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Choosing Hydroponic Growing Systems – Active or Passive? Recovery or Non-recovery?

submitted on 14 April 2016
green

There are basically two categories of hydroponic growing systems: active and passive. Active hydroponic growing systems, as the name suggests, involve the movement of the nutrient solution by means of a pump in order to deliver the essential nutrients to the plants. In contrast, a passive hydroponic growing system makes use of the wicking action provided by the hydroponic growing medium to deliver the nutrient solution to the roots of the plants. Generally speaking, passive hydroponic systems are too moist and fail to deliver sufficient oxygen to plant roots for optimal growth and yield results.

A further characteristic of HYDROPONICS systems is whether they are considered to be recovery or non-recovery growing systems. Recovery hydroponic growing systems re-circulate the nutrient solution whereas non-recovery systems do not – the nutrient solution is applied only once and there is no recovery process involved.

Types of hydroponic growing systems


Wick-based system


A wick-based hydroponic growing system is a passive, non-recovery system. There is no pump involved or any other moving parts. A reservoir is used to store the nutrient solution, which is delivered to the plant roots through wicking action or capillary motion, commonly using lantern or candle wick to achieve this. Basically, the nutrient solution is absorbed by the wick and travels up the wick to the roots of the plant. The most commonly used growing mediums in wick hydroponic systems are perlite, sand or vermiculite. In general, wick hydroponic systems are inexpensive and easy to install. They also benefit from easy maintenance. However, the downside to wick-based systems is the fact that they tend to maintain the growing medium in a state of saturation, which is too wet for optimal growing results, due to a lack of oxygen circulating in the root system. Therefore, wick-based hydroponic systems are not the most effective option. Although this is quite possibly the least expensive and minimalist system for beginners, and incredibly easy to maintain, the results can be less than optimal because of the inherent oxygen restrictions compared to other systems.

Ebb and flow hydroponic system
This is an active, recovery hydroponic growing system. It consists of a pump which is usually submerged in a reservoir – with the plants housed at a level above this. As the name suggests, the basic principle of the system is - flood and drain – with the essential nutrient solution being pumped from the reservoir and delivered to the tray system holding the plants – supplying the plant roots with nutrients. Once the flood cycle has been completed the pump is switched off and the solution is allowed to drain naturally back into the reservoir.

The flood cycle forces oxygen-depleted air out of the plant roots and pulls in fresh oxygen-rich air to the roots as the solution drains back into the reservoir. This oxygen boost is essential to ensure the optimal uptake of nutrients by the roots of the plants. Overall, ebb and flow hydroponic growing systems are extremely effective, and require very little maintenance. They are slightly more expensive to install and maintain than wick-based systems due to the need for a pump and timer, but deliver better results in term of growth and yield.

 







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