Hydroponic Plants | Lighten Up: Plant Lighting And Hydroponics

When it comes to growing crops from a seed there are four important elements to make the process successful. Those four key elements to successfully nurturing a plant from a seed include the seed itself, soil, water and light. This traditional way of growing crops has proven to be successful and provides the global community with the food that they need.

However, the world is changing. Specifically, those changes include the global community increasing in size and the earth’s natural resources correspondingly decreasing.

Therefore, it is important that new methods of farming be implemented or existing methods of farming be enhanced. One such method of plant growth that can be enhanced is the method known as hydroponics. In order for this to occur, it is important to know what hydroponics is, the advantages of hydroponics and the correlation between plant lighting and hydroponics.

What Is Hydroponics?

Hydroponics is the plant growing technique that does not utilize the traditional medium of soil. Specifically, the word hydroponics is a combination of two Greek words that capture the process involved. The first Greek word is hydro and hydro means water. The second Greek word is ponics and ponics can be translated into the word labor. Therefore, hydroponics literally means “water labor.”

In other words when it comes to providing the nutrients for the planting process to blossom, the nutrients or the nurturing process is accomplished by water. In particular, those nutrients needed are various elements required by plants. Some of those elements include phosphate, calcium, magnesium, etc. In addition, rather than the rich soil providing these elements to the plant, water is ionized with the proper percentage of these minerals. This in turn allows the roots of the plant to absorb these elements and to promote growth and productivity.

Use Of Plant Lighting And Hydroponics

One additional and critical component to the planting, nurturing and developmental growth of the plant is sunlight. Generally, for crops planted outside in the soil this critical factor is provided by natural sunlight. However, because of hydroponics and the need for soil eliminated, this type of planting can occur almost anywhere.

This advantage then necessitates the use of plant lighting and hydroponics to be accomplished artificially. Fortunately, there are available on the market plant lighting and hydroponics systems that can accomplished this need quite nicely.

When looking for a plant lighting and hydroponics system it is important to secure lighting that provides at least one of two specific spectrums of light. Those two spectrums include the use of light through either a blue or red spectrum.

If choosing lighting in the blue spectrum, ideal lighting for growth, the individual can use a metal halide plant lighting and hydroponics system. Or if interested in closely assimilating the growth process to the natural sunlight method it is best to use a high pressure sodium plant lighting and hydroponics system.