Water and nutrients
The nutrient solution is the real soil of your garden.
Make your own two-part (A and B) hydroponic nutrient: a step-by-step DIY recipe
Five mineral salts, a scale accurate to 0.1 g and two bottles: the recipe for a two-part A and B hydroponic nutrient, for a few cents per reservoir. Doses, what the final solution contains, step-by-step mixing, a calculator, mistakes to avoid and safety rules.
Spent nutrient solution: when to change it, how to make it last, what to do with the drained water
Do you really need to empty your reservoir every two weeks? What trials at the University of Florida and São Carlos show, how to read EC drift, top up with water or with solution, drain part of the reservoir, and where to put the drained water without polluting. With a top-up and partial drain calculator.
Tap water for hydroponics in Belgium and France: hardness, limescale, chlorine, should you filter?
Hard in Veurne, softer in Koksijde, highly variable in France: tap water changes everything in hydroponics. Where to find the hardness and alkalinity of your water in Belgium and France, university benchmarks, when to acidify, blending with rainwater or reverse osmosis water, why to avoid softened water, and a blending calculator.
Oxygen and solution temperature: the duo behind healthy roots
Warm water holds less oxygen, while roots need more of it. The right benchmarks for temperature and dissolved oxygen, how each system oxygenates its roots, how to cool a reservoir in summer, warm it in winter, and measure it all without lab equipment.
Rainwater: how much does my hydroponic garden need, and what size tank should I plan for?
What lettuce and tomatoes really drink in hydroponics, what your roof yields month by month in Belgium, and the tank size that bridges the gap. With a water balance calculator, two worked examples, how to link tanks in series, minimum treatment and level monitoring.
Hydroponic nutrients: understand, choose, dose and diagnose
The elements a plant needs and what they do, two reference recipes, A and B nutrients and why you never mix them undiluted, step-by-step mixing, doses by crop, solution maintenance, reading deficiencies, safe storage and the real cost.
Legumes in hydroponics: nutrient solution, nitrogen and nodules
EC and pH for beans, why nitrogen fixation declines when the solution is rich, what a recent study on inoculated hydroponic beans showed, and solution settings stage by stage.
Herbs in hydroponics: tuning solution, light and climate for more flavorful herbs
EC and pH by herb, light as DLI, temperatures for warm-season and cool-season herbs, magnesium and iron for basil, downy mildew, shared systems: every setting to optimize a hydroponic herb garden.
pH and EC: the two numbers to track
EC tells you how much, pH tells you whether the plant can use it. Two measurements, one order to follow: EC first, pH second.
Rainwater and Hydroponics: Collect, Store, Treat, Use (and What the Law Says)
Low in minerals, free, chlorine-free: rainwater is a great ally for hydroponics, as long as you collect it cleanly, store it out of the light and test it. Equipment, diagram, installation, maintenance and the rules in Belgium and France.