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HYDROPONICS (CHAPTER 4)

Introduction:
Hydroponics (From the Greek words hydro, water and ponos, labor) is a method of
growing plants using mineral nutrientsolutions, in water, without soil. Terrestrial plants may be grown with
their roots in the mineral nutrient solution only or in an inert medium, such as perlite, gravel, mineral wool,
or coconut husk.

Researchers discovered in the 19th century that plants absorb essential mineral nutrients as
inorganic ions in water. In natural conditions, soil acts as a mineral nutrient reservoir but the soil itself is
not essential to plant growth. When the mineral nutrients in the soil dissolve in water, plant roots are able
to absorb them. When the required mineral nutrients are introduced into a plant's water supply artificially,
soil is no longer required for the plant to thrive. Almost any terrestrial plant will grow with hydroponics.
Hydroponics is also a standard technique in biology research and teaching.

Advantages:
Some of the reasons why hydroponics is being adapted around the world for food production are the
following:

 No soil is needed
 The water stays in the system and can be reused- thus, lower water costs
 It is possible to control the nutrition levels in their entirety- thus, lower nutrition costs
 No nutrition pollution is released into the environment because of the controlled system
 Stable and high yields
 Pests and diseases are easier to get rid of than in soil because of the container's mobility

Today, hydroponics is an established branch of agronomy. Progress has been rapid, and results obtained
in various countries have proved it to be thoroughly practical and to have very definite advantages over
conventional methods of horticulture. The two chief merits of the soil-less cultivation of plants are, first,
much higher crop yields, and second, hydroponics can be used in places where in-ground agriculture or
gardening is not possible.
Disadvantages:
The hydroponic conditions (presence of fertilizer and high humidity) create an environment that
stimulates salmonella growth. Other disadvantages include pathogen attacks such as damp-off due
to Verticillium wilt caused by the high moisture levels associated with hydroponics and overwatering of
.
soil based plants. Also, many hydroponic plants require different fertilizers and containment systems

Media:
One of the most obvious decisions hydroponic farmers have to make is which medium they should use.
Different media are appropriate for different growing techniques.
Diahydro

Sedimentary rock medium that consists of the fossilized remains of diatoms. Diahydro is extremely high in
Silica (87-94%), an essential component for the growth of plants and strengthening of cell walls.
Expanded clay (Ex-clay)
Baked clay pellets, also known under the trademarks 'Hydroton' or 'Hydrokorrels' or 'LECA' (lightweight
expanded clay aggregate), are suitable for hydroponic systems in which all nutrients are carefully
controlled in water solution. The clay pellets are inert, pH neutral and do not contain any nutrient value.

The clay is formed into round pellets and fired in rotary kilns at 1,200 °C (2,190 °F). This causes the clay
to expand, like popcorn, and become porous. It is light in weight, and does not compact over time. Shape
of individual pellet can be irregular or uniform depending on brand and manufacturing process. The
manufacturers consider expanded clay to be an ecologically sustainable and re-usable growing medium
because of its ability to be cleaned and sterilized, typically by washing in solutions of white
vinegar, chlorine bleach or hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and rinsing completely.

A less popular view is that clay pebbles are best not re-used even when they are cleaned, due to root
growth which may enter the medium. Breaking open a clay pebble after a crop has been grown will reveal
this growth.
Rock wool

Rock wool (mineral wool) is probably the most widely used medium in hydroponics. Rock Wool is an inert
substrate for both 'free drainage' and recirculating systems. It is made from molten rock spun into cotton
candy-like fibers, resulting in a fibrous medium accessible to capillary action that is not degraded by
microbiological activity. Advantages are that rock wool is light weight, free of pathogens, it has very low
CEC (Cations exchange capacity) making nutrients and water readily available, and it comes in different
fiber sizes and orientations. Higher density rock wool also improves the wicking and dispersion of
moisture and nutrients, enticing roots into more areas of the medium, and therefore increasing nutrient
fueled sites for premium plant production. After usage, rock wool can be recycled into bricks or into new
rock wool again, and or incorporated into soil because it is made of natural rocks and contains great
amount of fertilizer left within it.
Coir

Coco Peat, also known as coir or coco, is the leftover material after the fibres have been removed from
the outermost shell (bolster) of the coconut. Coir is a 100% natural grow and flowering medium. Coconut
Coir is colonized with trichoderma bacteria which protects roots and stimulates root growth. It is extremely
difficult to over water coir due to its perfect air to water ratio, plant roots thrive in this environment, coir
has a high cation exchange, meaning it can store unused minerals to be released to the plant as and
when it requires it. Coir is available in many forms, most common is coco peat which has the appearance
and texture of soil but contains no mineral content.
Perlite

