Monitor and beyond
Your data, not marketing promises, will tell what deserves its place.
Hydroponics and organic: organic fertilizers and what the EU regulation says
Can a hydroponic lettuce be certified organic? In Europe, no: Regulation 2018/848 ties organic to living soil, with a few exceptions such as Belgian endive. But you can grow with organic fertilizers at home, as long as you understand why it is difficult and how microbes make it possible.
Control your hydroponic garden from your smartphone: Matter, Home Assistant, Apple TV 4K or Android
Check the pH from your desk, turn on the grow light from the couch, get an alert on the TV when the reservoir is empty: the complete guide to the connected garden. The architecture, the standards (Matter, Thread, Zigbee, Wi-Fi, IP, CE), Apple TV 4K or Android, the hardware list by budget, where to find it, and step-by-step setup.
Is hydroponics eco-friendly? The footprint in water, energy, nutrients and waste
Less water, but more electricity: hydroponics is neither green nor polluting by default. What the studies say, the weight of the grow light on the Belgian power grid, spent solution, growing media and plastic, a calculator to work out your own footprint and the levers to lighten it.
The downloadable grow log: record your season to grow better
Free for members, as a 118-page PDF to print or to fill in online in your account: setup, calendar, seeds, sowings, crop guides, pH and EC tracking, a chart to plot, weather, harvests, equipment, costs, journal and season review. What a grow log is for in hydroponics, what it contains and how to use it without spending your evenings on it.
Automating your hydroponic garden: sensors, ESP32 and Home Assistant
Temperature, water level, EC and pH tracked around the clock, an alert on your phone when something goes wrong, lights and pump controlled without tinkering with 230 V mains: the three levels of automation, the sensors worth buying, wiring an ESP32 station, the ESPHome configuration, Home Assistant alerts, calibration and safeguards.
Productivity and Profitability: Define Before You Promise
Three indicators are enough for a household: cost avoided, quantity actually eaten, time spent.