Home » Plants & Animals » Hydroponic Gardening » Salinity!

Salinity!

© a.k.a. MBR

Greetings:

As I mentioned in my 1st article, one major hurdle facing growers who wish to recirculate their hydroponic nutrient solution in order to reduce waste is the buildup of toxic salts over time.

This problem has also caused the destruction of large amounts of surface soils in arid and semi-arid countries around the world. The most common problem salts in water supplies are: chlorides and sulfates of calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium (Bray, 1990).

These salts accumulate because insufficient rain falls to purge them from the soil. They can be removed through leaching or conversion with Gypsum and/or Sulfur and Sulphuric acid, and evaporation control (Bray, 1990). Reverse-osmosis water filtration units can also be used for nutrient top-up. Alternatives include precipitation and removal with activated charcoal.

Canadian researchers at the University of Toronto have made a breakthrough discovery that could help to reclaim vast amounts of farmland. They have apparently successfully transformed normal plants into plants which will accumulate a much larger Sodium load than usual. Go to http://www.cbcnews.cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templa... for more inofrmation.

Goto Best hydroponics http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~de440/ for more info..

References: Brady, Nyle C.. The Nature and Properties of Soils. New York, New York. Macmillan Publishing Company: 1990.