Hydroponics for the Home Grower
Hydroponics offers many advantages to traditional soil-based horticulture. These include greater control over many of the limiting factors, such as light, temperature, and pests, as well as the ability to grow plants in all seasons. With instruction from one of the top recognized authorities worldwide, Hydroponics for the Home Grower gives you step-by-step guidance on how to grow tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, lettuce, arugula, bok choy, and various herbs year-round within your home or in a backyard greenhouse.
With Dr. Howard Resh’s help, you’ll learn:
· Background information on how hydroponics evolved
· The nutritional and environmental demands of plants and how to control these factors
· How to provide formulations of nutrients optimal to the plants you wish to grow
· The many different hydroponic systems you can purchase or build for yourself
· Designs for different types of greenhouses with components to fit your personal taste and budget
· Crop selection and step-by-step procedures, including seeding, transplanting, training, pest and disease control, and harvesting—along with when to plant and when to change crops
· How you can grow microgreens on your kitchen counter
The book includes an appendix with sources of seeds and other supplies, along with helpful websites and lists of books, articles, and conferences on growing hydroponically and caring for your crops. By following the guidelines in this book, you’ll understand everything you need to know to get your home-growing operation up and running in no time.
Table of Contents
History and Background of Hydroponics
How Hydroponics Started: Its Present and Future Applications
The Popularity and Benefits of Hydroponic Gardening
Why You Should Garden Hydroponically
Understanding Hydroponics and How Plants Grow
Why Hydroponics Is Not Just Chemistry
Plant Growth: The Environment and Its Effects on Plants
Water Needs, Management, and Irrigation Practices
Nutrients Essential to Plants and Their Sources
Essential Nutrients to Plants and Their Functions
Sources of Nutrients for Plants in Soil versus Hydroponics
Nutrient Formulations and Solutions
Signs of Plant Nutritional and Physiological Disorders and Their Remedies
Hydroponic Systems
Substrates to Use and Their Sources for Hydroponics
Small Indoor Hydroponic Units: Types and Construction
Large Indoor Hydroponic Units: Designs and Construction
How to Start Your Plants
Choosing Hydroponic Systems for Specific Crops
Environmental Control Components for Hydroponic Systems
Year-Round Growing in Greenhouses
The Greenhouse Environment for Plants
Benefits of a Greenhouse to the Homeowner
Design, Layout, and Construction of Backyard Greenhouses
Hydroponic Systems for Backyard Greenhouses
Sources of Supplies and Components for Backyard Greenhouses
Vegetable Crops and Their Cultural Techniques
Most Suitable Crops and Varieties
Seeding, Transplanting of Vegetable Crops
Training of Vegetable Crops
Pest and Disease Control
Sprouts and Microgreens
Sprouts versus Microgreens
Growing Techniques for Microgreens
Final Advice on How to Get Started
Appendix: Sources of Supplies and Information
Index
