Richard Baras - DIY Hydroponics Garden: The Hydroponics Home Systems Guide for Creating your Green House and Start Quickly Growing Vegetables, Fruits and Herbs without Soil

DIY Hydroponics Garden

The Hydroponics Home Systems Guide for Creating your Green House and Start Quickly Growing Vegetables, Fruits and Herbs without Soil

By Richard Baras

Text Copyright by Richard Baras - All rights reserved

No part of this guide may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Legal & Disclaimer

The information contained in this book and its contents is not designed to replace or take the place of any form of medical or professional advice; and is not meant to replace the need for independent medical, financial, legal or other professional advice or services, as may be required. The content and information in this book has been provided for educational and entertainment purposes only.

The content and information contained in this book has been compiled from sources deemed reliable, and it is accurate to the best of the Author's knowledge, information and belief. However, the Author cannot guarantee its accuracy and validity and cannot be held liable for any errors and/or omissions. Further, changes are periodically made to this book as and when needed. Where appropriate and/or necessary, you must consult a professional (including but not limited to your doctor, attorney, financial advisor or such other professional advisor) before using any of the suggested remedies, techniques, or information in this book.

Upon using the contents and information contained in this book, you agree to hold harmless the Author from and against any damages, costs, and expenses, including any legal fees potentially resulting from the application of any of the information provided by this book. This disclaimer applies to any loss, damages or injury caused by the use and application, whether directly or indirectly, of any advice or information presented, whether for breach of contract, tort, negligence, personal injury, criminal intent, or under any other cause of action.

You agree to accept all risks of using the information presented inside this book.

You agree that by continuing to read this book, where appropriate and/or necessary, you shall consult a professional (including but not limited to your doctor, attorney, or financial advisor or such other advisor as needed) before using any of the suggested remedies, techniques, or information in this book.

Introduction

H AVE YOU EVER WONDERED how some people get the best-looking fruits or veggies? How do they make their plants look picture worthy of the best magazine? Social media is bounding with these types of pictures, and here I am allowing my cactus to wither. I didnt know a lick about gardening until a few years ago. Ive always bought my fresh produce from the local farmers markets, but their prices are increasing while my budget is staying the same. How can I get Instagram worthy produce while not spending an arm and a leg? I just recently stumbled across the perfect solution. The answer is hydroponics. Does that word sound scary? Have you heard of it before? The mass amount of information that is available can be quite overwhelming, but dont fret. Its so much easier than you think. We will start by introducing you to exactly what hydroponics is and how you can get started growing your own million-dollar plants in no time.

Chapter 1 What is hydroponics ?

W HAT EXACTLY IS HYDROPONICS ? Well, hydroponics is basically gardening without soil. Plants are grown in a solution that combines water and nutrients to create the perfect balance. Hydroponics is a perfect alternative for those who live in apartments or cities, and they dont have immediate access to land, or they just dont want to plant their seeds the traditional way. In order to know how hydroponics came to be, we should look at what led it to be.

Hydroponics didnt just appear overnight. A lot of trial and error went into what we now know as hydroponics. Even scientists and gardeners are still tweaking this process to make it even better. So how did hydroponics begin? Some claim the earliest mention of hydroponics, before it was known as such, was the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Because this area saw little rain, the Hanging Gardens were built along the river, and received water by a chain pull system where river water was pulled up along this chain and dropped at the landings for the plants. Other early forms are known as floating farms or gardens such as those seen in China. A more modern approach to hydroponics came around the 1600s when it was discovered by Jan Van Helmont that plants get sustenance from water instead of soil. What Helomnt didnt realize is that it wasnt just one thing or another, but each individual item working together to make a plant thrive. Hundreds of years later, Joseph Priestly conducted an experiment and discovered that plants produce oxygen. Because of the work of the two aforementioned men, Jan Ingenhousz is credited with discovering photosynthesis. Ingenhousz put all the facts together and realized that when a plant gets light, it produces oxygen; when it doesnt get light, the oxygen production ceases and changes to carbon dioxide production. It wasnt until the mid-1800s when it was discovered that plants need sunlight, oxygen and nutrients in order to thrive. In the 1860s, botanists from Germany developed the first nutrient rich water-soluble formula in which plants could be grown. Today this formula is collectively known as water culture in which a plants roots are submerged in a mineral mixture of potassium, nitrogen, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, and sulfur.

Today, several countries are using hydroponics to produce better vegetation. The largest hydroponic farm is in Dubai and supplies its goods to the local airport. This farm uses just over 300 gallons of water and 100 square feet for hydroponic production. Traditionally the usage would be over 250,000 gallons of water and almost 828,000 square feet of land.