Hydroponics is the cultivation of plant by using water without the use of soil with emphasis on meeting the needs of nutrients for plants. Water demand in hydroponic less than water demand in the cultivation of the soil. Hydroponics uses water more efficiently, thus suitable to be applied in areas that have a limited water supply.
Etymology
Hydroponics (UK: hydroponic) is derived from the Greek words hydro meaning water and ponos which means power. Hydroponics is also known as soilless culture or cultivation of plants without soil. So hydroponic cultivation means that utilizes water and without using soil as a soilless growing media.
The basic method
In the study of language, hydroponics is derived from the word hydro means water and ponos meaning work. So, hydroponics has a sense of freely farming techniques with an emphasis on meeting the needs of nutrients for plants, or in terms of day-to-day farming without soil. From this sense it appears that the advent of hydroponic farming techniques initiated by the increasing importance of human attention needs fertilizer for plants.
Wherever the growth of a plant will continue to grow well when nutrient (nutrients) needed is always fulfilled. In this context, the function of the soil and the plant is to buffer the water is nutrient solvent, to then be absorbed by plants. Mindset that eventually led to hydroponic farming techniques, in which the emphasis is fulfilling nutritional needs.
History
In the beginning, the activities to cultivate plants without soil land written in the book Sylva Sylvarum by Francis Bacon made in 1627, printed a year after his death. Cultivation techniques on the water became a popular research afterwards. In 1699, John Woodward published experiments with spearmint aquaculture. He found that plants in water sources that are less pure grew better than plants with pure water.
In 1842 has drawn up a list of nine elements believed to be essential for plant growth, and the discovery of the German botanist Julius von Sachs and Wilhelm Knop, in the years 1859-1865, triggered the development of techniques of cultivation without soil. The growth of terrestrial plants without soil with a solution that emphasizes on meeting the needs of mineral nutrients for plants. It quickly became the standard of research and learning techniques, and is still widely used today. Now, Solution culture considered a type of hydroponics without an inert growing medium, which is a growing media which does not provide nutrients.
In 1929, William Frederick Gericke of the University of California at Berkeley began to promote openly about the Solution culture is used to produce agricultural crops. At first he called it by the term aquaculture (or in Indonesia called aquaculture), but later learned aquaculture has been applied to the cultivation of aquatic animals. Gericke created a sensation by growing tomato spread as high as twenty five feet, in his backyard with a solution of mineral nutrients in addition to the ground. By analogy with the ancient Greek designations in aquaculture, the science of cultivating the earth, Gericke coined the term hydroponics in 1937 (although he insists that the term suggested by WA Setchell, of the University of California) for the cultivation of plants in water.
In the report Gericke, he claims that hydroponics would revolutionize plant agriculture and trigger a large number of requests for further information. Gericke submission was rejected by the university on the use of greenhouse dikampusnya for experiments because of skepticism the campus administration. and when the university tried to force him to disclose the nutritional recipe first developed in the house, he asked for a place to greenhouse and it's time to fix it using appropriate research facilities. While eventually he was given a place for greenhouses, The University commissioned Hoagland and Arnon to reorder formula Gericke, in 1940, after leaving the academic position in an unfavorable climate in politics, he published a book titled Complete Guide to Gardening Soil less.
Hydroponic technique is mostly done on a small scale as a hobby among people of Indonesia. Selection of the type of plants to be cultivated for commercial business scale must be considered, as not all crops of economic value. Types of plants that have high economic value to be cultivated in hydroponic namely:
- Paprika
- Tomato
- Zucchini
- Melons
- Japanese Eggplant
- Lettuce
Cultivation without tanahPada Gericke originally defined hydroponics plant growth with mineral nutrient solution. Hydroponics is a part of cultivation without soil. Many cultivation without soil but with a solution for hydroponics.
Plants that are not grown in the way in general, will be able to grow using a system that can be controlled environment such as hydroponics. It seems NASA also take advantage of hydroponics in space program. Ray Wheeler, a crop physiologist at the Laboratory of Space Life Sciences Space Center, Kennedy, believe that hydroponics would contribute to making progress in space travel. He called it a life support system
Bioregenerative.
Static solution culture
Static solution culture has a sense of hydroponic cultivation with static water in which the water is still and does not flow, a hydroponic techniques whose roots are constantly submerged roots of water is placed in a container of nutrient solution.
But in Indonesia, Static solution culture better known by the technical term floating (or so-called floating rafts) and the system axis (or so-called wick system). The simplest is the type of all types of hydroponics.
