grow cycle | air stones : don ' t starve your roots
When growing in the dirt , you don ’ t have to consider how to get oxygen to your roots . That ’ s not always the case in your hydroponic system , and you may be neglecting this need . You may find that your nutrient solution provides dissolved oxygen to the roots , but what do you do if your nutrient solution doesn ’ t offer this or if the oxygen gets depleted ? Air stones can help you oxygenate your system .
WHAT ARE AIR STONES ?
If you ’ ve ever had a small fish tank , you might be familiar with air stones . These little balls connected to a line that connected to an air pump to oxygenate the water of your tank . Air stones for your hydroponic system are very similar . You can find a wide variety of pump and air stone sizes to fit your particular system .
Like in the fish tank , each air stone will produce hundreds of tiny bubbles that will boost the oxygen levels in the water for your roots . Another benefit of using air stones rather than other options , such as ozone treatments , is that they are a relatively inexpensive fix to your oxygen issue .
“ An air stone creates a huge amount of tiny bubbles in comparison to the slower stream of larger bubbles that just a tube alone would create .”
84 Maximum Yield USA | February 2017