients for high value crops should be made with them. Besides lending to elongated and soft growth that is prone to infections and infestations, Ammonium Nitrate concentrations impart harsh tastes and a “dirty ash” in medicinal crops.  Additionally, cannabis flowers grown with ammonium nitrate fertilizers tend to burn and taste “hot”.

Field grade fertilizers like ammonium nitrate and di-ammonium phosphate also tend to have a higher Salt Index ranking, meaning there’s more stuff in the source material that is unwanted.  For example, in raising your EC or PPM value, you are getting more impurities (including heavy metals) that your plants cannot use and that can cause harm to plant health and crop quality. 

Nutrients components sourced with a low Salt Index may be delivering more fertility on a PPM to PPM basis versus those with a higher Salt Index rating; so you can run at lower concentrations while often producing heavier yields and better quality. 

Water culture growing methods like Under Current RDWC systems are very sensitive to nutrient levels including impurities–just one more of the inspirations and reasons for the development and availability of Cultured Solutions A&B Grow and Bloom Nutrients. 

Nutrient Ratios for the Plants You Grow

Amazingly, some of the hydroponic nutrients originally formulated decades ago and still in popular use were not intended for growing particular crop types, rather, as general formulations that could be used with some level of success when amended with additional additives like Epsom Salts. 

Nutrients not formulated for your crop type are a compromise, plain and simple. Just like a hard working athlete, the plant type you grow needs the right spectrum of elements to achieve fast growth rates and maximum gains.

CCH2O has conducted exhaustive research and worked with leading world growers in developing Cultured Solutions A&B base nutrient formulations to ensure that your genetics are supported with the right fertility diet for best results.

Additionally, when using multiple fertilizer concentrate components that were not formulated for a particular crop type (adopted feeding programs) it is not uncommon to run out of one part of the base nutrients while still having abundances of other(s).  This can create supply headaches; time better spent focusing on high value crops. Cultured Solutions A&B Grow and Bloom nutrients are used in equal amounts at varying concentrations of effectiveness AND ease of use. Cultured Solutions Bud Booster additives (Early, Mid and Late) can help to tailor the feeding program further for maximum results while keeping crop feeding cost effective and easy.

Free of Dyes & Harmful Preservatives

Just like people, plants are what they eat. Some manufacturers add bright dyes to their formulations and may also add preservatives–substances that you will not find in Cultured Solutions.  That’s because our client base, especially those growing for large scale commercial botanical extractions, demanded nutrients to be free of harmful substances that can be taken up by plants and transferred into subsequent plant derived products. After mixing up a reservoir of Cultured Solutions you will see the difference is crystal clear versus common fertilizers. If running injectors you won’t need to worry about residues and biofilms plugging up or interfering with output ratios because there are no sticky organic residues to be found in Cultured Solutions, guaranteed.

Stability in Nutrient Solutions and the Root Zone

Nutrient solutions not developed or made for growing with water culture methods have a tendency to create pH and EC swings in the reservoir and root zone, creating a wild ride for crop fertility levels.  Nutrient solutions formulated specifically for water culture use only carefully sourced elemental components and in the right ratios to help ensure a stable pH and EC.  Nutrient solutions formulated with significant Ammonium or Urea fertilizer sources will have instability lending to both management and cropping headaches. Cultured Solutions A&B Grow and Bloom nutrients create the ideal balance of cations to anions for a stable pH and steady EC levels for unparalleled nutrient absorption rates.

Effective in All Garden Types

Regardless of your growing style, you will find Cultured Solutions A&B Grow and Bloom nutrients to be an excellent fit. If you start your plants in rockwool or aeroponics then switch to coco, rockwool or recirculating water culture crop development won’t skip a beat. 

That’s because CS nutrients adhere to the list of commercial hydroponic nutrients criteria we have outlined and discussed above:

-consistent formulation & manufacturing standards

-purpose sourced materials

-nutrient ratios for the plants you grow

-free of dyes and harmful preservatives

-stability in nutrient solutions and the root zone.

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Chilling Hydroponic Systems

Chilling hydroponic systems with hydroponic chillers may be necessary when crops are grown in warmer environments, especially under intense grow lighting or in greenhouses with full sun.  There is often a strong and direct relationship plant yields and crop quality share with lighting levels.  Typically, for light loving plants the more they get, the more they grow–always to a point, of course. However, the trade off is that roots live in a different world; in nature the root environment is usually around ten degrees Fahrenheit cooler than the aerial portion of the plants.  Add to that the fact that temperatures in the root zone are typically very stable and slow to change in natural soil settings.

In hydroponic grow rooms and set ups typical commonly utilized for indoor farming, there is little that separates the plant roots with the aerial environment–so roots can heat past optimal, especially under long days when there may not be enough canopy up top to adequately shade the hydroponic root zone from intense lighting (solar radiation).

For most commonly grown warm loving hydroponic crops, the upper portions of the plant thrive in a temperature range of 75 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit while the roots, as we mentioned earlier, prefer it cooler–with 65 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit being considered optimal by most growers in most situations.

Additionally, water can hold significantly more oxygen at lower temperatures–overheated nutrient solutions will have a very limited capacity to supply hydroponic crops with healthy dissolved oxygen (DO) levels.

How to Keep Cool

There are a number of methods and management techniques that can be practiced for chilling hydroponic systems.

The first place to start is managing the existing system and components to reduce nutrient solution temperatures. If that isn’t enough for your particular set up to keep temperatures optimal in the rootzone, we’ll talk more in depth about actively chilling hydroponic systems (spot chillers versus closed loop chilling systems).

Light Sources

The sun or high intensity grow lighting sources trained on an object for prolonged periods will tend to heat it up.  The mods in your RDWC system are no exception. Once plants have developed enough canopy to effectively shade the modules in your system supporting the rootzone nutrient solution temperatures may be closer to optimal or easy to manage.  Ramping up your light intensity accordingly is one way to help keep things cool; especially if operating HID lighting or growing under full sun.

Insulate Roots

Roots in natural setting are protected by a large volume of soil which helps to buffer temperatures. Keeping mods directly off of warmer surfaces, like grow room floors receiving a lot of intense lighting from above, can make a difference in how much heat is absorbed. Good news for growers with newer Under Current RDWC mods is that there is a gap between the bottom of the nutrient solution in the modules and where the module is making contact with the floor–this can help a lot. Parkas may also be used (reflective insulative wrap) to cover mods and additionally, the joints connecting mods in the system can also be wrapped with reflective insulation.

External Water & Air Pumps

Under Current and CCH2O aeroponic systems (HPAC, high-pressure aeroponic cloners) are supplied with external pumps for nutrient solution or misting.  This helps cut down on adding heat to the nutrient solution. Air Pumps or Regenerative Blowers used for RDWC aeration are best installed outside of the grow room to reduce the amount of heat that may be added to the nutrient solution when providing mechanical aeration–don’ worry, air can travel long distances in tubing without any loss.

Still Need More Cooling?

Doing any or all of the above will help add efficiency to your growing operation and promote healthier crops too.  However, if that’s not enough to keep temperatures in the rootzone at optimal you are likely going to want to install a gas-charged water chiller.

There are two basic approaches to learn more about chilling hydroponic systems, and that’s Spot Chilling or Utilizing a Cold Water Loop.

Spot Chilling

If you run a single system, this is usually the way to go. Spot chilling can also be installed and applied to multiple systems–while convenient to set up, it’s not necessarily the most efficient approach for long term cost when operating multiple RDWC systems.

When spot chilling to keep nutrient solution temperatures optimal a single water chiller is sized up based on system volume in gallons with consideration to what kind of temperature differential needs to be created.  The chiller may run directly in line with the return or delivery end of the nutrient solution manifold, however, this may restrict flow rates. Typically a small mag-drive pump is placed in the EpiCentre or reservoir and it flows to and back from the gas charged water chiller or heat exchanger.

TIP: By chilling the root system, the upper portion of the plants can tolerate a little more heat, providing savings in cooling power. It’s all about thermodynamics–just like keeping your feet in a cool tub of water on a hot day helps keep your core temperature down, even if the majority of your body isn’t in the cool water.

