Whether you’re checking the news or fainting at the sight of your grocery bill, it’s no secret that the cost of living has skyrocketed in the last handful of years. Even with the main corporate supermarkets under Senate inquiry for price gouging, there are no signs that the soaring grocery prices are coming down any time soon.
One obvious solution to outrageous grocery prices is for people to start growing their own food, but conventional wisdom would state that doing so requires, at the very least, spare land.
Thankfully, that assumption is incorrect. Enter one of the best, most space-saving methods for growing veggies: hydroponic cultivation.
So what exactly is hydroponic cultivation? Essentially, it’s a method of growing plants without soil. Instead, all the nutrients are supplied via water.
There are two main hydroponic cultivation systems: open/run-to-waste, where substrate is continuously supplied with fresh nutrients (and the old is drained away), and closed/recirculating, where the nutrients aren’t drained away but are collected and supplied to the plants again. Regardless of the system, of ultimate importance is the nutrient solution, which will largely determine your success.
For a novice, choosing the right system (let alone the perfect nutrient balance and pH level) can be a lot to wrap your head around, which may put you off at first. Luckily for all us beginners, grow experts CANNA have developed a collection of products across their Aqua and Classic ranges that provide everything you could possibly need to get your hydroponic garden set up and flourishing.
Achieving mind-blowing yields, CANNA Aqua Nutrients and CANNA Aqua Clay Pebbles are perfect for closed/substrateless recirculating systems, where the drainage water doesn’t flow away but is reused. This method not only uses fewer nutrients and less water than most other systems, it also ensures that the plants are in direct contact with the nutrient solution.
Yields are maximised through meticulous control of the supply of nutrients during the growth and blooming phases – producing the most amount of food for your efforts. There is also no need to adjust the pH, making the system super user-friendly.
Credit: Supplied
For those of you who would prefer the open/run-to-waste hydroponic system, there is CANNA Classic – the nutrient products used in systems where the drainage water is not returned to the nutrient tank, but drained away. This is a precision system that has benefits such as giving your plants fresh nutrients at each feed, and reducing the risk of disease. And while this system does require more know-how than growing in soil, the yields are considerably higher.
Aqua and Classic each have their individual advantages, so the best thing to do is talk to someone at CANNA, explain your specific circumstances and goals, and have them point you in the direction of the best products for your needs. From there, you’re up and running. It’s as simple as that!
Growing your own food is an incredibly rewarding activity. You cut your cost of living, know exactly where your food is coming from, and have an endless source of healthy deliciousness that goes straight to your table. You can’t get fresher than that. Thanks to CANNA, this is achievable for everyone, no matter your level of experience or how much space you have to work with.
To learn more about hydroponic cultivation, visit the CANNA website. From the Grow Guide nutrient calculator, to endless articles and product overviews, to the free MyCANNA section where you can access personalised information, exclusive content and downloads; the CANNA website is a treasure trove of information, tips and tools. Happy growing!
For more information, visit the Canna website.
