Hydroponic Systems and how they work Part 1 - Flood and Drain
Gardening You can discover many diverse hydroponic systems on the market and it may be challenging to know which one to employ. The major systems that are frequently used are: • Flood & Drain / Ebb & Flow • NFT (Nutrient Film Technique) • Deep Water Culture • Drip System This post will provide a synopsis of each system and discuss how it works. We will begin with a popular method and the first on the list – Flood & Drain Flood & Drain These systems use pumps to flood the vegetation and their roots with water at certain time intervals and for a particular amount of time. This method is entirely automated. Timers are used to turn the pumps on and off at given times and the water utilised in the flood has dissolved nutrients within it. This enables the seedlings to acquire all the food it needs direct at its roots. The times of the flood and drain will vary based on what variety of crop you are producing and the type of medium you are growing in. For example, clay pebbles drain quickly and consequently will call for more floods per day, but an alternative medium like rockwool will take longer to drain and hence require less flooding per day to sustain root saturation. As soon as the flooding has completed and the pump turns off, the water empties back into the main tank. Crops can be cultivated using this method on specific elevated tray platforms or in a separate pot system. Trays are ideal for growing plants that attain about a metre in height. For plants growing bigger than this a flood and drain pot system is a good idea. Tray Platform Employing a tray platform allows gravity to be used during the drain. Currently we are growing strawberries in our display tent of flood and drain. The tray platform system is great for these plants as they will not grow excessively and conflict with the light. A grow tent is recommended to put this systems in as it holds all the clutter of wires and grow mediums and includes a highly reflective coating on the interior. The trays come in numerous sizes; however we are using a 1m square tray for the strawberries. The tray is placed on a stand and the water reservoir (containing nutrients) is directly below - this makes it a neat, tidy kit. There are two spouts contained in the middle of the tray, one that is fastened to a pump which pumps water out of the reservoir below into the tray, and the second nozzle drains the water away using gravity. Timers let you specify how often the systems floods and drains on a daily basis - and that is just about it. Flood and Drain trays are straightforward pieces of kit to use and set up. As we are using a tent the grow light is fastened to one of the struts above the strawberries and so we are just waiting to harvest. Pot System The pot system is different to the tray as you can have numerous pots so long as you ensure that you've got the appropriate size of water tank. In a pot system the water reservoir will usually be in the form of a water butt rather than a deep tray. The pots which are used are composed of an inner and external pot. The plant sits in the inner pot within a medium such as rockwool or clay balls and this sits in the external pot. There is a bit of area in between the internal and external pot to allow water to flood the roots successfully. There are a few differences from the tray approach. 1. The addition of a brain pot. 2. The usage of gravity and water pumps. Brain Pot and Flood Cycle This is a separate pot to the central water tank and it maintains the circulation and drain of water, hence the label “brain”. The timer is plugged into the brain pot and the main electricity source. The times you need the flood to occur are set on timer and this routinely starts the flood and drain cycles. Water is either pumped or moves by gravity in to the brain pot from the reservoir when a flood cycle commences. The brain pot is plugged into the single pots by flexible tube and as water circulates and fills the brain pot it additionally fills the pots. When the pots are fully flooded a stop flow switch in the brain pot switches the flow of water from the reservoir off so the pots do not overspill. This makes it possible for the roots of the crops to bathe in the nutrient loaded water. After a period of time the timer will inform the brain to initiate pumping the water from the brain pot back into the water tank and consequently draining the water from the pots. On top of removing the water from the pots this process allows fresh oxygen to be drawn into the pots serving the roots. These are clever systems and come in a range of sizes starting from a 4-pot system to a 48-pot system. The products do not incorporate the lamps and if you take a look at my profile you will see the publications I have written on the different lighting used in hydroponics. Helpful hints for using flood and drain • Keep an eye on your system as bits of medium can clog up the pump apparatus if they get in the water. • Keep the water tank filled and equipped with a beneficial nutrient to keep your crops healthy. • Typically flooding only needs to be carried out when the lights are on. • Look out for root clogging in the flexible pipe linking the pot to the brain pot. As roots establish this might be a concern. Sarah has been employing hydroponics to grow her own fruits and vegetables for several years. She has branched out from this hobby into starting her own business and store. She has demos of different systems in her shop and is presently growing different varieties of strawberry by using a flood and drain system. For additional advice on this check out Intelligent Hydroponics or take a look at iHydro
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