Above: a common water chiller for spot chilling hydroponic systems.

Cold Water Loop

Definitely the ticket for chilling hydroponic systems efficiently and effectively; especially in multiples. In this method, a cooling reservoir acts as a heart to distribute chilled water to multiple cooling coils or heat exchangers in the various systems within a facility. A properly sized chiller keeps the central cooling reservoir nice and chilly—a high level of insulation here is recommended for good efficiency.

A central pipe(s) flows from the cooling reservoirs around each of the EpiCenters or reservoirs in the set up for use in chilling hydroponic systems. At each EpiCenter, reservoir or even module there is a cooling coil heat exchanger (stainless steel or titanium) in the system. Each cooling coil or group of cooling coils has a connection with a solenoid valve to the supply and return lines from the main cooling reservoir.  If optimal temperatures are exceeded in the system, the solenoid valve opens up the flow of very cold water and circulates it through the coil(s) in the system.  When optimal temperatures are reached, the solenoid shuts the cold water flow to the coil.

In this manner, one central cooling reservoir can keep multiple systems at the optimal root zone temperatures without the purchase, installation and operating cost associated with having a separate chiller for each system in the facility.

Contact sales@cch2o.com for optimal sizing recommendations and a quotation based on your specific needs when it comes to chilling hydroponic systems.

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RDWC Aeration

Aerating Hydro Systems & Increasing Dissolved Oxygen

One of the key factors to the  supercharged plant development observed in active water culture systems is optimal RDWC aeration in the rhizosphere. Recirculating Deep Water Culture systems that are designed and assembled for sustaining higher DO (dissolved oxygen) levels in the rootzone can take crops to next level growth rates, plant health and yields; while using a fraction of the water and nutrients versus conventional growing methods or even when compare to static hydro systems.

How RDWC Aeration Decreases Fertilizer Use

Let’s face it.  Growers want to use less fertilizer to reduce operating expenses and improve sustainability. Of further benefit is that plants that are amped on oxygen while using less fertilizer tend to be healthier and yield better tasting and smelling flowers and fruits–ie people prefer to experience the plant genetics rather than nutrients in the final harvest.

When aeration levels, dissolved oxygen and nutrient solution flow rates are in harmony for the hydroponic system, plants become supercharged and actually perform better with reduced fertilizer levels–requiring only 25 to 50%  of the EC or PPM in nutrient values versus conventional crop feeding.  This isn’t to say that the plants are not taking in as many nutrients.  In fact, they are using the fertilizers added more efficiently when the root zone is optimized with RDWC aeration, elevated DO levels and good flow rates.

For contrast, in conventional hydroponic or water culture systems where roots don’t have access to good oxygen levels more fertilizer is needed to achieve adequate plant nutrition.  It’s kind of like turning up the radio louder when the signal  reception is poor.

Methods for Improving RDWC Aeration & Elevating DO Levels in Systems

Air Diffusion

Almost every grower is aware of the benefits of “bubbling” hydroponic nutrient solution with air pumps, regenerative blowers or venturi valves or injectors. Current Culture H2O has performed testing and trials in this area for many years and developed an affordable and effective way to control and measure the level of air delivered to your aeration system via air pumps called an AIR FLOW REGULATOR.  The device measures aeration levels in Inches of Water Column. A value of 25-35 IWC Inches of Water Column creates the right balance of aeration, putting crop roots in the powerband of nutrient absorption rates using lower fertilizer levels.

Nutrient Solution Flow & Circulation

Bruce Lee understood the power of water. Really, and to quote:

“… be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”

A nutrient solution can do more than just supply fertilizer to the roots.  A well-designed RDWC or Aeroponics system can stimulate roots with flow and movement, massaging oxygen and essential nutrients through all parts of the roots to potentiate higher absorption rates and keep root membranes healthy and fresh.

Additionally, the movement and falling water of active nutrient solution circulation draws air into the system and delivers higher DO rates to roots.  Naturally, having a well-stirred nutrient solution also keeps TDS and pH homogenous, top to bottom in the system and roots therein.

More Contact Surface Area

The greater the surface area that comes into contact with roots containing moisture, oxygen, and nutrients, the greater the potential rate of absorption is for water, minerals, and oxygen to fuel crop development. RDWC systems tend to use a good depth of solution, so there is lots of surface area to make contact with lots of roots on a per plant basis. Aeroponics affords astounding surface area volumes within a given cubic space, as sprays have a huge surface area versus a depth of solution.

RDWC Aeration, Oxygen Therapy for Plants

A lot of crop diseases can ultimately be traced back to anaerobic conditions at the roots.  Anaerobic conditions (lack of oxygen) not only impede water and mineral absorption, they also reduce plant health and vigor. Besides the potential for obvious issues directly related to poor health at the roots like root rot, plants with roots at low oxygen levels grow slower and aren’t as strong or resilient.  Crop pests prefer to attack weaker hosts.  The same is true with foliar diseases like powdery mildew.  Healthy plants are not favored by pests and diseases as they are harder to infect and gain a foothold on–remember crops have evolutionary mechanisms to fight off problems.  Conversely, pests and pathogens have evolved to find easy prey. When healthy, a plant’s natural genetic resistance to common pest or disease issues can function at higher levels.

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CCH2O Hydroponic System Bulletin: High Pressure Aeroponic Cloning Systems

High Pressure Aeroponic Cloning Systems, Advantageous Root Development

High pressure aeroponic cloning systems like CCH2O’s HP Aero Cloner are true aeroponic systems. The term “aeroponics” is most often used to describe any type of water culture system that feeds supported bare root plants with a nutrient and oxygen rich spray rather than a film or volume of nutrient solution (ie NFT, DWC, RDWC).

Why High Pressure Aeroponics

Some types of aeroponics systems spray droplets, of varying sizes, rather than a “mist” depending on the emitter type and of course pressure they are delivered at. This is a key point of difference in the potential performance of an aeroponic system: droplet size.

Larger droplets, typically delivered at low pressures from the manifold and pump, have less surface area. High pressure aeroponics cloning systems produce a finer mist when coupled with the right emitter. A fine mist has a considerably larger surface area.  More surface area means more oxygen, water and nutrients are actually contacting and surrounding bare plant roots. The end result is explosive root growth in early development, faster growth rates and a higher crop yield potential.

CCH2O High Pressure Aeroponics Cloning System Advantages

While increasing the surface area available for roots to receive elevated levels of oxygen, water and nutrients, there are other key advantages in Current Culture H2O’s system design:

• multi tray layouts allow for extensive scalability, including vertical multi tiered configurations
• centralized reservoir makes it easier and cost effective for chilling, dosing, reservoir changes and monitoring; one reservoir can operate a high number of aero mods
• HP aero cloner mods are sturdy and lightweight; since the reservoir is centralized, they can be moved easily when full of plants, ie carts
• supplied with PermaClone collars, there is nothing to throw away or replace; PermaClone cloning collars may ve cleaned and reused for up to 5 years
• the HP Aero Pump Station  is supplied with cycle timer, mist indicator and low-pressure alarm (7 amps @ 110v); providing adjustable, effective and reliable control of air to moisture ratios in the attached aeroponic mods

Expert System Design & Operation

The Current Culture H2O HP aero cloner system design has been developed and refined based on years of intimate working relationships with leading high production cultivation facilities. These units are designed for fast rooting, explosive root growth. They were also built for real-life commercial growing situations–CCH2O understands the needs of commercial cultivators from years of working as a professional cultivation solutions provider.

Commercial HP aeroponic cloning systems are supplied complete, leaving no guesswork for producing healthy crops of aeroponic clones consistently.  That’s why each complete system is supplied with professional level SOP’s (standard operating procedures). This valuable guide potentiates the growing potential of each cloning cycle and helps ensure years of trouble-free use, regardless of grower skill level or experience with aero cloning.  Additionally, all Current Culture H2O systems come with a lifetime of expert system support by phone, instant messenger or email.

