These days, gardening is not just about getting a good area of fertile land that you can grow your vegetables or some little crops that you want to grow. Indeed, there are a lot of ways to enjoy your love of plants and gardening. If you are a gardening enthusiast, you might find this guide to hydroponics a good idea to enjoy gardening.
By the name itself, you would have probably thought about water, and indeed, hydroponics is a technique wherein you grow plants without soil but with water with mineral nutrient solutions. With the mineral nutrients in water, the plants absorb these nutrients and thus, no need for a growing medium, particularly soil. If you are thinking of growing your plants by just putting them on water, then hydroponics is for you.
To help you start with your hydroponics gardening, here is a simple guide to hydroponics that you might find useful.
Learning about the different types of hydroponic systems
The Wick System
If you want to venture into hydroponics, there are a few techniques that you can learn. You can use the wick system, which is said to be the simplest type that you can do. This is hydroponics system is done by putting your plants in their container while putting the nutrient reservoir in a separate container.
A wick made of absorbent material is then placed on the nutrient reservoir and buried partially underneath each plant. This mechanism allows the nutrients to travel underneath the plants where the roots can readily absorb them.
The Drip System
The drip system is commonly practiced and you can simple find these in any guide to hydroponics. Like the wick system, the plants are placed in a container separate from there the nutrient solution is. Small tubes are then placed in the nutrient reservoir to bring the liquid on top of each drop and allow it to drip. You can also regulate the drip by putting different emitters on top, depending on the desirable speed for your drip system.
The Nutrient Film Technique in Hydroponics or the NFT
The NFT hydroponics is another system that you can also do with your hydroponics garden. In this type of hydroponics system, your plants are still placed on a tray or gutter and separate with the nutrient reservoir but a pump is used to allow the nutrient solution to constantly flow beneath the roots of the plants.
In this technique, the constant stream of nutrient is also made sure that the liquid flowing beneath the tray is even. To do this, a capillary mat is usually placed in the bottom of the tray.
However, one thing that you have to consider in putting up this system is to make sure that your chosen plants have roots large enough to absorb the stream of nutrients below it.
These are just three of the most common hydroponics system that you can put up at home. There are a lot more hydroponics techniques that you may want to explore, especially if you have already learned from your first hydroponics. Just make sure always to secure a good guide to hydroponics so you will be able to follow instructions correctly.
Carolyn Anderson loves gardening as a hobby. If you are particularly interested in gardening without soil or hydroponics, check out the guide The Hydroponic Garden. Also check out Mittleider Method Gardening, where you can learn a unique gardening technique known as the 'poor man's hydroponic system.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carolyn_Anderson
Friday, August 13, 2010
What Makes up Garden Soil and What Kind do I have?
As a master gardener, I believe that having some basic knowledge about what your plants are growing in will help make you a better gardener and the more successes you will have. Have you ever wondered why one plant will do great in one area, but that same variety dies in another area when it's getting the same amount of sunlight and water? How do I know if the soil I am planting in is what I should be planting in?
To answer these questions it helps to know first just what soil is and its purpose. Soil is first and foremost the primary source of nutrients and water for your garden plants. It provides a place for the roots to grow to absorb nutrients, oxygen and water and to anchor the plant.
But what makes up soil? Soil is made up of approximately 50% minerals and organic matter in varying stages of decomposition. The other 50% is air and water which is in the space between the minerals and organic matter. You need that space because nothing much will grow in compacted soil which is evidenced by the trail your dog leaves in the backyard. Air also aids in the decomposition of organic matter. The amount of minerals and organic matter varies from one soil to another. Dirt is soil that has no organic or mineral matter. Basically, it is dead soil.
The percentage of mineral and organic matter is affected by various factors such as the types of plants grown, moisture content, drainage and cultivation practices. Different plants will use up different amounts and types of nutrients and water. That is why crop rotation is recommended for veggie gardens so the same nutrients are not depleted by any particular crop and it gives the area time to recover. So where you plant tomatoes one time, follow with cucumbers or something else the next, then back to tomatoes after a few plantings.
