Hydroponic Gardening Beginner's Guides Review

Yes, there is a lot of good information on hydroponics or hydroponic gardening available on the internet. In fact, based on my own experience, the majority of the beginners are likely to be overwhelmed with the amount of information on the internet. Because the way to search for information is not well organized or structured, they can become confused, and don't know how to begin planning and building their own hydroponic system at home.

So, reading beginner's guides is usually the better way to get started. A good simple guide like The Hydroponic Garden, is essential for beginners. It covers the basic of hydroponic gardening in a easy to follow and step-by-step manner. And Paul Lavakis, the author of The Hydroponic Garden, does a good job covering various essential components and systems regarding soil-less gardening.

Some of the main topics that The Hydroponic Garden covers are:

• Introduction
• Advantages of Hydroponics
• Essential Components of Hydroponic System
• Basic Hydroponic Systems
• Nutrient Solution
• Lighting Overview
• Build Your Own Hydroponic Systems
• Troubleshooting Your Garden

What I like about the guide:

• It gives a good description on six major types of Hydroponic Systems including their advantages and considering factors for implementation.


• The section on Build Your Own Hydroponic Systems provides a detailed building plan for 2 main types of Hydroponic System in terms of part list, tool list, instructions and tips.

The only problem with the guide I found (or at least my copy) is the page layout, the page breaking somehow breaks at the wrong page. Anyway, I believe the important part is the contents with good quality.

You can purchase The Hydroponic Garden (click here), and you will be given the following bonuses:

1. Audio version of the guide so that you can listen to the whole E-book whilst relaxing or even setting up your system.

2. A Special Hydroponics Gardeners (Reference Book) - 465 Pages of pictures, nutrient information and set-ups. It will definitely re-enforce your understanding of hydroponic gardening - very good information. The topics include:

• History of Hydroponics
• General Overview of Hydroponics
• Overview of Growing Techniques
• Beginner's Growing Tips
• Growing Tips From the Experts
• Lighting Tips - Photosynthesis
• Lighting Tips
• Benefits of Hydroponic Food Production
• Building Your Own Hydroponic System (more than 8 types)
• Choosing Growing Medium (15 Types)
• Super Nutrients & Secrets to Hydroponic Nutrients
• Lighting & Accessories
• Advanced Nutrient Management for Hydroponic Grower
• Managing pH Value
• Food Grown In Hydroponics (9 types of Herbs, 5 types of Salad Green & 17 Types of vegetables)
• Post Harvest Handling Systems
• Post Common Problem - Pests
• How to build a hydroponic system as a classroom project

Before you start building a Hydroponic System or purchasing a starter's kit, it is always a good idea to develop a rough idea of the size of the hydroponic unit your want and what you want to grow in it. Much of the beginner's kits won't make sense unless you understand the basics of hydroponics and your needs and requirements.

It is very important to have an idea what you want at the very beginning. For an example, a person spends $30 on a simple hydroponic system and later may later find out that three times a day, seven days a week, he/she must be available to pour the nutrient solution over the aggregate. For the busy city people, this could be a major issue. So, in this case, an automated hydroponic system will be more appropriate.

The followings are just some of the considerations which may help you in your planning:

• How much space do you have?
• How large a hydroponic unit you need?
• How big are the plants you want to grow?
• How many plants will you grow?
• How much you can afford to spend?

To facilitate your planning, it is always good to get at least more than one good hydroponic gardening beginner's guides and take your time to read up on the subject. Different authors will provide the hydroponic systems that they had experienced with in more detailed.

So read. Find out a number of different types of hydroponic units, compare them carefully then and only then should you spend your money and invest your time.

When you plan to build your own hydroponic system or purchase a starter's kit, it is important to remember that you are not only just getting a container or a tray, putting your plants in it and supplying the plants with water and nutrients. There are two basic objectives that you need to achieve in hydroponic gardening.

1. The hydroponic unit must be able to support the root system without soil.


2. To have an efficient method of supplying air, light, and nutrient to your plants.

Once you have achieved these two requirements, you can then begin experimenting a more complicated and automatic system.