Modular & Stackable

The available four standard sizes, from 210 clone sites (2′ x 4′ two-tier rack) to 840 clone sites (2′ x 16′ two-tier rack) allow for a wide range of configurations and layouts while taking advantage of available vertical space. Current Culture H2O can help turn just about any sized or shaped space into a high output indoor plant cloning factory.

Custom Growing Solutions

Current Culture H2O’s commercial sales department can help your indoor farming facility plan and develop a high pressure aeroponic cloning system of any scale–based on your requirements. We can help you identify and address any potential limitations before you get started, ensuring that your growing endevors remain both productive and profitable.

Related Links:

Commercial Cultivation Solutions

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Hydroponic Mother Plants

Better Propagation Programs with Water Culture

Hydroponic mother plants produce more shoot material for rooting cuttings and clones versus conventional growing methods.  Additionally, the donor material is often of higher quality and roots faster. Experienced growers know that high-yielding trouble-free crops start with high-quality transplants, which begin before the material is even cut for the purposes of rooting as clones.

Plants growing in hydroponic water culture methods like RDWC (recirculating deep water culture) and DWC (deep water culture) often grow much faster than the same genetics grown in soil or soilless methods. We’ll discuss how in this article. However, firstly we will discuss why this is an important advantage.

Maximum Production Maximizes Profits

Empty planting sites in a grow room or greenhouse represent lost profitability: time lost where plants should be developing in order to grow, mature and ultimately be harvested for marketable material. At the same time, a lot of the expenses associated with a cultivation facility tend to be fixed, ie the building and associated labor (the greatest expenses) remain constant. It’s important to keep “downtime” eliminated or at a minimum once the previous crop has been harvested and the room cleaned.  Ideally, a professional cultivation room can be harvested, cleaned and replanted within 48 hours. Beyond that, the time lost is cutting into annual profitability.

Numbers Count

In larger facilities and/or where significant numbers of transplants are required with each crop turn it can be a significant challenge to propagate enough new healthy transplants within a given time frame.  Additionally, just having the right number of plants is only part of the equation; uniformity in transplants is critical in developing high yielding healthy crops.  Variation in plant size and health only becomes compounded as time progresses–an uneven canopy and inconsistent yields from plant to plant are a tell-tale sign there are issues arising from the propagation phase.

Water Culture to the Rescue

It’s true that growers can produce a higher volume of healthy plant shoots for rooting in water culture within a given time frame versus other growing methods. The difference can be remarkable. As a quick example, it could take eight weeks to produce a large healthy vegetative plant in coco or peat mix, while the same or greater sized plant could be produced in as little as three to five weeks; essentially half the time using RDWC or DWC cultivation methods.

Why?

There are several factors, however, the number one is likely related to oxygen or more specifically DO (dissolved oxygen). Soil or soilless cultivation methods simply cannot compete with water culture when it comes to supplying oxygen at the roots. It’s not even close. Think of a turbo or supercharger–essentially the engine is the same, however, the rate of reaction for combustion to create more power due to added air makes all the difference. Fuel works better in the presence of air.  Same with plant roots and their ability to absorb nutrients for faster growth rates. Same with your lungs and blood oxygen to support increased activity.  You get the idea. The same can also be said of cut shoots for rooting cuttings: the reaction is potentiated in the presence of dissolved and ambient oxygen levels in the rootzone and nutrient solution.

How To Use Water Culture for Bigger, Better Transplants Faster

Raising hydroponic mother plants in an Under Current RDWC system and rooting the donor material in an HPAC (high pressure aeroponic) set up can help a growing enterprise produce LOTS of healthy transplants in a relatively short time frame using limited space.  Additionally, the young plants produced tend to be of higher quality, with more foliage and roots.  It’s also easier to keep water culture mothers problem free so there is less risk of issues like powdery mildew or pests surfacing in your fresh crops of transplants.

Don’t worry, the aeroponic cuttings are well suited to all types of growing methods—you don’t have to grow exclusively in water culture to reap the benefits of hydroponic mother plants and aeroponic cuttings. Note that clones from HPAC systems may have a substantial root system with lots of foliage in as little as ten days. Typically just a few days are required for HPAC cuttings to get acclimated to transplant into other growing media types, for example coco coir before they can be treated as per usual cropping.

Replace Your Mother Plants Less Frequently

Soil and soilless grown mother plants lose vigour quickly with time. As mother plants age,root bound conditions or nutritional imbalances develop. Mother plants are replaced with a fairly high level of frequency potentially limiting production of new plants for future crops. RDWC or DWC raised plants tend to stay clean and vigorous, as they do not experience limitations in the root zone (say goodbye to unwanted preflowering). Because hydroponic mother plants have no substrate around the roots, they can be “Re Vig’d” i.e. reinvigorated with regular root prunings, keeping root advancement prolific; an important mechanism in signaling for robust vegetative growth up top.

Eliminate Soil, Eliminate Problems

Let’s face it, there will always be growers who want to finish their plants in soil or soilless mediums. However, these crops tend to be short term, ie no longer than four months total.  Even if there are problems that arise from the soil conditions, it can be managed.  However, when soil born problems develop in mother plants (and they will) the success of future crops is diminished before future crops can even start in earnest. By eliminating soil in the mother plant and cloning process, there is less potential pathogen pressures on both the donor material and subsequent rooted cuttings.  Of further benefit, bare rooted cuttings may be shipped over borders while soil bound plants may not due to concern of spreading plant viruses or soil borne pathogens.

Getting Started

Consider contacting the experts at sales@ch2o.com for a customized approach to your crop transplant production needs. Based on the number of plants you require and how often, they can suggest the right set up and methodologies for you to follow to ensure bountiful gardens of healthy plants, not headaches.

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Hydroponic ORP Management

Controlling & Monitoring ORP in Crops

Hydroponic ORP management gives growers the ability to observe and maintain a relative measure of the “health” of hydroponic nutrient solutions to grow crops. Managing ORP levels is especially effective in recirculating water culture systems like RDWC. ORP readings from monitoring devices are given as mV (millivolts).  The cost of the devices is inline with pH or EC monitors, etc–you can spend a modest amount for relative accuracy or invest more for more accurate readings, a range of features and a longer service life. ORP monitors and controllers look and work in a similar fashion too to EC & pH monitors and may require occasional calibration.

A good hydroponic ORP value range to maintain for optimal hydroponic crop health is typically 300-400 mV. Going +450 mV can be counter productive and at prolonged periods can damage roots in some instances–not to worry, it would take some effort to overshoot the optimal working range for hydroponic solutions, especially since ORP levels can drop quickly if not supplemented with regularity.

If ORP readings of recirculating hydroponic nutrient solutions are low, for example below 250 mV, it maybe an indication that there is a problem with hydroponic crop health or may soon be. In an actively recirculating reservoir or hydroponic system with good aeration and optimal temperatures, the ORP level is likely to be +250 mV without supplementation. However, if there is any stress on the system or crop–which in the real world happens, the ORP value can drop below the minimal recommended value. When the ORP is below optimal for time, crop infections can occur and nutrient absorption rates may not be at full potential.

ORP Management

For good hydroponic ORP management practices it is recommended to supplement ORP values based on real time or at least daily ORP monitoring and checks–additionally, it pays to keep an eye on the ORP values of your source water, purified water and sored water. Healthy water is foundational for healthy plants–as well as a healthy bottom line for your growing investments.

As mentioned earlier, a variety electronic monitoring and controller devices for raising ORP are available to growers. A monitor will simply tell you what your ORP values are when measured, constant or as a hand held device for manual checks. A controller will allow the grower to enter an ORP set point value and when the value drops below this set point the device will trigger an outlet. Ozone (O3) may be added to the solution via venturi corona discharge or ORP raising additives such as hypochlorous acid (ClearLine or UC Roots) may be injected into the solution when triggered by the monitor.

Ozone VS Hypochlorous Acid

Ozone is a volatile molecule that oxidizes impurities.  Basically, as O3 it is unstable–the extra oxygen molecule wants to jump off onto another particle.  The result is O2 as a byproduct, and the neutralization of unwanted organisms such as fungi, bacteria, protozoa, etc. While effective at raising ORP, and overshoot or malfunction can be costly–and over abundance of O3 at a prolonged period can have disastrous effects on crops; essentially Ozone poisoning.

