So you’ve invested significantly in your hydroponics system. You’ve bought all the latest tech, followed every piece of advice you’ve been given by more experienced growers and you’ve been patient with your plants as they’ve gone from seed, to shoot, to full grown, mature specimen and the results are in. But this time, your harvest has fallen short of your expectations despite your best efforts. What went wrong?
When you are growing your preferred plant species using hydroponics it can be so disappointing to hear big claims about absolutely huge yields. It’s also disheartening to see other people’s incredible successes when your own results are somewhat lacking.
Unfortunately this can and does happen, even to experienced growers from time to time. The big question everyone wants to have answered is: how can we prevent disappointingly small yields and make the most out of every plant we’ve invested in? Like with anything in life the answer is often more complicated than you may first think.
This is certainly true of hydroponics because there are so many variables involved, and so many chances for something to go wrong. There can be any combination of small things that have been overlooked that would be harmless and inconsequential by themselves, but when working in tandem they can add up to big problems indeed.
Check your water often
Due to the increased rate of growth in a hydroponic system, any issues with the plant will become a problem much more quickly than they would if the same plant had been grown in soil. This means that you need to pay close attention to whatever is going on in your water. A buildup of certain chemicals such as ammonia and nitrates can cause the plants to suffer and eventually die, and it can happen much more rapidly than you would think.
Water testing kits are an inexpensive addition to your arsenal, and if you’ve invested significantly into your plants by buying a hydroponic system it makes no sense to skip this simple, cheap step. By testing your water parameters frequently you can make sure that any issues with your water can be resolved before they cause serious problems.
Fine tune your nutrient supply
If you are feeding your plants the same nutrients in the same proportions throughout the entire growing season then you are missing a trick. While plants can get by on a nutrient schedule that isn’t tailored, you will see much bigger and better yields if you fine tune your nutrient delivery according to the growth stage your plants are at. For example, a plant that has recently germinated and is focusing on putting out new roots, leaves and shoots will have different nutrient requirements than a plant that is getting ready to put out flowers.
Don’t crowd your plants
If you’ve bought an expensive hydroponic system you probably want to make the absolute most out of your investment and have crammed as many plants in there as possible. This is a mistake because it can actually prevent the plants from reaching their full potential. Plants are able to sense when their neighbours are too close because of the presence of certain chemicals. If they sense a plant is too close to them they will not reach their full mature size and instead will stay small to fit into the space they have available.
Germinate and grow in rotation
If you only have one system you can greatly increase your capacity by germinating your next lot of seedlings just before your previous batch is almost ready to harvest. This way you can have a constant stream of plants reaching germinating, reaching maturity and being harvested much more continuously than you otherwise would.
If you are planning on producing your plants in this way one after the other, make sure you clean and sterilise all your equipment between plantings to maintain a hygienic environment for your plants. You should use a plant safe cleaning agent that is designed to be used in the type of hydroponics system you have. Failure to use the correct chemical cleaners can result in mineral buildup within the components and this can impact your water quality in negative ways.