Cultivating soils over long periods of time usually will cause that soil to have lower levels of organic matter. Tilling the soil increases the amount of air in the soil thereby allowing the organic matter to decompose faster.
Soils with good drainage usually have higher organic matter content because there is more oxygen and other nutrients that plants need and therefore decompose organic matter faster. If your soil has poor drainage, less organic matter will be present. Having your plants in soil that is oversaturated is as bad as underwatering. When the soil has too much water, the plant can't take up oxygen and suffocates. Too little water and it wilts and dies.
To test your soil's drainage, in wet soil, dig a hole 3 feet deep and about 8 to 10 inches wide. Fill with water. If the hole is empty in 12 hours or less, you have good drainage, if it is still holding water after 48 hours, the drainage is poor.
How can you tell what kind of soil you have? Is it sand, clay, loam or some combination? You can't necessarily tell by the color. The color can be influenced by the colors of the materials that made up the soil, drainage, climate, temperature, types and amounts of minerals in the soil. A dark color that most of us perceive to be good, quality soil may be dark because of the color of the organic matter in it or it could have poor drainage.
Texture is another indicator of what type of soil you have. Is it sandy, clayey, sandy loam, or clay loam? In the field texture is determined by what is called the ribbon method. Gently rub or try to stretch moist to wet soil (not saturated) between your thumb and forefinger and try to form a ribbon. Note how it feels and reacts when you touch it. The ratio of silt, sand and clay determines the type of soil you have.
Sandy soil is pretty familiar to most of us, it is coarse, feels rough or reminds you of the beach, and isn't sticky. Sandy loam feels gritty, but also slightly sticky. But neither of these should form a ribbon. Sandy soil is easily tilled, drains fast, holds lots of air and warms up fast. Great for growing things that grow on the ground or in it such as potatoes and watermelon.
Loamy sand has very little clay or silt and does not hold together well when moist and you try to form a ball. Sandy loam feels gritty but does have enough silt and clay to make a moist ball. Clay loam should form a very short ribbon of about 3 cm or less. Clay is very sticky, stretchy, and forms a ribbon longer than 3 cm.
Silty clay loam is smooth when dry and becomes slick or sticky when wet. It has more silt than clay. Clay loam is mostly clay. It's hard when dry and also becomes slick or sticky when wet. Clay has 40% or more clay content. It's very hard when dry and difficult to break dry pieces with your fingers. It's not great for plants, but makes great pottery. Loam contains about equal portions of clay, sand and silt.
The depth is good to know if you intend to plant trees because the deeper your soil goes, the better chance the tree has because the soil will hold enough water, nutrients and give the tree more support for its root system.
To find out the depth of your soil, try to dig a hole as deep as you can to see where you meet a barrier. The barrier might be rocks, gravel, heavy clay or something like cement. The deeper you can go the better. Shallow soil goes down 10" or less, moderately shallow 10" - 20", moderately deep 20" - 39", deep 39" - 59" and very deep is 59" or more. Fruit trees should have a soil depth of a few feet to do well.
Some experts suggest getting a soil test done whether it is through a service like a local county extension office or a kit you get at a garden center. Go ahead and do one if you feel it is necessary, but keep in mind that these are not very accurate; even the ones done in a lab. They also don't check for all nutrients you may want to know about. Knowing what type of soil, the depth and drainage should get you off to a good start.
Ways you can improve your soil to add nutrients or to improve drainage is to add things like shale, vermiculite or perlite to increase water-holding capacity, but those can get expensive. Organic matter is the best and you can add that in the form of compost, humus or composted manure. Even bat poo. Or try growing a cover crop such as grasses or legumes, mulching or adding macro- or micro-organisms.
The easiest thing to do is to choose plants that will do well with the soil you have. Look into what plants are native to your area and work those into your landscape. Some plants do great with what we would consider worthless soil and some plants like having wet feet. So it is a matter of doing your homework and knowing what you have and knowing what to plant where.
There is a lot to learn about soil that will help you understand your garden better and I believe if you understand the "why" it makes it easier to come up with solutions for your garden problems and makes gardening more enjoyable.
I have been gardening and bird watching for about 20 years now and one of my favorite things is to add garden decor and unusual accents. I am a Master Gardener with a special interest in native plants and wildlife habitats. I also have a website for garden decor that you can visit at http://www.yourgardenspirit.com/ . I appreciate items that you aren't going to find at your local department store so I look for unique items and artwork by American artisans. Come take a look; you might find something you like!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cheryl_Steins
To answer these questions it helps to know first just what soil is and its purpose. Soil is first and foremost the primary source of nutrients and water for your garden plants. It provides a place for the roots to grow to absorb nutrients, oxygen and water and to anchor the plant.
But what makes up soil? Soil is made up of approximately 50% minerals and organic matter in varying stages of decomposition. The other 50% is air and water which is in the space between the minerals and organic matter. You need that space because nothing much will grow in compacted soil which is evidenced by the trail your dog leaves in the backyard. Air also aids in the decomposition of organic matter. The amount of minerals and organic matter varies from one soil to another. Dirt is soil that has no organic or mineral matter. Basically, it is dead soil.
The percentage of mineral and organic matter is affected by various factors such as the types of plants grown, moisture content, drainage and cultivation practices. Different plants will use up different amounts and types of nutrients and water. That is why crop rotation is recommended for veggie gardens so the same nutrients are not depleted by any particular crop and it gives the area time to recover. So where you plant tomatoes one time, follow with cucumbers or something else the next, then back to tomatoes after a few plantings.
Cultivating soils over long periods of time usually will cause that soil to have lower levels of organic matter. Tilling the soil increases the amount of air in the soil thereby allowing the organic matter to decompose faster.
Soils with good drainage usually have higher organic matter content because there is more oxygen and other nutrients that plants need and therefore decompose organic matter faster. If your soil has poor drainage, less organic matter will be present. Having your plants in soil that is oversaturated is as bad as underwatering. When the soil has too much water, the plant can't take up oxygen and suffocates. Too little water and it wilts and dies.
To test your soil's drainage, in wet soil, dig a hole 3 feet deep and about 8 to 10 inches wide. Fill with water. If the hole is empty in 12 hours or less, you have good drainage, if it is still holding water after 48 hours, the drainage is poor.
How can you tell what kind of soil you have? Is it sand, clay, loam or some combination? You can't necessarily tell by the color. The color can be influenced by the colors of the materials that made up the soil, drainage, climate, temperature, types and amounts of minerals in the soil. A dark color that most of us perceive to be good, quality soil may be dark because of the color of the organic matter in it or it could have poor drainage.
Texture is another indicator of what type of soil you have. Is it sandy, clayey, sandy loam, or clay loam? In the field texture is determined by what is called the ribbon method. Gently rub or try to stretch moist to wet soil (not saturated) between your thumb and forefinger and try to form a ribbon. Note how it feels and reacts when you touch it. The ratio of silt, sand and clay determines the type of soil you have.
Sandy soil is pretty familiar to most of us, it is coarse, feels rough or reminds you of the beach, and isn't sticky. Sandy loam feels gritty, but also slightly sticky. But neither of these should form a ribbon. Sandy soil is easily tilled, drains fast, holds lots of air and warms up fast. Great for growing things that grow on the ground or in it such as potatoes and watermelon.
Loamy sand has very little clay or silt and does not hold together well when moist and you try to form a ball. Sandy loam feels gritty but does have enough silt and clay to make a moist ball. Clay loam should form a very short ribbon of about 3 cm or less. Clay is very sticky, stretchy, and forms a ribbon longer than 3 cm.
Silty clay loam is smooth when dry and becomes slick or sticky when wet. It has more silt than clay. Clay loam is mostly clay. It's hard when dry and also becomes slick or sticky when wet. Clay has 40% or more clay content. It's very hard when dry and difficult to break dry pieces with your fingers. It's not great for plants, but makes great pottery. Loam contains about equal portions of clay, sand and silt.
The depth is good to know if you intend to plant trees because the deeper your soil goes, the better chance the tree has because the soil will hold enough water, nutrients and give the tree more support for its root system.
To find out the depth of your soil, try to dig a hole as deep as you can to see where you meet a barrier. The barrier might be rocks, gravel, heavy clay or something like cement. The deeper you can go the better. Shallow soil goes down 10" or less, moderately shallow 10" - 20", moderately deep 20" - 39", deep 39" - 59" and very deep is 59" or more. Fruit trees should have a soil depth of a few feet to do well.
Some experts suggest getting a soil test done whether it is through a service like a local county extension office or a kit you get at a garden center. Go ahead and do one if you feel it is necessary, but keep in mind that these are not very accurate; even the ones done in a lab. They also don't check for all nutrients you may want to know about. Knowing what type of soil, the depth and drainage should get you off to a good start.
Ways you can improve your soil to add nutrients or to improve drainage is to add things like shale, vermiculite or perlite to increase water-holding capacity, but those can get expensive. Organic matter is the best and you can add that in the form of compost, humus or composted manure. Even bat poo. Or try growing a cover crop such as grasses or legumes, mulching or adding macro- or micro-organisms.
The easiest thing to do is to choose plants that will do well with the soil you have. Look into what plants are native to your area and work those into your landscape. Some plants do great with what we would consider worthless soil and some plants like having wet feet. So it is a matter of doing your homework and knowing what you have and knowing what to plant where.
There is a lot to learn about soil that will help you understand your garden better and I believe if you understand the "why" it makes it easier to come up with solutions for your garden problems and makes gardening more enjoyable.
I have been gardening and bird watching for about 20 years now and one of my favorite things is to add garden decor and unusual accents. I am a Master Gardener with a special interest in native plants and wildlife habitats. I also have a website for garden decor that you can visit at http://www.yourgardenspirit.com/ . I appreciate items that you aren't going to find at your local department store so I look for unique items and artwork by American artisans. Come take a look; you might find something you like!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cheryl_Steins
The Soil in Which Things Grow
Plants grow by a very complex process. The leaves, which are above the ground, take in some of the nourishment that the plant needs by absorbing sunlight and turning it into chemicals. The roots, which are below the ground, soak up minerals dissolved in water, these minerals coming from the soil in which the roots grow. A plant never runs out of sunlight, but the soil does run out of chemicals. When this happens, healthy plants will no longer grow in it. There must be a waiting period in which the soil can enrich itself with more minerals of the kind the plant needs. So long ago that history does not go back so far, men learned that they must let the ground rest between crops.
The ancient Egyptians, nearly ten thousand years ago, let a field "lie fallow" every few years, which meant that they planted nothing in it or else planted a crop (such as alfalfa or another hay) that could grow without taking any important minerals out of the soil, and in fact would cause the soil to acquire new minerals to replenish the ones it had lost. Not long after that, farmers learned that various fertilizers (which were then generally called manure) would supply minerals to the soil and make it grow better plants. Finally, scientists began to apply their knowledge of chemistry to the problem and to analyze the soil to see what chemicals and minerals it needed and did not have. These missing chemicals and minerals, especially nitrates, carbon, iron, and others, they could feed to the soil so that the soil in turn could feed them into the roots of the plants.
One of the ways of preventing the soil from wearing out, and one that has been known for thousands of years but is still practiced, is called crop rotation. First a certain field is used to raise a crop that takes from the soil some of the minerals but not all. Then a crop is raised that does not take those same minerals, but does use the ones that were left from the year before, and that restores to the soil the minerals that were taken out by the previous crop. These missing minerals are restored because they are in the roots and stems of the plants that die, and rot, and become part of the soil. Rotation means "turning around," and the rotation of crops is a changing from one crop to another, then going back to the first one, so that the whole process goes around as though in a circle.
The farmer learned all these things, and he bought the best seed and the best fertilizer, and he worked very hard, and he still found his farm becoming less and less valuable. The reason, very often, was "erosion," which means "wearing away"; in spite of everything he did, the topsoil, which is the most important soil, was wearing or washing away from his farm. The topsoil is the layer of soft, black earth that lies on top of the harder, poor level of clay or packed sand that is called subsoil. The topsoil is rich in the stuff that life is made of. It is the level of soil that is soaked when it rains. Through this topsoil worms and insects burrow, both loosening it while they live and enriching it when they die. Just because it is on top, the topsoil is most likely to wash away in a heavy rain or blow away when it is dry and the winds are high, leaving for the farmer only the barren subsoil in which he cannot grow anything of value. The problem of soil erosion became so severe that even in the rich United States, not more than thirty years ago, many farmers were unable to make a decent living because their soil was no good. It was one of the great problems of the country. The problem has now been solved to a very large extent. One way has been to cut level fields or terraces into hilly country, so that when the water pours down from the hills
David is the author of many articles including Best Friend Quotes and also the author of Best life quotes
other articles:
rods for sale
HMMWV For Sale
The ancient Egyptians, nearly ten thousand years ago, let a field "lie fallow" every few years, which meant that they planted nothing in it or else planted a crop (such as alfalfa or another hay) that could grow without taking any important minerals out of the soil, and in fact would cause the soil to acquire new minerals to replenish the ones it had lost. Not long after that, farmers learned that various fertilizers (which were then generally called manure) would supply minerals to the soil and make it grow better plants. Finally, scientists began to apply their knowledge of chemistry to the problem and to analyze the soil to see what chemicals and minerals it needed and did not have. These missing chemicals and minerals, especially nitrates, carbon, iron, and others, they could feed to the soil so that the soil in turn could feed them into the roots of the plants.
One of the ways of preventing the soil from wearing out, and one that has been known for thousands of years but is still practiced, is called crop rotation. First a certain field is used to raise a crop that takes from the soil some of the minerals but not all. Then a crop is raised that does not take those same minerals, but does use the ones that were left from the year before, and that restores to the soil the minerals that were taken out by the previous crop. These missing minerals are restored because they are in the roots and stems of the plants that die, and rot, and become part of the soil. Rotation means "turning around," and the rotation of crops is a changing from one crop to another, then going back to the first one, so that the whole process goes around as though in a circle.
The farmer learned all these things, and he bought the best seed and the best fertilizer, and he worked very hard, and he still found his farm becoming less and less valuable. The reason, very often, was "erosion," which means "wearing away"; in spite of everything he did, the topsoil, which is the most important soil, was wearing or washing away from his farm. The topsoil is the layer of soft, black earth that lies on top of the harder, poor level of clay or packed sand that is called subsoil. The topsoil is rich in the stuff that life is made of. It is the level of soil that is soaked when it rains. Through this topsoil worms and insects burrow, both loosening it while they live and enriching it when they die. Just because it is on top, the topsoil is most likely to wash away in a heavy rain or blow away when it is dry and the winds are high, leaving for the farmer only the barren subsoil in which he cannot grow anything of value. The problem of soil erosion became so severe that even in the rich United States, not more than thirty years ago, many farmers were unable to make a decent living because their soil was no good. It was one of the great problems of the country. The problem has now been solved to a very large extent. One way has been to cut level fields or terraces into hilly country, so that when the water pours down from the hills
David is the author of many articles including Best Friend Quotes and also the author of Best life quotes
other articles:
rods for sale
HMMWV For Sale
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)