Hypchlorous acid raises ORP values and also offers additional benefits including reducing salt build up in hydroponic systems. Adding hypochlorous acid using peristaltic pumps with limiters or with visual checks makes it easier to prevent any potential harm in the event of an ORP monitor or controller malfunctioning or false reading. A grower will recognize how much is typically added to the system daily while with ozone this could be difficult to determine.

Adding hypochlorous acid manually to raise ORP is easy, cost effective and safe. Following label directions, many growers find it easy to add to the system daily, whether using a simple Add-Back adapter in recirculating RDWC systems or by pouring directly into water storage tanks, reservoirs, growing systems ,etc.

In conventional fertigation systems, besides for raising ORP, hypochlorous is an excellent addition to prevent scale and biofilms for better root health and drip irrigation system management. It can be added directly into the reservoir or ideally, injected into irrigation lines with a proportioner system when the system is active.

Practical ORP Management

Check and record recirculating systems, reservoir, RO water storage tanks and source water ORP values–keep a daily log.

Add hypchlorous acid as recommended by label. This may be performed manually or automatically–check values after adding to ensure ORP is between 250-400 mV.

Look for trends where ORP may be below optimal–are there seasonal issues with source water, for example?  What about RO systems–a decline in ORP may indicate that filters, membranes, injectors, etc may be in need of replacement or cleaning and maintenance.

If using peristaltic pumps or injector proprtioners note daily how much has hypochlorous acid has been delivered–has there been an increase or decrease? If there are drastic differences inspect dosing equipment to make sure that it is functioning correctly–if it is, inspect the crop for signs of stresses, ie infection.

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Hot Weather Grow Room Management

How To Help Hydroponic Crops in the Heat

As a trend, summers are becoming hotter–for longer, necessitating a strong set of hot weather grow room management skills. Sizing and performance allowances for growing equipment such as fans, chillers or air conditioning units may prove to be inadequate.  Rules of thumb for sizing such equipment may have changed.  While many hydroponic growers operate indoors, the situation is not entirely immune to issues from increases in outdoor temperatures.

Heat stresses can lead to poor quality, lower yields, disease problems, insects, higher power bills, increased water use or even crop failure.  Commercial growers can’t afford to take the loss in competitive marketplaces.

Water management on a commercial scale may require extra attention. Warmer water has a higher chance of having microbial contamination and municipal supplies may be prone to algae blooms.  Holding tanks and reservoirs may be more prone to issues as a result. Using a chiller to maintain 68 deg F reduces the incidence of unwanted biological activity. Cooler solution temperatures also potentiate higher Dissolved Oxygen (DO) levels for healthier crops. Optimal temperatures may be maintained in holding tanks by way of commercial grade hydroponic chillers.

Additions of hypochlorous acid into water supplies and hydroponic reservoirs are recommended at all times, however, dosages may need to be increased in frequency or concentration during hotter times. Clear Line and UC Roots are highly effective in hot weather grow room management in this capacity and are entirely safe to use as directed.

There are a variety of factors that affect the temperature inside greenhouse and climate controlled grow rooms:

Insulation

Keeping the climate controlled interior insulated from the outside is critical for operating efficiency, especially in terms of HVAC power usage. A poorly insulated growing operation is prone to temperature fluctuations which can lead to issues with humidity and lessened crop performance.

Building Type

Some building designs work better at preventing overheating from solar exposure than others.  For example having some dead air space between the roof and interior surfaces can help to trap and redirect heat for less impact on interior temperatures. Metal clad surfaces can reach very high temperatures on hot sunny days.

Solar Exposure

If a building is 100% exposed to the sun it is prone to overheating.  If shaded, even partially, by trees, surrounding buildings, etc there is significantly less solar radiation hitting the building.  Additionally, trees can provide some microclimate cooling with evaporative transpiration, as can ponds or surrounding bodies of water.

Rolling Black Outs

In some areas power demand for air conditioning exceeds what the grid can supply and there may be outages. Naturally, this can be highly detrimental to crop productivity and the ability to maintain optimal temperatures. It may be a prudent investment to have stand-by power available.

Type of Grow Lighting

Some lighting engineers will state there is very little difference in how much heat is generated in a 600 W LED lighting fixture VS 600 W HPS.  Most growers find LED grow lights help keep the room cooler.  Also keep in mind typically fewer watts of LED are required to provide strong light for growth in the same given area.  Additionally, LED grow fixtures dissipate heat differently; it’s more evenly spread VS HID lighting.

Utilizing LED lights is often favorable in hot weather grow room management vs HID lighting sources.

Exchanges of Outside Air

In hot weather, anytime a personale door or shipping receiving door is opened, it has the potential to add to the heat load on the growing facility’s HVAC system. Limiting air exchanges with double doors i.e. corridors and using air curtains can help keep unwanted air outside where it belongs.

Some growers use fresh filtered outside air for timed exchanges in sealed grow rooms to help prevent any risk of phytotoxicity in the growing environment. If drawn from outside in hot weather it may contribute heat load or stress a hard working HVAC system.

Things to watch for in the growing area for better hot weather grow room management, as these factors may change with direct consequences to the crop.

• Air temp
• Humidity levels
• Water use
• Nutrient uptake
• Reservoir temperature
• ORP
• Dissolved oxygen
• Leaf temperature
• VPD
• Aeration

For the Residential Grower

• run at night, 
• use dimmers in lighting systems, 
• reservoir chiller, 
• HOCl additions (UC Roots, Clear Line), 
• insulate

For Commercial/Professional Growers

• insulate, 
• chillers + air pumps in separate areas (as appropriate), 
• ORP management, 
• VPD management, 
• extra attention to sanitation

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Hydroponic Reservoir Management

How To Monitor & Manage Hydroponic Reservoirs

Good hydroponic reservoir management is key to achieving the full potential of your hydroponic growing system. The reservoir or nutrient cistern in a greenhouse or indoor farming operation acts like a heart, circulating oxygen and nutrient rich solutions to thirsty roots for absorption.  In the case of recirculating reservoir or RDWC system, the solution may also be returned and recirculated to conserve water and make for higher fertilizer use efficiency.

Let’s discuss some foundational pillars for developing healthy and productive hydroponic reservoir management practices. Don’t worry, you will not have to spend your time chained to your reservoir; technology and knowhow will make your life easier and add to the bottom line.

Reservoir Components

It would be presumptuous to overlook this area. Ensure that all the plumbing parts, pumps, pipes, float valves, fittings and reservoir construction are made from suitable materials such as ABS, PVC, fibreglass or stainless steel. These are inert materials, meaning they won’t react adversely with your nutrient solution, which by the way, is a mildly acid and saline solution. Copper, brass and some types of plastic may not play nicely with hydroponic nutrient solution, leeching metals into solution that can harm or even kill your crop. If you are buying a complete system from a reputable growing solutions provider this isn’t something you will typically need to worry about.

Nutrient Solution Capacity

In drain to waste systems, the capacity of the reservoir tends to be lower–as it is replenished often with fresh water, nutrients, additives, pH buffers, etc. Because the water is not recirculating in drain to waste systems, growers usually don’t want the tank getting “stale” and may only have enough nutrient solution for one to two days.

In recirculating hydroponic systems and RDWC systems, the volume of solution tends to be higher to buffer against changes in EC, pH, ORP, etc as plants take up water and nutrients.  Note, this doesn’t mean recirculating hydroponic systems use more water–to the contrary, they often use less.  Think of the weekly volumes versus daily. A crop occupying a 20′ X 60′ room with HID lighting and Carbon Dioxide Enrichment will typically require a volume of 600 US gallons (roughly half a gallon per square foot for fill volume, excluding top ups).

Nutrient Change-Out Frequency

In theory, you don’t have to change the volume of nutrient solution through the entire bloom cycle–just manage it very carefully with additions of water, nutrients and additives. However, in practice this isn’t usually easy and doesn’t deliver the best results.  Besides taking up water and nutrients, plants also exude wastes through their roots.  Additionally, roots grow and die back through the life of the crop to an extent; very much like our skin.  Not removing these naturally occurring plant wastes can lead to issues in recirculating hydroponic systems.

