Hydroponics 101

Krishna Nemali
knemali@purdue.edu
(765) 494 8179
Topics :

• Production Systems
• Substrate
• Spacing
• Varietal Selection
• Germination
• Nutrients
• Temperature
• Light
• Winter Production
Heating
Supplemental Lighting
 Hydroponic Production Systems

Flood and Drain Tables Nutrient Film Technique Deep Water Culture

3-inches

12-inches
Aeroponic Production Systems
Aeroponic Towers
Production Systems

Flood Table

Aeroponic Tower
 Production systems mostly differ in water use

Yield Water Use

(grams per square feet) (liters per week per square feet)
160 2.5
140
2
120
100 1.5
80
60 1
40
0.5
20
0 0
Flood Table Nutrient Film Aeroponics Tower Flood Table Nutrient Film Aeroponics Tower
Technique Technique
 Hydroponic Substrates

Peat Rockwool
Peat substrates resulted in faster growth

Rock wool Peat

Spacing (36 plants/m2)
1m
6”

6”

1m
 Spacing: Fixed NFT Benches
3 plants/ft2 or 32 plants/m2

6-inches
8-inches

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4

 Spacing: Sliding NFT Benches

1-inch 3-inch 6-inch 8-inch

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4
Lettuce Varietal Trial
Germination

• Keep humidity high and plugs moist during

germination
• Use a dilute fertilizer solution (EC of 0.5 to 0.75
dS/m)
• Light intensity can be low (100 to 150
µmol/m2/s) during the initial week
• Preferred germination temp ~ 70 F or 21 C
• Seedlings may need to be thinned, earlier
preferred
• Transplant seedlings prior to leaf overlap
 Nutrient requirement
(combined data from 8 lettuce varieties and 2 production systems )

18
Yield ( grams per plant)

16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
0 50 100 150
Nitrogen Concentration (ppm)
 Managing recycled fertilizer solution

* Control treatment received freshly prepared solution twice a week

Negative effects of recycling appears after two weeks
Negative effects can be reduced by discarding recycle
solution after two weeks or using RO water
Optimum greenhouse temperature

Air/solution at 60 °F Air/solution at 70 °F
Light requirement
 Greenhouse production during winter

• Heating and supplemental lighting are

required

• Energy costs for heating and

supplemental lighting affect profits

• Productivity and energy efficiency should

be increased for profits
 Greenhouse was maintained at cooler temperature to reduce heating costs
Solution temperature was increased from 60 to 71°F

Maximize heating efficiency using root zone heating

 Greenhouse 60/50 F
Heated Solution (70 F) Unheated Solution (60/50 F)
 Production system effects on root zone heating
Plant growth was better under flood tables than
NFT when warm solution was supplied to roots

23
Temperature (°C)

22

21

20

19

18

17

16

15
1
13
25
37
49
61
73
85
97
109
121
133
145
157
169
181
193
205
217
229
241
253
265
277
289
301
313
325
337
349
361
373
385
397
409
421
433
445
Time (hours from start)
Air Reservoir solution NFT solution Flood table solution
Lettuce growth is highly influenced by light spectrum
Full spectrum Red : Blue T8

Butterhead

Romaine

Red leaf

Green leaf
Supplemental lighting at nighttime
Increased productivity under Red (90%) : Blue (10%)

White R:B No SL
Project Sponsors