Hydroponics and the Homefarm

If you spend a little time with indoor farming, you'll always stumble upon the topic of hydroponics. But only a few people know what it is. That's about to change. Because today we're going to delve into this important topic and clarify things!

What is hydroponics?

The term is derived from the Greek words "hydro" meaning water and "ponos" meaning work. The term refers to a method of growing plants in a hydroponic system, or in other words, the plants simply grow in water.

Hydroponic Systems

There are a total of 6 hydroponic systems

• Aeroponics System 
• Wick System
• Ebb and Flow System
• Nutrient Film Technique (NFT)
• Deep Water Culture (DWC)
• Drip System

Going into detail about all systems would be beyond the scope of this article, so we will focus on the wick system here.

How the Wick System Works

You only need five items for the wick system: a water tray, net pots, substrate, wicks, and of course, plants.

The foundation of the wick system is the water tray. The plants, along with the substrate, are placed in the net pot above the water tray. The wick hangs from the bottom of the net pot so that it is submerged in the water. The plant can draw the necessary water through the wick and is thus optimally watered. With this information, you can essentially build your own hydroponic system, or you can take a closer look at the homefarm.

Homefarm System

Our homefarm is also based on this wick system. The homefarm consists of almost the same components plus a few features that clearly set the homefarm apart from a self-made product.

The net pot and the wick are already integrated as one component and are called a plant basket or microgreen tray. The substrate and the plant or the plant's seeds are also already combined and are better known as plant capsules and microgreens.

Simply insert the plant capsule and microgreens into the respective devices and growth can begin.

An important component that is not considered in the wick system is the light supply, and it is precisely at this point that we have thought further and equipped the homefarm with economical solar LEDs. In addition, with the app, you have full control over the homefarm and your plants. You can find more about urbanhive and the homefarm here.

Now you are well informed about hydroponics.