So, changing the nutrient solution once a week in bloom, typically by 25 to 50% of the total solution volume in the system, and every few weeks in veg has benefits.  Besides removing plant wastes from the system and reducing the microbial load nutrient change outs allow growers to “update” the crop diet to address the specific needs of each week of development. A well formulated feeding program yields better quality and more of it versus trying a one size fits all approach to crop nutrition.

Naturally, the water quality you add to the system counts–it’s a very important area. For a more in depth look at hydroponic water management Click Here.

Hydroponic Reservoir Management Practices

Add Back for EC

When EC levels lower from the target concentration, nutrients should be replenished for optimal crop performance.  If not, imbalances and deficiencies can occur over time between weekly nutrient change outs. Larger and sophisticated indoor farmers may use dosing systems to achieve desired levels automatically and in controlled mappable quantities and ratios.

Growers may use a manual approach with good success by adding desirable ratios and values–i.e. following the feed program, nutrients and additives are added to the system to reacquire the target values after crop uptake. Note that allowing the nutrient concentration to drift within a range is acceptable.  For additional feeding recommendations contact tech@cch2o.com

CCH2O’s Add Back Kit allows the flow of recirculating nutrient solution to draw up diluted concentrates and slowly add them into the system, preventing potential shock or drastic change to the rhizosphere.

ORP Management

The Oxidative Reduction Potential of a nutrient solution is a measure of the health of your nutrient solution where roots are concerned. A low ORP value suggests stagnation, anaerobic bioactivity, decay–none of the things that are desirable for healthy hydroponic crops.

Good recirculation and aeration help to keep ORP levels near the powerband (250-350mV) for optimal crop health in the root zone. Adding hypochlorous acid  (ClearLine, UC Roots) to systems and reservoirs daily, as directed, is an excellent way to keep ORP levels up while directly combating biofilms, salt build-up, etc that can occur in recirculating hydroponic systems.

pH Management

As most growers are aware, maintaining the correct pH for your crop type and growth stage in a given hydroponic system is vital to ensure maximum water and nutrient uptake by plants. Free pouring pH adjusters into the reservoir has been a common practice based on daily checks and monitoring, however, is not the best method.  Real time monitors and dosing systems can keep the pH in the optimal range 24/7, preventing hiccups in potential nutrient uptake by the crop on a daily basis. 

If adding pH adjusters manually, the add back method (as with EC, above) is a considerable improvement over pouring concentrates directly into systems or reservoirs for better hydroponic reservoir management. Most hydroponic crops will thrive in a pH range from 5.8 to 6.3. Maintaining a constant pH value is easier to accomplish with a doser. However, many growers prefer to allow their crops drift through the optimal range before adjustment as different minerals will have greater availability at different pH ranges.

Chilling Hydroponic Systems

Keeping the temperature of the nutrient solution and root zone is vital for maximum crop production and plant health. If nutrient solutions overheat they cannot hold high levels of oxygen when large root masses are present. 

Conditions can become anaerobic, hurting growth potential and inviting problems. Typically, the optimal temperature (65-68 Deg F) in the root zone is cooler than that of the air temperature for the plant canopy.  This means active cooling practices may be required. Click Here to learn more about chilling hydroponic systems.

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Hydroponic Root Root

Preventing & Managing Hydroponic Root Pathogens

Hydroponic root rot is an avoidable and treatable crop disease. Note that hydroponic root rot is more of a symptom and not a particular plant disease, identifiable as brown mushy roots. Hydroponic root rot results when a disease causing organism (pythium, fusarium, etc) is introduced or is present and conditions prevail that favor the growth and development of the organism in the crop’s root zone. In crop management terms, this is referred to as the Crop Disease Triangle, ie three factors create the situation:

1. Host (plant, roots)
2. Pathogen/Vector (disease causing organism)
3. Favorable Conditions (warm temperatures, anaerobic)

From the above, all three sides need to occur for the disease triangle to occur, leading us to the best root rot control measure, which is prevention.

Preventing Hydroponic Root Rot

Following Current Culture H2O’s protocol for high pressure aeroponics, deep water culture and recirculating deep water culture systems will all but eliminate the chance of crops exhibiting hydroponic root rot. Proven production practices combined with well designed, refined and built hydroponic systems provide repeatable results.  Additionally, the fundamentals and practices are entirely scalable, whether Residential, Professional or Commercially cultivating water culture crops.

However, this is information all types of water culture growers may benefit from, so let’s have a brief discussion on some of the areas that need to be managed and why to prevent hydroponic root rot from occurring.

1. Eliminate organic matter – Whether introduced in a transplant medium, water source or by using nutrient additives not appropriate for the system type, it is imperative to maintain a “zero tolerance” for organic matter in the system. Additions of organic matter, however small, should be regarded as contaminants in well run hydroponic systems.  Examples of ingredients may include carbohydrates, enzymes, vitamins, beneficial microbes, etc. This is typically a grower’s number one source for introducing the Pathogen/Vector side of the Crop Disease Triangle.

TIP: ORP Management helps reduce or eliminate scale and microbial activity in the root zone

2. Clean, filtered water only – As mentioned above, raw source water may contain plant disease causing microorganisms or other vectors/substances that can contribute to symptoms of hydroponic root rot. Reverse Osmosis water is preferred for both crop performance and maintaining a healthy, clean nutrient solution. Consult CCH2O SOPs for recommend water handling and storage outside of the hydroponic system.

3. High purity hydroponic grade fertilizers only – Besides ensuring that no organic matter is present in your nutrients, the chemical composition and balance of nutrient ions present in hydroponic solutions counts big. Some sources, like urea or ammonium can cause swings in pH and nutrient availability, creating stresses on crops that leave them more vulnerable to hydroponic root rot. Cultured Solutions nutrients and additives are an excellent example of modern formulations intended for hydroponic use.

4. Maintain optimal root temperatures – In a warm grow room, some growers may find it challenging to maintain 68 to 70 deg F temperatures in the root zone.  As the solution gets warmer or cooler than optimal, conditions begin to favor pathogens more than root health.  Growers may find this important pillar to crop health a challenge, however, with a high quality Hydroponic Chiller, maintaining optimal root temperatures in hydroponics is made easy and consistent.

5. Maintain consistent aeration and dissolved oxygen levels in the hydroponic nutrient solution.  Hydroponic root rot thrives in low oxygen and stagnant conditions.  Keeping the nutrient solution well aerated and circulated maintains conditions favorable to healthy roots and strong nutrient uptake by crops.

6. Root zone IPM – mycostop, HOCl (UC Roots / Clear Line)

Identifying Hydroponic Root Rot

Healthy hydroponic roots typically range from white to light tan and appear firm–think pasta noodles done “al dente”.  Some crop types and nutrient solutions will maintain healthy roots that may not appear 100% white.  However, if following CCH2O protocol you can expect firm, white fuzzy roots that show little or no signs of discoloration; the calling card of maximum water and nutrient absorption potential.

If roots appear brown, are covered in bio film or are soft and mushy, it is likely that they have an advanced onset of hydroponic root rot. Above the root zone, yellowing leaves, weak limbs and slow crop development are an indicator that trouble may be lurking down below in the root zone.

If Pathogens Pressures are Present:

• Reduce lighting to 75% during pathogen pressures
• Drain system volume, refill with nutrient at 50% strength
• Maintain recommended dosage of Hypochlorous Acid with target ORP @ 300-350mV
• Inoculate solution with Mycostop Biofungicide, following CCH2O defined SOP
• Drain system weekly @ 50-75% and refresh with 50% strength solution

*this will help expel excessive exudate and microbial mass

Once plant health improves:

• Increase lighting back to 90-100%
• Increase nute strength to 85-90% recommended strength
• Maintain recommended dosage of Hypochlorous Acid with target ORP @ 300-350mV
• Continue using Mycostop on Bi’Weekly basis as outlined in CCH2O SOP
• Reduce frequency of drain out, allowing solution health to stabilize

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Hydroponic Rootzone IPM

A Practical Approach to Maintaining a Healthy Rhizosphere in RDWC Systems

Hydroponic rootzone IPM practices offer a simple, low cost and effective approach to keeping hydroponic root systems free of issues like root rot.  Additionally, hydroponic rootzone IPM (integrated pest management) provides a solution that is non toxic to plants, people and the surrounding environment when managed with care. 

