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In developing and densely populated countries, planting with hydroponic systems has begun to be glimpsed by various groups, there is no need to have an expert basic agricultural science, there is also no need to have large agricultural land, anyone can become a hydroponic farmer simply by relying on the house yard, attic terrace, fence, behind the house which is another area that gets enough sunlight.
Advantages of planting with a hydroponic system
Hydroponics is widely chosen because this agricultural system is fairly practical when compared to conventional farming systems, here are some of the advantages of planting with a hydroponic system compared to conventional systems (ordinary farming):
1. In hydroponic systems, we no longer need to think about the schedule of watering plants because hydroponic is planted using water media.
2. We also do not need to cultivate the land which can be dirty because it is planted using water.
3. In a hydrophonic system we don't need to think about how to clean weeds or pest grass around hydronic plants, because in a hydrophonic system there is very little chance of grass growing around hydronic plants, even the chance is 0%,
4. In hydronomy we do not need to think about plant pests, if the hydroponic system is well made there is very little chance of plant pests attacking the plants. so that hydronomic plants will be healthier and avoid pesticide sprays.
5. Faster growth
Hydronic plant growth, if managed properly, can grow faster, more dense and more profitable when compared to conventional farming systems.
6. Easier maintenance.
Maintenance of hydrponic farming systems is easier, we only need to pay attention to nutrient water not to run out, pay attention to the PPM & PH value of nutritional water, it is enough to do it once a week.
Even though it has many advantages and practicality, it turns out that there are many problems in the hydroponic system that can be experienced by you, especially novice hydroponic farmers.
The problems in hydroponic farming must be well recognized by every hydroponic farmer, especially novice hydroponic farmers, so that they can be anticipated so that if we experience similar problems we can know the solution to overcome them, so that we can become successful farmers in the hereafter.
Problems in hydroponics
There are a lot of problems that can arise when you plant with a hydroponic system, this problem you can experience whether you are a beginner hydroponic farmer or even an experienced hydronic farmer. The following are some of the problems that hydroponic farmers often experience.
The following are some of the problems with hydrophonic systems:
1: Skin / Etiolosi
Kutilang (Kurus tall and slender) or the cool language (scientific language) is etiolosi, which is a condition that often occurs in the seedlings of vegetable plants where the plant's body posture is thin, tall and slender and pale in color as shown below:
Kutilang is often experienced by hydroponic farmers, especially in the growth of seeds that are sown, to recognize the following characteristics of the finches that you can observe:
- The plant stems look longer due to the high water content but the stems look not strong (thin)
Plants look weak and pale
Has small, thin, pale leaves. This condition is due to the low chlorophyll content
Has less dense roots
Kutilang can occur because the plants / seeds get insufficient or minimal sunlight, for example in a dark place for a long time, so that the auxin hormone in plants works more actively which causes plant growth to be faster.
How to prevent the seeds from being refined
When you sow the seeds, you can just put the seeds in a dark place to provoke the active auxin hormone for faster growth, but not too long, if the seeds have broken or the seed sprouts must quickly get enough sunlight. guaranteed no finches.
2: Root Rot
The second problem that is often experienced by hydronomic farmers is root rot, root rot is a condition in which the roots of hydrophonic plants rot caused by fungal pathogens that attack the roots.
Root rot is mostly experienced in hydrophonic systems that use systems with stagnant water / water that is not channeled such as the floating raft system, the wick system or the kratky system, if the leaves turn yellow and wilt then you have to check the condition of the plant roots, if the root condition looks like the picture below this, it is certain that your plant is exposed to root rot.
Plants in this hydroponic system have the potential to be attacked by root rot if the oxygen supply to the nutrient water is lacking, the lack of air ventilation and installation media easily absorb heat due to the use of a dominant dark color, so that the temperature of the nutrient water easily rises.
How to avoid root rot
To avoid root rot, the only thing is to make sure that the nutrient water is kept cool and also make sure the nutrient water gets plenty of oxygen supply, to avoid root rot, you can do the following:
1. Paint the installation media with a lighter color
or coat the hydrophonic plant installation media with aluminum voil so that sunlight is easily reflected and does not absorb heat, so that the temperature of the nutrient water is kept cool.
2. Adding an aerator or oxygen hose to the nutrient water.
You can use an aerator or add an oxygen hose to the pump, some of the pumps are equipped with an oxygen hose, please use and use it so that the nutrient water gets an adequate supply of oxygen for plants.
3. Choosing clean and quality raw water.
Fungal pathogens can be sourced from raw water used for nutritional water, when the environment is supportive, hot water temperature and oxygen are less, fungal pathogens will easily grow which can attack the roots until rot occurs, so make sure you use raw water that can be ascertained cleanliness. , the ppm is low, has a low PH is also clean.
3: Yellowing Leaves
There are many reasons why hydrponic leaves can turn yellow, it could be due to lack of nutrients, it could be due to excess nutrients, it could be due to root rot, because the temperature around the roots is hot and so on, if you have yellow leaves you have to recognize the symptoms first, then after knowing the cause you can overcome them.
Regarding yellow in the hydrophonic world, you can read the following articles:
Causes of yellowing of leaves in hydrophonic plants and how to overcome them.
4: Leaf Rolls
Small leaf and curling problems are also often experienced by hydrotonic farmers, especially in leafy vegetables such as kale, pakcoy and mustard greens.
The cause of the curled and small leaves is usually due to excess nutrients, I myself have also experienced it with the hydronica pakcoy plant that I planted using the DFT system, the leaves do look green, but the growth of the leaves is not optimal, the leaves grow curled at the ends of the sides and it is very difficult to get big.
The solution is if the leaves are dark green but roll small, then try to reduce the nutrients a little and then observe, based on my experience, generally rolling on the leaves as the PPM value decreases in nutrients will return to normal.
5: Plant growth is thin and stunted.
The fifth problem that is often experienced by hydroponic farmers, especially novice hydronic farmers, is the growth of thin and stunted plants.
The reason why plants are difficult to develop and their growth is thin and stunted, even though the nutritional needs are as recommended is usually due to a lack of oxygen in nutrient water, and raw water has a high PPM.
I have personally experienced this when using the wick system with used bottles, and when compared to the DFT system, the growth is very far, the DFT is bigger, meanwhile using the wick system, it seems that the plants are very difficult to develop, even when before harvest the growth is small and stunted.
Solutions so that hydronomic plants are not thin and stunted:
a. Make sure the nutrient water gets an adequate supply of oxygen, please add an aerator or air pump, or if you use a wick system, often churn the nutritious water every morning, afternoon and evening so that the nutrient water gets enough oxygen which is beneficial for the roots.
b. Make sure to use raw water with a small PPM value, at least under 100 PPM smaller is better.
c. Ensure that the water circulation in the hydrophonic installation gutter is fast enough and well circulated.
d. Make sure the nutrient water temperature is maintained, the temperature does not rise, by choosing a light color and if enough capital can use voil aluminum coating.
e. Make sure the PPM is well fulfilled,
This is no less important, providing nutrition must be in accordance with the recommendations in general, every plant has nutritional consumption with age.
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