Perlite is a volcanic rock that has been superheated into very lightweight expanded glass pebbles. It is
used loose or in plastic sleeves immersed in the water. It is also used in potting soil mixes to decrease
soil density. Perlite has similar properties and uses to vermiculite but generally holds more air and less
water. If not contained, it can float if flood and drain feeding is used. It is a fusion of granite, obsidian,
pumice and basalt. This volcanic rock is naturally fused at high temperatures undergoing what is
called "Fusionic Metamorphosis".
Vermiculite

Like perlite, vermiculite is another mineral that has been superheated until it has expanded into light
pebbles. Vermiculite holds more water than perlite and has a natural "wicking" property that can draw
water and nutrients in a passive hydroponic system. If too much water and not enough air surrounds the
plants roots, it's possible to gradually lower the medium's water-retention capability by mixing in
increasing quantities of perlite.
Sand

Sand is cheap and easily available. However, it is heavy, does not hold water very well, and it must be
sterilized between use.
Gravel

The same type that is used in aquariums, though any small gravel can be used, provided it is washed
first. Indeed, plants growing in a typical traditional gravel filter bed, with water circulated using electric
powerhead pumps, are in effect being grown using gravel hydroponics. Gravel is inexpensive, easy to
keep clean, drains well and won't become waterlogged. However, it is also heavy, and if the system
doesn't provide continuous water, the plant roots may dry out.
Brick shards

Brick shards have similar properties to gravel. They have the added disadvantages of possibly altering
the pH and requiring extra cleaning before reuse.
Polystyrene packing peanuts

Polystyrene packing peanuts are inexpensive, readily available, and have excellent drainage. However,
they can be too lightweight for some uses. They are mainly used in closed tube systems. Note
that polystyrene peanuts must be used; biodegradable packing peanuts will decompose into a sludge.
Plants may absorb styrene and pass it to their consumers; this is a possible health risk.
Wood fiber

Wood fiber, produced from steam friction of wood, is a very efficient organic substrate for hydroponics. It
has the advantage that it keeps its structure for a very long time.

Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroponics#Media
PHYSIOLOGICAL PROCESSES THAT INFLUENCES CROP YIELD
(CHAPTER 3)

Growth and Development:

Most of the solid material in a plant is taken from the atmosphere. Through a process known
as photosynthesis, most plants use the energy in sunlight to convert carbon dioxide from the atmosphere,
plus water, into simple sugars. Parasitic plants, on the other hand, use the resources of its host to grow.
These sugars are then used as building blocks and form the main structural component of the
plant. Chlorophyll, a green-colored, magnesium-containing pigment is essential to this process; it is
generally present in plant leaves, and often in other plant parts as well.

Plants usually rely on soil primarily for support and water (in quantitative terms), but also
obtain compounds of nitrogen, phosphorus, and other crucial elemental nutrients. Epiphytic and
lithophytic plants often depend on rainwater or other sources for nutrients and carnivorous
plants supplement their nutrient requirements with insect prey that they capture. For the majority of plants
to grow successfully they also require oxygen in the atmosphere and around their roots for respiration.
However, some plants grow as submerged aquatics, using oxygen dissolved in the surrounding water,
and a few specialized vascular plants, such as mangroves, can grow with their roots in anoxic conditions.

The genotype of a plant affects its growth. For example, selected varieties of wheat grow rapidly,
maturing within 110 days, whereas others, in the same environmental conditions, grow more slowly and
[19]
mature within 155 days.

Growth is also determined by environmental factors, such as temperature, available water, available light,
and available nutrients in the soil. Any change in the availability of these external conditions will be
reflected in the plants growth.

Biotic factors are also capable of affecting plant growth. Plants compete with other plants for space,
water, light and nutrients. Plants can be so crowded that no single individual produces normal growth,
causing etiolation and chlorosis. Optimal plant growth can be hampered by grazing animals, suboptimal
soil composition, lack of mycorrhizal fungi, and attacks by insects or plant diseases, including those
[19]
caused by bacteria, fungi, viruses, and nematodes.

Simple plants like algae may have short life spans as individuals, but their populations are commonly
seasonal. Other plants may be organized according to their seasonal growth pattern: annual plants live
and reproduce within one growing season, biennial plants live for two growing seasons and usually
reproduce in second year, and perennial plants live for many growing seasons and continue to reproduce
once they are mature. These designations often depend on climate and other environmental factors;
plants that are annual in alpine or temperate regions can be biennial or perennial in warmer climates.
Among the vascular plants, perennials include both evergreens that keep their leaves the entire year,
and deciduous plants which lose their leaves for some part of it. In temperate and boreal climates, they
generally lose their leaves during the winter; many tropical plants lose their leaves during the dry season.