Growers know the importance of a healthy root system–and so do plants. Without healthy roots the ability to take up water, oxygen and minerals for robust growth and development is impeded. In severe instances it can lend to serious reductions in yield, increases in other pathogens or even entire crop loss.

Popular thought has often been to keep the root system, nutrient solution and piping “sterile”.  While in theory this is quite true, the issue is that it is near impossible to keep nutrient solutions entirely sterile; over time bacteria, fungi, etc will find their way into the system whether through water or air supplies, no matter how well filtered or treated.

Hydroponic rootzone IPM management takes a practical approach to address the need of keeping microbial loads and pressures as low as possible on crops while at the same time addressing the fact that some level of microbial activity is near unavoidable. The goal is keeping microbial counts in the rhizosphere within an acceptable range while also taking a level of control as to what types of microbes may be present.

By introducing specific microbes and then utilizing a means to control populations, there is little to no room for undesirable crop disease causing bacteria, fungi, protozoa, etc to set up shop in your valued crop.

For decades, Mycostop has proven to be an excellent choice for introducing bacteria for hydroponic rootzone IPM into Under Current RDWC water culture systems. The bacteria colonize in a way that is not antagonistic to bare rooted “media-less” plants growing in highly aerated nutrient solutions. Introducing the wrong species could be disastrous for growing in re-circulating deep water culture. 

The specific mycology in Mycostop will not create unwanted slimes, bio-films, etc that compete with roots for oxygen and nutrients while creating wild pH fluctuations. 

The bacterium in Mycostop are highly antagonistic to plant diseases causing organisms including damping-off, wilt and root diseases like Alternaria, Rhizoctonia solani, Fusarium, Phytopthora and Pythium.

To maintain appropriate microbial counts and to further help to keep growing surfaces, nutrient solutions and root zones hygienic, Clear Line or UC Roots hypochlorous acid formulations are highly complementary while using Mycostop as directed in Cultured Solution’s Recirculating Hydro crop feeding programs.

Utilizing Mycostop, paired with hypochlorous acid and keeping nutrient solution temperatures optimal is another important pillar in hydroponic rootzone IPM management.  

Remember that the crop disease triangle is only completed when all the necessary variables are present: environment, pathogen and vector.  

Contact the team at sales@cch2o.com to get started on your hydroponic rootzone IPM program .

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Starting Aeroponic Seedlings

The Benefits of Seeding in Aeroponics

Starting aeroponic seedlings propagates plants with consistently more vigor and health from plant to plant versus traditional methods. Strong plant starts exhibiting even development create higher quality harvests while narrowing the window for potential cropping problems.

Any avid gardener knows the importance of sourcing strong, healthy plant starts. With the increasing cost of purchasing plant starts, more gardeners have turned to sowing their own seeds. Though this can be accomplished in a number of ways, starting seeds with aeroponics is showing particular promise, especially in applications where speed and efficiency matter.

Seeds are an increasingly popular method of propagating plants, whether for selecting cultivars to propagate as cuttings for future crops or as a method of populating entire grow systems with trouble free plants.  

Feminized seeds (seeds with all female progeny in a dioecious species) will not harbor pests and diseases as readily as asexually propagated plants (especially if originating from outside sources).

Savvy field growers especially like to have their transplants originate from high quality seed stock as the plants have a tap root versus fibrous roots (as with rooted cuttings).  A tap root can firmly anchor even the largest of plants and can drive deep through the soil to search out water and minerals while fibrous root systems tend to grow more as a mat near the surface of the substrate.

Current Culture H2O’s High Pressure Aeroponics system is ideal for starting aeroponic seedlings consistently with a high degree of health; minimizing labor and maximizing propagation success.  Each planting deck holds 105 plants perfectly spaced in a two foot by four foot area.  The modules are lightweight and can be stacked vertically.  There is no solution maintained in the root chamber–a high pressure mist is supplied from a remote reservoir and pumping station.  A single standard pumping station can operate up to sixteen 105 site rooting modules. 

Very little power is required for lighting and the pump operates for seconds every few minutes helping to keep system operation costs low.  Additionally, the irrigation process is highly reliable and completely automated.  Once planted, there is very little to do except to marvel at the growth rates and health when starting aeroponic seedlings.

iHort plugs are an excellent solution as a germination substrate in the system.  While the majority of the roots will emerge to grow into the misting chamber, the compostable organic based polymer plug will hold optimal air to water ratios to promote even and complete germination through a wide variety of seed sizes and types.  The plugs, with bare roots intact, are easily transplanted into net pots or into substrates like coco or peat.

Aeroponics is widely recognized for it’s ability to deliver high dissolved oxygen levels to young plants and seedlings versus conventional growing methods.  Some research suggests that plants started off with high oxygen levels in the root zone are better able to resist potential pressures later on, even if no longer being cultivated aeroponically.  

Aeroponic propagation in the High Pressure Aeroponic Cloner is tidy and reduces labor requirements.  It’s definitely easier on the back versus hunching over trays.

A lot of plants can be maintained in relatively small linear foot prints as the modules sit tidily on standard sized racking—plants stay healthy in tighter spacing for longer too versus conventional methods using cubes or pots to start plants. 

Finally, reliable true aeroponics is here.

If you’d like to learn more about starting seeds and propagating cuttings in high pressure aeroponics please email sales@cch2o.com

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Hydroponic Garden Fertilizer

Using the Right Fertilizer for Hydroponic Gardening

With the right hydroponic garden fertilizer, you can grow a wide range of healthy veggies, pungent herbs and fragrant flowers in a variety of hydroponic set ups.  Popular hydroponic systems for growing your own at home include DWC (deep water culture), RDWC (recirculating deep water culture), aeroponics and recirculating drip systems. 

These systems use little if any growing medium at all; meaning the roots receive their nutrition directly from nutrient solutions rather than substrates; making it especially important to choose the right type of fertilizer.

Above: Hydroponic melons

When roots uptake water, minerals and oxygen for growth with no soil to get in the way, gains can be tremendous–plants can grow bigger and faster, provided certain conditions are being met.

The chemistry of traditional garden fertilizers tends to use sources like urea and ammonium forms for important elements like Nitrogen and Phosphorous. While good in soil, these substances are chemically reactive in hydroponics, meaning they create pH imbalances that contribute to poor quality plants and even nutrient burn.

Using fertilizers like Cultured Solutions that are specifically made for water culture avoid common issues and grow better plants in hydroponics.  These formulas use ingredients that are best suited to growing in water and avoid harmful additives like harsh dyes that can stain roots or adulterate plants’ natural colorations.

Using hydroponic garden fertilizer doesn’t have to be complicated—you can grow a wide variety of plants using the same hydroponic garden fertilizer dilution rates and components.  For example, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers and other fruiting plants will all do pretty great on the same feeding program.  More serious growers will tend to dial in their feedings to be more crop specific; but it doesn’t mean you have to for success.

The main distinctions you should keep in mind for best use of a suitable hydroponic garden fertilizer are simply whether the application is for leafy or reproductive growth (flowers, fruits, seeds, etc).  For vegetative growth a “Veg” formula is recommended and if fruits and flowers are part of the crop cycle, feeding shifts to using a “Bloom” formula. It’s really as simple as that.

More experienced hydroponics growers may supplement their hydroponic garden fertilizer at select times using Calcium-Magnesium supplements and Bud Booster supplements.  When plants are young or experiencing rapid cell division (start of flowering) they can often use more calcium, magnesium, iron and nitrogen; exactly what the supplement supplies.  During heavy flowering or fruiting load, crops benefit from a boost of Phosphorus and Potassium; easily supplied by adding a small proportion of a Bud Booster to the basic diet supplied by your hydroponic garden fertilizer.

Stay tuned for future articles where we’ll discuss some more specific recommendations for feeding your hydroponic garden.

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Hydroponics Systems

Proven Production Hydroponics Systems & Protocols

There are a number of hydroponics systems available to growers.  Current Culture H2O offers proven production hydroponics systems and protocols to growers who don’t want to gamble on their investment and results.

Current Culture H2O hydroponic systems and protocols deliver significant advantages for crop production, including:

–media-less cropping; no more handling, buying or disposing of growing medias

-cleaner harvests; our clean, sterile and closed systems greatly reduce the incidence of harboring crop pests or pathogens

-faster growth rates, healthier plants; improved aeration and dissolved oxygen levels help unlock the potential of plant genetics not achievable with traditional cultivation methods

-greatly reduced water and fertilizer consumption; our systems supercharge growth rates while reducing consumption of resources–plants function more efficiently and less water is lost through evaporation closed systems

-CCH2O hydroponics systems are made in the USA to our exacting standards; offering many years of robust, trouble free and leak tight cropping.

A Practical Example of our Proven Production Approaches

Successful growers strive for seamless transitions from one crop phase to the next in their hydroponics systems.  Stressed plants, ie transplant shock, costs valuable time and resources over the calendar year.  Our Medium-less Commercial Propagation approach is an excellent example of how CCH2O hydroponic systems work together with a proven production approach to eliminate the incidence of crop stalls while increasing production potential.

Raising hydroponic mother plants in an Under Current RDWC system and rooting the donor material in an HPAC (high pressure aeroponic) set up can help a growing enterprise produce LOTS of healthy transplants in a relatively short time frame using limited space.  

Additional Benefits Include:

young plants produced tend to be of higher quality, with more foliage and roots

transplants are evenly developed for a uniform flowering or fruiting canopy later on

RDWC mother plants are easier to keep pest and pathogen free with no exposed growing media

reduced  labor and crop handling

no growing media required

Read MORE about Hydroponic Mother Plants & Rooting Aeroponic Cuttings HERE

Where are Current Culture H2O’s hydroponics systems used?

Crop Research Stations

Professional Cultivation Facilities

Greenhouses

Residential Applications

Institutions 

Popular Crops Grown in CCH2O Hydroponics Systems

Vine Crops (tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, melons)

Leafy Greens & Vegetables

Cannabis

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Aeroponics Systems

A Practical Approach to Aeroponics

Aeroponics systems differ from conventional hydroponics systems in that they use little to no growth medium.  Plants are typically cultivated as bare rooted in the aeroponic chamber or growth module, supported by collars or baskets in the system lid.  While this aspect doesn’t differ greatly from DWC or RDWC growing systems, the principle difference is in the nutrient solution delivery system.

Aero systems feed bare rooted plants with a nutrient and oxygen rich mist or fog. The advantage here is that there is a greater surface area for absorption of oxygen along with water and minerals (mist).  Additionally, this provides excellent control over air to water ratios in the root zone, as roots can remain suspended in moist air rather than submerged in nutrient solutions. 

Some aeroponics systems use internal sprinklers or sprayers to blast roots with droplets of nutrient solutions.  These types of systems can be inexpensive to build and can operate reasonably well. However, its debatable as to whether this is really aeroponics as there is no mist or fog feeding the roots. The roots are getting hit with drops of water instead, similar in size to what emitters in drip irrigation deliver. The reduction in cost and relatively simple design come at the expense of sacrificing surface area for oxygen delivery and precise control over air to water ratios at the roots.

High pressure aeroponics systems (HPAs) deliver nutrient solutions through mist heads (requiring higher operating pressures) to produce ultra fine mists or fogs to bare roots.  With HPA  there is much more potential for oxygen absorption by roots and a much higher level of control over air to water ratios in the root chamber of growth modules.

HPA systems can stimulate very rapid plant development and use very little water and nutrients to do so.  

For example, a typical misting cycle in the root chamber for aeroponic plant propagation is 20 seconds on and 5 minutes off. The actual volume of solution being delivered each cycle is low, however, it saturates the rooting chamber with an oxygen rich nutrient mist. Any run off  solution can be collected and recirculated.

For rooted plants, the misting cycle may remain only 20 seconds on with the duration widening to 8, 12 or even 20 minutes.  The bare roots structures themselves act as reservoirs for moisture, oxygen and nutrients; each msiting cycle replenishes their levels to optimal.

To view different HPA system configurations Click HERE

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Hydroponic Feeding Charts

Selecting the Right Feed Chart for Growing Success

Hydroponic feeding charts are guides or recipes that give detailed dilution rates when using hydroponic nutrients, bud boosters and additives for feeding crops. Application rates of base fertilizers and appropriate additives are typically listed on a week by week basis. Hydroponic feeding charts can provide detailed information for optimizing various nutrient levels for distinct crop development stages like propagation, pre-veg, vegetative growth, transitional growth, early flowering, peak bloom and ripening.

Why Use Hydroponic Feeding Charts

By using proven hydroponic feeding charts provided by reputable nutrient companies, growers greatly increase their potential for healthier plants, better yields and higher harvest qualities for their cropping efforts. A well developed and implemented hydroponic feed chart takes the guesswork out of which nutrient products, when to use them and exactly how much to add. 

Following a reputable hydroponic feed schedule also helps ensure compatibility between all the different nutrient components and avoids wasting your resources, ie overlapping products from different brands

How Hydroponic Feed Programs are Created

Professional nutrient manufacturers who specialize in providing nutrients for high value horticultural crops carefully research optimal nutrient levels and ratios for different developmental phases of specific crops.  Plants have different demands at different growth phases for the concentration and ratios of plant elements provided in order to maximize results for each of these phases.

Nutrient fertilizers are then formulated and blended for the correct ratios and amounts of these elements. Raw materials are ultimately manufactured into powders, or preferably liquid concentrates. These hydroponic fertilizers have a guaranteed analysis for the elements they contain.  Hydroponic feeding charts give a breakdown of which components to use, at what time and in what amount (ie ml per US Gallon) so that the optimal amounts of nutrients are delivered at the right time for the crop’s needs (based on crop research).

Which Hydroponic Feeding Charts to Use?

Here in our discussion we can look at two different variations of a proven crop feeding program:

1. Recirculating Hydroponics

This includes hydroponics growing systems like RDWC, DWC, Aeroponics, NFT and similar. These types of systems typically use little to no growing medium–bare roots are supported by collars or baskets, with the majority of the roots growing directly into aerated nutrient solutions.  These types of systems can also be described as “medialess hydroponics”. Because there is more oxygen available for roots and no growing medium to interfere with absorption of nutrients, oxygen and water the overall feed concentrations are more effective at lower concentrations.

  2. Drain To Waste Systems

These types of growing or fertigation systems include rockwool, coco, peat mix and similar.  Most often the nutrients and water are supplied by drip irrigation systems or watering wands.  Crops are grown with an abundance of growing medium surrounding roots, proportionate to the desired size of the plants at harvest.  In a sense, we are feeding the growing medium, before we are feeding the plant in this type of system.  As such, a higher concentration of nutrients must be delivered with each fertigation cycle to compensate for what will get held or tied-up in the growth medium itself before nutrients are available to the plants. Excess water and nutrients drain away and are typically not reused.  

What about Customizing Hydroponic Feeding Charts?

After following proven hydroponic feeding charts and gaining a baseline for success, growers may want to customize their feeding programs based on their particular cropping style, environmental conditions or tweak for a particular cultivar.  In doing so, there is always a risk of not doing as well as you did before–however, there is always the possibility of improvements too. If customizing a proven and successful hydroponic feeding charts, it is recommended that you only change one variable at a time, for example using more or less of one of the components at a particular time or changing when the component is used in the cropping cycle.

If changing several components at once or adding more than one new component to your proven program at a time, it may be difficult to discern what has or hasn’t had a positive effect.  It’s best to start with a solid foundation and to only make one change at a time.  Over time, you can really dial it in for your situation—a good feedchart doesn’t get dialed in with only one or two crops.  In fact, well proven professional crop feeding programs are the results of many years of cropping, research and development.

