Hydroponics
Who are we?
An elective class for students from all grades to learn about hydroponics through hands-on experience maintaining and growing plants. We also work together to sell the plants that we grow so that we can raise money to continue maintaining these systems, and buy more supplies like fertilizers and tools. The class consists of 10-20 students from every high school grade and counts as half a science credit per semester.
Legacy
Founded in 2018 and taught by Dr. Cohen and Ms. Khemlani.
What is hydroponics?
Hydroponics is a relatively new technique of growing plants without the presence of soil. Hydroponics involves many different systems that all involve the steady movement of water to the plants, while also circulating nutrients. Commonly used equipment like LED lights, grow mediums, meters, nutrients, and pots can be found in all types of hydroponic systems.
Advantages compared to traditional growing methods:
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Eliminates the risk of parasites and diseases often found in soil
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Takes up less space
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Less time-consuming as you don’t need to worry about tilling, sowing, and weeding
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The system is easier to maintain sterile so pesticides don’t have to be used
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Circulates water back into reservoir, conserving water and using less of it than regular soil farming
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Easier to harvest plants and replant
Nutrient Solution
Maxigrow was used for small plants like herbs, seeds that haven’t germinated, and young plants. Maxibloom was used for flowering plants that were growing either fruits or vegetables.
If the pH in the nutrient solution is too high or too low, pH up and pH down were used to control the pH.
Meters
The pH pen provides readings of the pH of the solutions
and the EC pen provides readings of the electrical conductivity
of the solutions. Electrical conductivity is a measure of how much
nutrients are in the solutions. If EC becomes too high, then it can
cause nutrient burn which is indicated by yellow tips at the end of
the leaves. If EC is too low, then the plants won’t be provided with
the right amount of nutrients and start to grow weak and
eventually die.
Our Harvest
Water is being pumped near the top of the tower by the pipe. Mainly used to grow leafy greens, much like the NFT. However, in the NFT the water flows horizontally while in the tower the water flows more vertically. LED lights are lined along the sides of the tower to provide the plants with a source of light for photosynthesis.
Plants: Lettuce, arugula, broccoli, swiss chard, kale, and dill.
Materials: White vinyl top covering, submersive pump, light timer, tank, white vinyl stop molding,
There are many different types of hydroponics systems, each designed to work better with specific plant species and types. The three types that we have are:
A water-nutrient mix from a reservoir is taken into a channel where it flows throughout the system to deliver nutrients to growing plants before returning to the reservoir. It is used mainly to grow leafy greens and produce such as basil, kale, sorrel, lettuce, and various herbs.
Built using PVC pipes to provide the flow of water, grow lights to provide light, a storage bin for the reservoir, a submersive pump for water, and PVC flat caps.
The NFT (Nutrient Film Technique)
Tower
Vine Crops
Water is circulated through the pipes and into each pot. This system is mainly vine-growing plants or plants that require more heavy amounts of nutrients, such as tomatoes and peas. Fans are often used to circulate pollen when the plant’s flowers bloom, so that they may be able to produce fruit. Brown clay pellets are used as the growth medium and they are useful for absorbing moisture and nutrients from the water source. These pellets are made by heating clay at high temperatures so they become rigid and hard, but they’re able to hold water so well because of small bubbles within each pellet.
Plants: Tomatoes, peas, and peppers
Materials: PVC tubing, tank, submersive pump, clips, and strings.
