Discover 5 Ways To Produce A Faster Bigger Hydroponic Harvests | Hydroponics Halifax

Bigger Yields Faster Results
If you want to grow hydroponic crops the chances are you're aiming for those bigger yields and of course...faster harvests. After three decades of growing with hydroponics I can tell you that this is not an easy goal to achieve. There's a lot of hard work involved, making the right choices on equipment and a lot of thought put into dealing with specific growing situations and conditions. With the right knowledge any grower can boost productivity and enjoy bountiful returns on their investment of time, knowledge and money. Here are five basic things you can do that will help you achieve a better end result.
Make Daily Notes
It's not easy to remember everything you do, every little change or tweak you make so it's wise to keep daily notes about what goes on within your grow room. Sometimes the changes you make can result in smaller, weaker plants and sometime those changes lead to faster growth and bigger harvests. It's not easy to "zero in" on exactly what you did that caused these results. By keeping a daily record of everything you do it is possible to back track and see which changes made the difference...either good or bad. Make notes of pH levels, changes in nutrients, light heights, health of plants, room temperatures, nutrient temperatures and all the critical elements. As your record of daily changes grows you'll be able to make the necessary changes to achieve the best possible results.
Water Water...Everywhere?
(This one is really important!) If you're growing with a substrate that absorbs water then over watering will cause root rot. If the medium receives too little water then your roots are going to dry out. Either way the end result is not good. One easy way to tell if your plants are happy is to watch their reaction to being watered. Watch the physical reaction of the leaves before you water and then after you water. If they tend to wilt a little after watering then they're telling you they need less watering. If they tend to perk up once you've watered them then they're asking you to water them a little more often.
To Prune or Not To Prune.
Your lights can only penetrate so far into the canopy so lower branches will never receive enough light to fully develop. Sick leaves and low level branches rob your plants of energy so by removing them you allow the plats to deliver more energy to the upper levels of growth. The more useless growth you can remove the more your plants will reward you with a bigger harvest.
Nutrient Temperatures Are Crucial!
A lot of growers tend to ignore this important fact. Incorrect temperatures can cause root rot and also deprive your plants of important nutrients. It's very important to keep your nutrient and substrate temperatures between sixty-five and seventy-five degrees Fahrenheit. Too far above or below these parameters will cause serious problems.
Only The Best Nutrients Will Do!
There are many garden center fertilizers available but all of them fall far short when it comes to providing your hydroponic plants with what they require. It's very important to use fertilizers and additives that have been specifically designed for hydroponic growing. Always buy your nutrients from a reputable hydroponics shop.

Using CO2? Be Careful!
It's fairly well known that CO2 can increase growth rates and yields but to use it effectively you NEED to know what you're doing. CO2 can also kill your plants! You must increase the amount of available light and nutrients to your plants if you're using CO2. It's important to monitor the atmosphere within your grow room constantly. The majority of plants will cope with CO2 at about 1500ppm if all other conditions are within parameters and you have increased the amount of light and nutrients. If you happen to make a mistake and generate CO2 levels reaching 2000ppm then your plants are most likely headed for the compost bin. There are a lot of tips out there on CO2 levels within the grow room so when reading about this make certain you do your due diligence and gather data from accurate sources.