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Commercial Aeroponics Systems

Large-Scale Aeroponic Plant Production

Commercial aeroponics systems continue to gain utilization amongst growers with an eye for efficiency, fast crop turns and unmistakable harvest quality. Even in a competitive marketplace, top shelf flowers remain in demand. Delivering this level of quality with a decrease in production efforts and expenses allows operators not only to remain viable and relevant; but to grow their market share and enterprise. 

Commercial Aeroponics Systems Advantages:

1. Ease of Automation
2. Reduced Inputs
3. Less Labor
4. Increased Yields
5. Improved Harvest Quality

Ease of Automation

In commercial aeroponics systems, plants receive near identical conditions in the rootzone because roots are bathed intermittently in a nutrient and oxygen rich mist.  The mist is accomplished by an external high pressure pump which delivers mist to the fogger nozzles inside of the growth module (root chamber). Misting cycles are easily adjusted by the grower for frequency and duration–excess nutrient solution drains away freely and is recaptured for recirculation. The way commercial aeroponics systems operate makes them highly scalable, allowing a small work force or single operator to grow very large numbers of plants versus traditional methods. The external reservoir is easily monitored and adjusted.

Reduced Inputs

Aeroponics growing systems can be operated medium-less, ie no growing media is required, meaning there is little or nothing to replace between crops.  This offers considerable savings in materials, labor and disposal hassles versus media based hydroponics like rockwool or coco. 

The misting cycle that bathes bare plant roots in water, nutrients and oxygen delivers precision volumes and is recirculated in a closed system–this means much less waste for irrigation water and fertilizers, ie no evaporative loss or excessive and wasteful applications required.

The high pressure aeroponics pump cycles relatively infrequently and for short durations, minimizing the system’s electrical requirements and helping to keep nutrient solutions cooler.

Less Labor

Medium-less transplants are fast, easy, tidy and require minimal labor versus conventional potting up or soilless media treatments (ie presoaking and conditioning).  The fertigation process is entirely automated and easily adjusted. Diagnostics like pH, TDS, ORP, DO, etc. can be monitored from the recirculating reservoir remotely. 

After harvest clean-ups and preparation for successive crops are also very efficient because there is no growing medium to contend with.  Growers may adhere to CIP (clean in place) practices for effective sanitization and cleaning between commercial aeroponics crops–no system disassembly or removal and reassembly is required.

Increased Yields

The precise control over air to water ratios in the rootzone and elevated DO (dissolved oxygen) can deliver unparalleled absorption rates versus for faster growing crops that have the potential for higher yields. A nutrient mist delivered to bare roots has a large surface area of contact and roots benefit from ambient oxygen levels between misting cycles.

Due to reduced labor requirements for tasks like irrigation, more time is available daily for productive gardening tasks like crop inspection, pruning and crop training; contributing to potentially heavier harvests each cropping cycle.  Typically, crop turns are faster in commercial aeroponics systems, as plants grow quickly in higher density plantings–less vegetative time means more crop turns per year.

Improved Harvest Quality

Crops that are grown with elevated oxygen levels at the roots and that receive well balanced nutrients applied in moderation not only grow faster and yield better–they typically produce more pronounced harvest qualities. 

Because commercial aeroponics systems operate as closed systems (vs open), it is easier to maintain a healthier and more hygienic growing environment efficiently.

Commercial Aeroponics Systems for Propagating Crops

High pressure aeroponics provides an excellent method for propagating plants, whether as rooted cuttings (cloning) or for starting transplants from seed. Raising young plants using traditional methods can be tedious and laborious. While conventional tray and dome methods can certainly give rise to new plants, the quality and level of development from plant to plant can vary once ready for transplanting.  These early inconsistencies become wider over the cropping timeline, resulting in inconsistent plant sizes and development rates.  An even plant canopy that matures at the same time with all plants sharing similar yields and harvest qualities starts early in the propagation phase. 

The consistent and highly automated environment in the root zone created by high pressure aeroponics cloning (HPAC) systems provides the ideal method for raising, sturdy, healthy well rooted transplants that are consistent from plant to plant. These are the types of transplants savvy growers seek, preventing crop stalls after transplant and ensuring healthy crops that produce even canopies of consistent harvest quality and yield.

Current Culture H2O’s HPA (high pressure aeroponics) systems are a highly effective and modular solution for growers looking to reap the rewards in well designed, easy to operate medium-less commercial aeroponics systems. Click HERE to browse systems or email sales@cch2o.com for more information.

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What does it take to succeed in today’s cannabis cultivation industry?

Gain valuable insights from industry leaders who have spent decades perfecting their craft and building successful businesses in the ever-evolving cannabis landscape.

In this exclusive video discussion on Resilience in Cannabis Cultivation, Daniel Wilson, Founder of Current Culture H2O (CCH2O), and Idan Avitan, Co-Founder of Growee Controls, share their expertise on what drives success in cannabis cultivation. As seasoned professionals providing solutions to leading-edge cultivators, they offer invaluable perspectives and strategies that can help guide you on the path to growth.

In this conversation, you’ll learn key takeaways that will help you navigate the cannabis industry, whether you’re a home grower, a large-scale operator, or anywhere in between. Through their informative discussion, Daniel and Idan dive deep into the following essential pillars of cultivation success.

Resilience in Cannabis Cultivation

1. Passion and Persistence: Key Drivers of Success

Success in cannabis cultivation is not just about profit—it’s about passion. Daniel and Idan emphasize that today’s successful cultivators are those who are deeply committed to their craft, persevering through the challenges that arise. Whether in the commercial or home growing sector, those who thrive are driven by love for the process and dedication to quality, not just financial returns.

2. Overcoming Adversity in Cannabis Farming

Cannabis cultivation, much like traditional farming, is hard work. From unpredictable weather conditions to regulatory challenges and market volatility, the path to success is rarely smooth. Daniel and Idan discuss how successful growers adapt, embrace adversity, and stay resilient. This dedication is often what separates long-term success from failure in a highly competitive and unpredictable industry.

3. The Role of Passion in Home Growing

Home growing isn’t just a passing trend. It remains a niche market, with enthusiasts continuing to cultivate cannabis because of their deep passion for the craft. For many, it’s not about saving money but about producing the finest quality cannabis and mastering the art. In this discussion, Daniel and Idan explain why home growing is likely to persist, driven by a love for the plant and the process.

4. From the “Green Rush” to Sustainable Growth

The cannabis industry’s rapid growth, often referred to as the “Green Rush,” has been full of excitement but also challenges. Initially, the focus was on fast money, but now the industry is maturing. Today’s successful operators are those focused on sustainable practices, long-term growth, and quality over short-term speculation. Daniel and Idan discuss how the industry is evolving, with a shift from quick returns to a focus on craft and sustainability.

5. The Power of Collaboration in the Cannabis Industry

Collaboration is becoming increasingly important in the cannabis space. Daniel and Idan stress that cultivators and industry players must work together to overcome challenges. Building strong relationships and networks allows cultivators to share knowledge, support each other, and ultimately thrive together. The future of the industry lies in collaboration, not competition.

6. Farming: More Than Just a Business—It’s a Way of Life

For many cultivators, farming is much more than a job; it’s a lifestyle. Whether it’s traditional agriculture or cannabis cultivation, the bond between the farmer and the land runs deep. Daniel and Idan share their experiences of growing up on farms and how that personal connection influences their approach to cultivation. Passion for the craft transcends the bottom line.

7. What’s Next for the Cannabis Industry?

Looking to the future, what does the next five years hold for the cannabis industry? According to Daniel and Idan, those who remain passionate, persistent, and committed to quality will continue to thrive. The future of cannabis cultivation is bright for those dedicated to the craft—whether it’s home growing or large-scale operations. They predict that, as the industry continues to mature, a new wave of innovation and passion will define the next chapter.

By watching this insightful video discussion, you’ll gain practical knowledge to help you navigate today’s cannabis cultivation industry. Whether you’re a seasoned cultivator or just starting out, Daniel Wilson and Idan Avitan’s perspectives will help you refine your approach to the business and grow with the industry.

Resilience in Cannabis Cultivation:

Insights from Daniel Wilson & Idan Avitan | CCH2O + Growee

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