Grow More Food with Less Land, Less Water, and Greater Control
Hydroponic Farming is a complete practical guide to growing plants without conventional agricultural soil.
Written in clear, accessible language while retaining strong technical depth, the book takes the reader from the fundamentals of plant growth through complete hydroponic system design, crop management, troubleshooting, automation, and commercial farm planning.
Whether you want to grow a few lettuce plants at home, build an NFT system, establish a greenhouse, or evaluate a commercial hydroponic venture, this book provides a structured path from first principles to practical production.
Inside This Book You’ll Learn
- How hydroponics works and why plants can grow without soil
- Wick, Kratky and other passive systems
- Deep Water Culture and floating raft production
- Nutrient Film Technique — NFT
- Ebb-and-flow systems
- Drip irrigation and Dutch buckets
- Coco, perlite, rockwool and other substrates
- Aeroponics and vertical farming
- Reservoir, pump and plumbing design
- Water-quality analysis
- Essential plant nutrients
- pH management
- EC, TDS and nutrient strength
- Safe nutrient mixing
- A/B stock concentrates
- Nutrient deficiency and toxicity diagnosis
- PPFD, DLI and plant lighting
- Temperature, humidity and VPD
- Root-zone temperature and dissolved oxygen
- Airflow and CO₂ management
- Seed germination and nursery management
Detailed Crop Guides
Practical cultivation guidance is included for:
- Lettuce and leafy greens
- Basil
- Coriander
- Culinary herbs
- Tomato
- Cucumber
- Bell pepper and hot pepper
- Strawberry
- Specialty crops
- Microgreens
Protecting the Crop
Learn how to manage:
- Algae and biofilm
- Reservoir hygiene
- Root diseases and Pythium
- Whiteflies
- Aphids
- Thrips
- Spider mites
- Fungus gnats
- Integrated Pest Management
- Food safety
- Farm sanitation
- Traceability
Smart & Automated Hydroponics
The book also explores:
- pH and EC sensors
- Environmental sensors
- Data logging
- Automated nutrient dosing
- Automated irrigation
- IoT hydroponics
- Remote monitoring
- Controllers and alarms
- Computer vision
- Artificial intelligence
- Predictive maintenance
- Fail-safe system design
Commercial Hydroponic Farming
For entrepreneurs and commercial growers, dedicated chapters cover:
- Greenhouse vs indoor vertical farming
- Energy and water consumption
- Environmental footprint
- Commercial farm layout
- CAPEX and OPEX
- Production economics
- Break-even calculations
- Crop selection
- Market research
- Pricing
- Customer development
- Scaling from pilot system to commercial farm
Practical Build Projects
Includes practical guidance for:
- Building a low-cost starter hydroponic system
- Building a small NFT farm
- Designing a 100–500 m² commercial hydroponic unit
- Growing hydroponically in tropical and monsoon regions
Practical Reference Section
The book includes useful field-reference material such as:
- Crop pH and EC tables
- Crop-system suitability charts
- Nutrient deficiency diagnostic tables
- Reservoir calculations
- Pump and flow calculations
- Daily farm checklist
- Weekly maintenance checklist
- Monthly management checklist
- Cleaning and sanitation SOPs
- Crop batch records
- Nutrient batch records
- Pest scouting records
- Harvest records
- Commercial planning worksheets
- Hydroponic glossary
Who This Book Is For
Suitable for:
Home Growers • Farmers • Agricultural Students • Entrepreneurs • Greenhouse Operators • Vertical Farming Startups • Researchers • Trainers • Commercial Growers
No advanced scientific background is required.
The book explains not only what to do, but also why it works.
A Complete Journey from First Plant to Commercial Farm
Hydroponics is more than growing plants in water.
It is the deliberate management of:
Water + Nutrients + Roots + Light + Climate + Technology + Economics
This book brings those elements together into one practical reference.
Practical. Reliable. Comprehensive.
Build the knowledge and confidence to design better growing systems, produce healthier crops, troubleshoot failures, and evaluate hydroponics as a serious farming business.
Author: SB Luwang
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