Name:______________________________
Date:_____________
Hydroponics Notes
1. What is Soil and how does it get there?
a. Soil –
i. There are 4 components of soil:
1.
2.
3.
4.
b. Where does soil come from?
2. The 4 components of soil
a. Inorganic components
i. Origin of inorganic components:
ii. Function of inorganic components:
iii. Composition of inorganic components:
b. Organic components:
i. Origin of organic components:
ii. Function of organic components:
iii. Composition of organic components:
1. Humus c. Air spaces and water
i. Same gases as in the atmosphere but more CO2 because of respiration in roots
ii. Water is held in smaller pores of soil whereas air is held in the larger soil pores
iii. Leaching –
d. What determines the soil types?
i. Loamy soil –
ii. Peaty soil –
iii. Chalky soil –
Per:_________
3. Soil layers
a. There are 4 layers to soil:
i. Surface litter –
ii. Top soil –
iii. Sub soil –
iv. Parent material
(bedrock) –
4. Acid in soil
a. What is the ideal pH range for soil?
i. The availability of nutrients changes depending on the pH of the soil
1. What is the problem with acidic soil:
a.
b.
c.
d.
2. What is the problem with basic soil:
a.
b.
ii. The What is the ideal pH range for soil?
5. Nutrients in soil
a. There are 19 elements that are essential to all plants
i. Macronutrients –
ii. Micronutrients –
1. Most micronutrients like Chlorine, Iron, and sodium are needed to form plant enzymes
and proteins
iii. Macronutrients gained from air and soil water:
1.
Carbon, hydrogen, Oxygen, and Nitrogen (C, H, O) that
are used to form virtually every essential molecule in a plant (carbohydrates,
lipids, proteins, and DNA)
iv. Macronutrients gained from the soil
1. Potassium (K) helps plants regulate
water movement into and out of the
cells
a. Potassium is responsible for improving the overall
health
of a
plant as well as its disease resistance.
2. Phosphorous (P), used in cell membranes, DNA, and ATP
a. Phosphorus aids in healthy root growth as well as flower and
seed production.
3. Nitrogen (N) is used to
make proteins, DNA, chlorophyll
and enzymes
a. It was thought that nitrogen was put into the soil through the primarily through
the nitrogen cycle however in 2011 it was found that soil nitrogen comes
primarily from soil rock
b. Nitrogen is responsible for stem and leaf
4.
growth.
Calcium (Ca) helps hold plant cells together
and attached to
each other
5. Magnesium (Mg) the central
ion in chlorophyll
(like iron in our
blood)
6. Sulfur (S) needed to make
certain amino acids and
vitamins
6. Getting nutrients into and out of the soil
a. How are nutrients recycled in nature?
b. What happens to nutrients when the land is farmed?
c. 3 ways nutrients can be put back into the soil:
i. Inorganic fertilizers- industrial produced concentrated salts that provide a large amount of
immediately available Nitrogen, Potassium and Phosphorous to plants.
1. Advantages:
2. Disadvantages:
ii. Organic fertilizers- Naturally produced N, P, and K that is in relatively low amounts
1. Advantages:
2. Disadvantages:
3. Sustainable methods of farming
a. Crop rotation –
b. Green composting or manure –
c. Crop diversity -
7. Hydroponics and alternative methods of horticulture
a. Hydroponics – soilless growing where nutrients are provided to the plant roots through a nutrient
solution.
i. Advantages:
ii. Disadvantages:
b. Airoponics –soilless growing method that suspends plant roots in air and waters them by misting
nutrient solution
i. Advantages:
ii. Disadvantages:
c. Vertical gardening - growing container plants in layers vertically instead of horizontally
i. Advantages:
ii. Disadvantages: