Hydroponics and Water - FAQ's
Importance and Purity
The Importance of Water Quality
Many water suppliers can provide an overview of your water quality by simply entering your postcode, an example being this link for Thames Water
Examples of serious potential problems are with hard water that contains excessive magnesium and calcium.
Plants require a certain amount of these elements but too much is like a person having too much of a certain thing and can hinder their ability to uptake the other nutrients that they need.
Using purified water or an additive such as Hardwater FloraMicra can help to alleviate this problem.
Where do they get their oxygen?
In a properly functioning hydroponic unit, the roots receive oxygen from the air, which surrounds them, as well as from the oxygen, which is dissolved in the nutrient solution. The proper medium can play an important role in this process.
Chlorination
Chlorine is highly volatile; it evaporates as soon as it hits the air. By the time the nutrient solution reaches the roots, the chlorine is gone.
Water temperature
The ideal temperature of the water in a hydroponics system is between 18 and 26 degrees centigrade.
Before adding fresh water to the reservoir you could allow it to reach the same temperature as the environment the setup is in.
Plants do not respond well to rapid changes in temperature and it will especially affect them when this happens in the root zone.
In the winter it is a wise idea to use an aqaurium heater and to be prepared for any high temperatures through the summer a chiller is a useful addition to the system.