The growth rate of plants is extremely variable. Some mosses grow less than 0.001 millimeters per hour
(mm/h), while most trees grow 0.025-0.250 mm/h. Some climbing species, such as kudzu, which do not
need to produce thick supportive tissue, may grow up to 12.5 mm/h.

Plants protect themselves from frost and dehydration stress with antifreeze proteins, heat-shock
proteins and sugars (sucrose is common). LEA (Late Embryogenesis Abundant) protein expression is
induced by stresses and protects other proteins from aggregation as a result of desiccation and freezing.

Photosynthesis:

Photosynthesis (from the Greek υώτο- [photo-], "light," and σύνθεσις [synthesis], "putting together",
"composition") is a process that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, especially sugars,
using the energy from sunlight. Photosynthesis occurs in plants, algae, and many species of bacteria, but
not in archaea. Photosynthetic organisms are called photoautotrophs, since they can create their own
food. In plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, photosynthesis uses carbon dioxide and water,
releasing oxygen as a waste product. Photosynthesis is vital for all aerobic life on Earth. As well as
maintaining the normal level of oxygen in the atmosphere, nearly all life either depends on it directly as a
source of energy, or indirectly as the ultimate source of the energy in their food (the exceptions
are chemoautotrophsthat live in rocks or around deep sea hydrothermal vents). The rate of energy
capture by photosynthesis is immense, approximately 100 terawatts, which is about six times larger than
the power consumption of human civilization. As well as energy, photosynthesis is also the source of the
carbon in all the organic compounds within organisms' bodies. In all, photosynthetic organisms convert
around 100–115 teragrams of carbon into biomass per year.

Although photosynthesis can happen in different ways in different species, some features are always the
same. For example, the process always begins when energy from light is absorbed
by proteins called photosynthetic reaction centers that contain chlorophylls. In plants, these proteins are
held inside organelles called chloroplasts, while in bacteria they are embedded in the plasma membrane.
Some of the light energy gathered by chlorophylls is stored in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
The rest of the energy is used to remove electrons from a substance such as water. These electrons are
then used in the reactions that turn carbon dioxide into organic compounds. In plants, algae and
cyanobacteria, this is done by a sequence of reactions called the Calvin cycle, but different sets of
reactions are found in some bacteria, such as the reverse Krebs cycle in Chlorobium. Many
photosynthetic organisms have adaptations that concentrate or store carbon dioxide. This helps reduce a
wasteful process called photorespiration that can consume part of the sugar produced during
photosynthesis.

The first photosynthetic organisms probably evolved about 3,500 million years ago, early in
the evolutionary history of life, when all forms of life on Earth were microorganisms and the atmosphere
had much more carbon dioxide. They most likely usedhydrogen or hydrogen sulfide as sources of
electrons, rather than water. Cyanobacteria appeared later, around3,000 million years ago, and
drastically changed the Earth when they began to oxygenate the atmosphere, beginning about
2,400 million years ago. This new atmosphere allowed the evolution of complex life such as protists.
Eventually, no later than a billion years ago, one of these protists formed a symbiotic relationship with a
cyanobacterium, producing the ancestor of many plants and algae. The chloroplasts in modern plants are
the descendants of these ancient symbiotic cyanobacteria.

Respiration metabolism and nutrient requirement:

Plant nutrition is the study of the chemical elements that are necessary for growth.In 1972, E. Epstein
defined 2 criteria for an element to be essential for plant growth. (1) in its absence the plant is unable to
complete a normal life cycle or (2) that the element is part of some essential plant constituent or
metabolite, this is all in accordance with Liebig's law of the minimum.: There are 17 essential plant
nutrients. Carbon and oxygen are absorbed from the air, while other nutrients including water are
obtained from the soil. Plants must obtain the following mineral nutrients from the soil:

 the three primary macronutrients: nitrogen(N), phosphorus(P), and potassium(K).


 the three secondary macronutrients such as calcium(Ca), sulphur(S), magnesium (Mg).
 the macronutrient Silicon (Si)
 and micronutrients or trace minerals: boron (B), chlorine (Cl), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn),
copper (Cu), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni), selenium (Se), and sodium (Na).

