A Day in the Life of a Hydroponic Grower...

What do hydroponic gardeners do all day?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Knowing a little bit more about how gardeners work each day can help beginners decide whether they really want to commit to this kind of a project. It can also help them to visualize how they will set up and maintain hydroponic plant cycles.

There are a lot of things that hydroponic gardeners might do on any given day to support plants. It's not as easy as just setting up plants, waiting for them to grow, and taking harvests later. Like any kind of garden, hydroponic gardening requires work and effort.

A hydroponic grower’s work starts with germination. Some germinate plant seeds in paper towels and some use soil or sterile media. This often involves transplanting the seedlings to the hydroponics plant pots.

After the plants sprout and start to grow, growers will be pruning, and controlling plant growth in various ways. Growers might use an interior trellis to give plants ways to grow vertically. Or they might try to get plants to grow horizontally to get more access to light. They might use techniques like sea of green or screen of green to optimize light on the crop.

Growers will also be adjusting things like temperature, humidity and ph value. They'll be working with thermostat and ventilation equipment. They'll be trying to control the level of humidity in the air. They may also be working in the reservoir space, adjusting water temperature with things like water chillers. And last but not least, they'll be monitoring pH value of plants which should stay from around 5 to 7. Growers can change pH value by adding solutions like pH up and pH down.

A lot of hydroponic gardening work involves observation. Growers will want to be checking irrigation piping or tubing for any leaks or cracks. But they’ll also want to be checking the leaves, stems and roots of plants for any warning signs of bacterial disease or other problems. There's a lot of walking around and looking at stuff -- and making good decisions based on what you see.

This is some of the daily work that goes into supporting hydroponic plants. For much more, spend time with the Dealzer website and get ideas about what you'll do, combined with a great set of resources for modern gear and equipment.