Look Inside
This book has been written by a team of horticultural scientists and hydroponics experts most with decades of experience; in response to a fundamental question that continually gets asked: "How do I make (or manage) the nutrients?"
Hydroponic or tissue culture nutrition is a complex subject with so many "moveable parts" to the discussion, that no one answer is appropriate to all situations.
If you are to manage plant nutrition in hydroponics, tissue culture or any other "artificial" situation, you need the sort of knowledge found in this book.
Start here, and you will be in a far better place to make decisions about nutrition in any context, as you move forward.
Plants naturally grow in soil, but modern science has found other ways for them to grow.
Once you understand what things soil does for plants, you can then with the help of modern science begin to conceive other ways of doing those things, replacing the need for soil.
The main thing soil does for a plant is to provide nutrients. It also provides a place for the roots to anchor the plant, and an environment to insulate the roots from extreme weather and provide moisture and oxygen for the roots to absorb.
Hydroponics and tissue culture are technologically advanced ways of growing plants without soil. They offer the grower many advantages, not the least an ability to have greater control over how the plant grows.
Pivotal to that control, is to understand and manage the nutrients provided to the plant. This management of nutrients is what this book is about.
CONTENTS
Preface
Chapter 1: Introduction
- Artificial Growing
- Tissue Culture
- Hydroponics
- How Plants Uptake Nutrients
- How Plants Absorb and Use Nutrients in Hydroponics
- Hydroponics Techniques
Chapter 2: Pre-Packaged Nutrients
- Using Solid Nutrients
- Solutions and Precipitates
- Why Twin-Pack Chemicals?
- Why Single-Pack Liquid Solutions?
- Organic Solutions
Chapter 3: Chemical Components
- Types of Chemicals
- Electrical Conductivity
- The Role of pH in Hydroponics
- What Are Solutions?
- What Does a Hydroponic Nutrient Look Like?
- Writing Chemical Names
- Calculating the Amount of Nutrient in a Chemical
- Mixing Nutrients
- Hydroponic Fertiliser details
Chapter 4: Other Additives
- Introduction
- Allowable Additives for Hydroponic Nutrient Solutions
- Beneficial Trace Elements as Hydroponic Additives
- Bio-stimulants as Hydroponic Additives
- Foliar Nutrition and Foliar sprays
Chapter 5: Creating Hydroponic Nutrients
- Introduction to Basic Mixes
-
Process of Making and Mixing Nutrients from Fertiliser Salts
- Example Solutions
- Nutrient Solution Formulation
- Hydroponic Nutrient Levels
- Nutrient Ratios
- Assessing a Nutrient Formulation
- Suggestions for Beginners
Chapter 6: Organic Hydroponic Nutrients
- Brief History
- Issues with Organics
- Types of Organic Systems
- Allowable Nutrient Sources and Products for Organic Production
- Making Organic Nutrient Solutions Onsite
- EC and pH Control in Organic Hydroponics
- Problems with Organic Nutrients
Chapter 7: Tissue Culture Nutrients
- Hydroponics vs. Tissue Culture
- Nutrient Supply in Tissue Culture
- A Tissue Culture Medium
- Other Additives in Tissue Culture and Hydroponics
- Organic Compounds
Chapter 8: Managing Contaminants
- Water Quality
- Disinfection Systems
- Preventing Chemical Contaminants from Leaking into the Broader Environment
Chapter 9: Testing Solutions
- Important Tests in Hydroponics
- Water Quality Tests
- Water quality test results and interpretation
- Nutrient Balance Testing: Solution Analysis
- Plant Testing: Foliar Mineral Levels
- pH Tests for Hydroponics
- EC Testing
- Automatic EC and pH testing and control
Chapter 10: Nutritional Disorders
- Nutrition Management
- Diagnosing Nutritional Stress
- Nutritional Deficiencies
- Macronutrients: NPK Deficiencies and Toxicities
- Other Common Deficiencies and Toxicities
- Micronutrients
- What are the Most Common Symptoms?
- Key to Detecting Deficiencies and Toxicities
Chapter 11: Nutrient Solution and Produce Nutrition
- Examples of Nutrient Solution Manipulation and Produce Nutrition
Further reading and study
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