The macronutrients are consumed in larger quantities and are present in plant tissue in quantities from
0.2% to 4.0% (on a dry matter weight basis). Micronutrients are present in plant tissue in quantities
measured in parts per million, ranging from 5 to 200 ppm, or less than 0.02% dry weight.
Most soil conditions across the world can provide plants with adequate nutrition and do not require
fertilizer for a complete life cycle. However, man can artificially modify soil through the addition
of fertilizer to promote vigorous growth and increase yield. The plants are able to obtain their required
nutrients from the fertilizer added to the soil. A colloidal carbonaceous residue, known as humus, can
serve as a nutrient reservoir: Besides lack of water and sunshine, nutrient deficiency is a major growth
limiting factor.
+
Nutrient uptake in the soil is achieved by cation exchange, where in root hairs pump hydrogen ions (H )
into the soil through proton pumps. These hydrogen ions displace cationsattached to negatively charged
soil particles so that the cations are available for uptake by the root.

Plant nutrition is a difficult subject to understand completely, partially because of the variation between
different plants and even between different species or individuals of a given clone. An element present at
a low level may cause deficiency symptoms, while the same element at a higher level may cause toxicity.
Further, deficiency of one element may present as symptoms of toxicity from another element. An
abundance of one nutrient may cause a deficiency of another nutrient. Also a lowered availability of a
given nutrient, such as SO2-4 can affect the uptake of another nutrient, such as NO-3. Also, K+ uptake
can be influenced by the amount NH+4 available

The root, especially the root hair, is the most essential organ for the uptake of nutrients. The structure and
architecture of the root can alter the rate of nutrient uptake. Nutrient ions are transported to the center of
the root, the Stele in order for the nutrients to reach the conducting tissues, xylem and phloem.
The Casparian strip, a cell wall outside of the Stele but within the root, prevents passive flow of water and
[4]
nutrients to help regulate the uptake of nutrients and water . Xylem moves water and inorganic
molecules within the plant and phloem counts organic molecule transportation. Water potential plays a
key role in a plants nutrient uptake. If the water potential is more negative within the plant than the
surrounding soils, the nutrients will move from the more higher solute (soil) concentration to lower solute
concentration (plant).

There are 3 fundamental ways plants uptake nutrients through the root: 1.) simple diffusion, occurs when
a nonpolar molecule, such as O2, CO2, and NH3 that follow a concentration gradient, can passively
move through the lipid bilayer membrane without the use of transport proteins. 2.) facilitated diffusion, is
the rapid movement of solutes or ions following a concentration gradient, facilitated by transport proteins.
3.) Active transport, is the active transport of ions or molecules against a concentration gradient that
[4]
requires an energy source, usually ATP, to pump the ions or molecules through the membrane

Nutrients are moved inside a plant to where they are most needed. For example, a plant will try to supply
more nutrients to its younger leaves than its older ones. So when nutrients are mobile, the lack of
nutrients is first visible on older leaves. However, not all nutrients are equally mobile. When a less mobile
nutrient is lacking, the younger leaves suffer because the nutrient does not move up to them but stays
lower in the older leaves. Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are mobile nutrients, while the others
have varying degrees of mobility. This phenomenon is helpful in determining what nutrients a plant may
be lacking.

A symbiotic relationship with 1.) Nitrogen-fixing bacteria, like rhizobia which are involved with nitrogen
fixation, and 2.) mycorrhiza, which help to create a larger root surface area. Both of these mutualistic
relationships enhance nutrient uptake

Though nitrogen is plentiful in the Earth's atmosphere, relatively few plants engage in nitrogen fixation
(conversion of atmospheric nitrogen to a biologically useful form). Most plants therefore require nitrogen
compounds to be present in the soil in which they grow. These can either be supplied by decaying matter,
nitrogen fixing bacteria, animal waste, or through the agricultural application of purpose made fertilizers.

Hydroponics, is growing plants in a water-nutrient solution without the use of nutrient-rich soil. It allows
researchers and home gardeners to grow their plants in a controlled environment. The most common
solution, is the Hoaglund Solution, developed by D. R. Hoaglund in 1933, the solution consists of all the
essential nutrients in the correct proportions necessary for most plant growth. An aerator is used to
prevent an anoxic event or hypoxia. Hypoxia can affect nutrient uptake of a plant because without oxygen
present, respiration becomes inhibited within the root cells. The Nutrient film technique is a variation of
hydroponic technique. The roots are not fully submerged which allows for adequate aeration of the roots,
while a “film” thin layer of nutrient rich water is pumped through the system to provide nutrients and water
to the plant.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant#Structure.2C_growth.2C_and_development

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosynthesis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_nutrition

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