For the solution container size may vary depending on the use and size of the plant. In a small-scale (scale household and small-scale hobby), hydroponics can be made with a container normally used in the home such as glasses, jars, buckets or tubs.
Clear container can be wrapped in aluminum foil, plastic, paint, or other material that rejects the light (making the light can not enter) in order not to grow moss.
Cover hollowed out and filled water container plants, there can be filled in one or several netpot plants for each container of water. In its own axis technique every net pots filled planting medium and a piece of cloth that extends down that absorbs the solution to the plant roots through capillary pipes on the fabric. While the technique can use a floating cork sheets are perforated and side small pots filled (growing media) to plants whose roots are submerged directly in the water container.
Nutrient solution in order to circulate evenly, it is necessary to wind the engine air penggelembung called aerator (small aerator can be obtained in a fish store) or by the use of a water pump commonly used in the aquarium. on a commercial scale can use medium-powered pump (which is usually used to shower the pool and garden).
Without aerator still can, but if not given aerator, will create a solution that is beneath be absorbed because the position of the roots are above solution is not absorbed (because the water is not circulating), and also, the root-even less oxygen supply ,
Nutrient solution can be changed according to schedule or according to the procedure. Every time the solution is reduced to below a certain level, it is necessary to add water or fresh nutrient solution in accordance with the needs of each plant which is expressed in units of TDS (Total Dissolved Solid) or PPM (Parts per Million) required.
In cultivation techniques wick (wick system) has a constraint on reduction in volume of the solution, to prevent the height of the nutrient solution down below the root or axis, can be used faucet with a ball float valve (commonly used in the reservoir) to maintain an automatic solution. In the cultivation of floating raft solution, the plant is placed in a gap in the cork sheet / stereofoam that floats on the surface of the nutrient solution. With the buoyancy technique, the height of the solution will not drop below the roots and akarpun always immersed in the nutrient solution.
Aeroponics
Aeroponics is a system whose roots periodically wetted with a nutrient solution granules smooth (like fog). This method does not require the media and require plants that grow with the roots dangling in the air or the growth of a vast space that regularly, the roots soaked with nutrient solution looking for a fine mist. Aeration perfectly the main advantages of aeroponics.
Aeroponic techniques have proven commercially successful for seed germination, seed production, tomato production, and plant leaves. Because inventor Richard Stoner commercialize aeroponic technology in 1983, Aeroponics has been implemented as an alternative to intensive hydroponic irrigation systems around the world. Aeroponics other advantages that are different from hydroponics is that any type of plant can be grown (in a true aeroponic system), because the microenvironment of aeroponics completely controllable. Excellence aeroponics is that the plants are in pause pembasahannya aeroponics will be able to receive 100% of the available oxygen, and carbon dioxide in the roots, stems, and leaves, so as to accelerate the growth of biomass and reduce the time rooting.
NASA research shows aeroponic techniques, that the plant can be increased by 80% growth in the mass of dry weight (essential minerals) compared with plants grown in hydroponic other. Aeroponics uses 65% of water of hydroponic water needs. NASA also concluded that growing plants with aeroponics, requires ¼ nutrients used compared to other hydroponics. Fished with Aeroponics offers the ability of farmers to reduce the spread of disease and pathogens. Aeroponics is also widely used in laboratory studies of plant physiology and plant pathology. Aeroponic techniques received special attention by NASA because of fog is easier to handle than liquid handling in places without gravity.
Another advantage of this aeroponics, the potatoes can be harvested without damaging the roots of the plant tissue so that a crop can be harvested many times and can choose the potato tuber ready for harvest.
Growing media
The planting medium is inert growing media which does not provide nutrients. In general, the inert growing media serves as a buffer and buffer crops. Some examples of these are:
- Husk
- Sponges
- Expanded clay
- Rockwool
- Coir (Coir)
- Perlite
- Pumice (Pumice)
- Vermiculite
- Sand
- Gravel
- Sawdust or called sawdust
Hydroponic plants there are some advantages as follows:
- Do not need soil
- The water will continue to circulate in the system and can be used for other purposes, eg to akuariumMudah circulated in the control of nutrients so that nutrition can be more efficient
- Relatively non-polluting nutrients to the environment
- Provide more results
- Easy harvesting
- Sterile and clean
- Free of plant pests
- Media planting can be done for years
- Free of plant pests / weeds
- Plants grow faster
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar