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Basic Indoor hydroponics Gardening Guide - Indoor Grow Lights for Hydroponics Systems

Author: The urban gardener

A great indoor garden requires a good grow light. It could mean the difference between success and failure. Having the right hydroponic light is the single-most important and costly decision in setting up your garden.
 Hydroponic grow lights come in three main types:

Incandescent lights
These are the usual lights found in homes. They are generally a poor choice for garden grown lights because of their limited light spectrum and inefficiency.
HID (High Intensity Discharge) grow lights
Producing more light (up to 10x more lumens/watt than an incandescent light),are more efficient. Drawbacks would be, they produce more heat, generally more expensive than incandescent lights and requires the additional expense and maintenance with ballast. It takes around 100 hours before hydroponic HID grow lights reach their optimum working conditions, or until they reach light intensity and color stability.
Natural Sunlight
Expense for acquiring artificial lights can be skipped by using sunlight. This is done with the use of solar room, greenhouse or large windows which allows plenty of sunlight. Or you can do this outdoors; hydroponics does not necessarily mean the cultivation of plants indoors but it growing plants without the use of soil.
Basic setup for an indoor garden is 1000w of lighting for and area of 16-25 square feet of plant area. Reflectors and/or light movers should also be considered as they improve efficiency of the indoor hydroponic gardening system. Ballast may also be needed as numerous hydroponic grow lighting require igniting.
 Some Basic Facts
Before plugging in your grow light
Different plants require different levels or types of lighting, this paragraph would deal on some simple know-how on how to make an effective lighting setup. In setting up your garden, it is essential that you determine your growing area in order to determine the best lighting setup for you. Light is an essential factor in the growth of plants, it is important that the lighting solution you chose for your garden is adequate for its size. A poor or ill advised decision would certainly reflect on the quality of plants you produced. Inappropriate budgeting like cost cutting specially on lighting would just prove to be uneconomical and inefficient in the long run.
A general rule for lighting that area coverage is determined by a light wattage output. Reflectors might be used to increase the light area and reach corners but effectiveness is still determined by this formula.
Day and Night Cycles
The type of plant and its stage of growth generally determine the amount of light needed. A common cycle is that with 18 hours of light and 6 hours of darkness which is recommended for its vegetative growth phase.
For seedlings, a continuous light source is needed until the first real leaves appear. When the leaves appear, the regular 18/6 light cycle is used. Fluorescent or incandescent lights are best for seedling because of the low heat and soft light they generate. Automated timers maybe used to ensure consistent light cycles. Inexpensive timers are also available; this can be found any hardware or Home Depot/ Lowe’s type store.
Light and Photosynthesis
The plants exposure to light intensity, duration and light color directly affects the amount of energy needed for photosynthesis. The color of the light, Blue simulates the summer sun, Orange for autumn seem to stimulate photosynthesis best. The light spectrum produced by metal halide bulbs (Blue lights) and high pressure sodium bulbs (red/ orange lights) produce this effects. HID grow lights produce these effects owing to their popularity to hobbyist and professionals. Combination of metal halide and high pressure sodium bulbs provides the complete spectrum of light produced by the sun.
Use Caution When Working with Lights
The combination of water, electricity and chemicals in such a closed-in space makes the grow room one of the most dangerous places in your house. Keep in mind to separate your ballast by elevating it from the water-containing areas of your hydroponic growing system.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/basic-indoor-hydroponics-gardening-guide-indoor-grow-lights-for-hydroponics-systems-1272560.html
About the Author

My name is guy. I am the founder and owner of the urbangardenershop.com.au . I fell in love with hydroponics gardening. As time went by I gathered a vast knowledge base and 2 years ago I decided to find a way to make hydroponics gardening a hobby that anyone can peruse. I added a hydroponic gardening information center to our hydroponic supplies site that offers a large range of hydroponics articles. Thank you for your interest and feel free to ask questions on hydroponics gardening in our site
http://www.urbangardenershop.com.au/
http://www.urbangardenershop.com.au/page/hydroponicsystems/default.asp
http://www.urbangardenershop.com.au/category/25/default.asp

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Hydroponics UK: The Right Choice for Successful Gardening

Author:

Harry Green
There are various nutrient brands that are available in the market today for hydroponics UK gardening but among all those brands which one do you think is the best? The growing of productive and healthy plants is more drawn in than just choosing a good product brand. If you think that the brand you are using right now does not work, then you should reconsider things.

First thing you need to consider should be the volume of the nutrient reservoir. The volume should be determined by the quantity of gallons each plant is needed in the system. Big plants need a lot of nutrient solution and water than the smaller ones. Your plants must be your guide to the quantity of nutrient solution it needs. One common plant that is grown with hydroponics UK is the Tomato; 2.5 g. of nutrient solutions each plant is needed to have a productive and healthy crop. Also, smaller plants like lettuce need at least .5 g. of nutrient each plant.

This is an important factor for it to be successful; big amounts of nutrient solutions will actually have a lesser fluctuation in the nutrient concentration as plants does uptake them. It basically helps keep the nutrient solutions balanced evenly as they are used up by plants.

Transpiration is another factor. Plants will be using more water in the warm weather. When there is more water being used by plants, its nutrient concentration rises and its toxic stages of concentration. And even topping it off with fresh water in smaller tanks, much fluctuation can happen with the concentration of nutrients that won\'t do your plants any good.

There are also a lot of elements that will be affected when it comes to the suggested amount of a brand. The quantities that they do recommend are basically a good start, but adjustments must be made, there will also be trials and errors needed. The size of the plant, Growth Phase, Media Type affects all nutrient concentration, and growing plants under good conditions.

It is very important that you always keep the nutrients mixed at all times and adding air blubber in the tank will keep the water moving since this will keep the solution\'s mineral elements from falling and building up in the tank\'s bottom. The movement of water prevents formed pockets of both levels of pH where elements will be out of the pH range and aren\'t beneficial to plants. The nutrient uptakes of plants can also be attained in the proper pH range.

Nutrient solutions in Hydroponics is only as good as the situations that they are used in. And monitoring is an important of hydroponics success.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/hydroponics-uk-the-right-choice-for-successful-gardening-4656860.html
About the Author
Green Spirit is the leading hydroponics and holticultural specialist in Sheffield, United Kingdom