Is Hydroponic Hyacinth Easy to Care For?
If you want to know whether hydroponic hyacinth is easy to care for and the plant cultivation tips for caring for hydroponic hyacinth, let's take a look together!
When it comes to hydroponic plants, have you ever hydroponically cultivated hyacinth? With lush and colorful flowers growing densely on top and crystal-clear roots gracefully standing in a transparent glass bottle, the air is filled with a rich and faint fragrance, making people involuntarily captivated.
Hyacinth is originally from the Mediterranean coast and the region around Asia Minor. The Netherlands grows the most. It is a perennial bulbous herbaceous plant with a spherical or oblong bulb, which can be grown in soil, in pots, or hydroponically. However, generally speaking, after flowering, it will not bloom again the following year, whether grown in soil, in pots, or hydroponically. Unless the bulb is treated. So if we want to cultivate it, we might as well adopt the simpler and more convenient hydroponic method.
1. Conditions for Hydroponics
Although hydroponics is simple, it actually has conditions and skills. First, not all plants can be grown hydroponically. Only a limited range of families and genera are suitable for hydroponics, such as the Araceae, Liliaceae, Agavaceae, Crassulaceae, and Commelinaceae, among which many plants can be grown hydroponically. Why can these plants be hydroponically cultivated? We know that in soil cultivation, excessive watering leading to hypoxia often becomes the reason for the root rot and even death of the plant. In hydroponics, the roots are immersed in nutrient solution for a long time, with little oxygen and decreasing, so oxygen becomes a key factor in the success of hydroponics. Most of the plants in the aforementioned families and genera that are suitable for hydroponics have aerial roots, well-developed aeration tissue for storing and transporting oxygen, or strong tolerance to hypoxia, allowing them to adapt to the hydroponic environment. Common ornamental leaf plants like the Epipremnum aureum in the Araceae family and the Dracaena fragrans in the Agavaceae family, as well as ornamental flowering plants like the Hyacinthus orientalis in the Liliaceae family and the Anthurium andraeanum in the Araceae family, have such advantages. Secondly, hydroponics also requires corresponding maintenance and management measures. During the maintenance process, it is necessary to regularly replace the nutrient solution, provide suitable lighting, air temperature, and humidity, etc., to allow the hydroponic plants to grow robustly like in the soil.
Hyacinth from the Liliaceae family has such advantageous conditions and is undoubtedly a lazy person's beautiful flower for those who love hyacinth but don't have much time to care for it.
Pink and Blue Hyacinth
How to hydroponically cultivate hyacinth and how to care for it in daily life?
2. Steps for Hydroponic Hyacinth Cultivation
2.1 Select Bulbs
The first step is to select the bulbs. The quality of the bulbs affects the effectiveness of hydroponics. According to the growth habits of hyacinth - rooting and sprouting in autumn, leafing and flowering in early spring, withering of stems and leaves and bulb dormancy and flower bud differentiation in mid-summer, we can select bulbs that are large and plump, with glossy outer skin, free from disease and pest marks, and heavy in hand in October to November. Remember to choose bulbs with a circumference of 18 centimeters or more for more guaranteed flowering. The original flowers of hyacinth are purple. Flower colors include red, yellow, pink, blue, lavender, and white. Generally, the bulb's skin color corresponds to the flower color. Choose according to your preference.
Hyacinth Bulbs
Is Hydroponic Hyacinth Easy to Care For?
Hyacinth Bulbs
2.2 Cleaning
Remove the dried epidermis and old roots of the bulbs, wash them with water, then soak them in a carbendazim solution for disinfection for about 20 minutes. Then take them out and dry them. Place them in a cool and well-ventilated place for one day.
2.3 Fill Container with Water
We can use a sandglass-shaped flat-bottomed transparent bottle. The bottle opening size should fit the bottom of the bulb, with a 1-2 centimeter distance from the bottom of the bulb to allow the roots to breathe. The water should ideally be pure water with fewer impurities, as it has less impact on the components of the nutrient solution, followed by tap water.
2.4 Dark Treatment in the Early Stage
Since the roots of hyacinth are more likely to germinate in a dark environment, we need to place the container in a dark place and cover the bottle with a black cloth. At the same time, keep the room temperature between 10-15 degrees. After about a month, the roots will fully germinate. Then it will be transferred to daily maintenance.
Blue Hyacinth
3. Daily Maintenance Management of Hydroponic Hyacinth
3.1 Light Management, Temperature Management
Hyacinth prefers a cool, humid, and sunlit environment and can tolerate semi-shade.
After the hydroponic roots develop, move it to a place without direct sunlight. As the leaves of the hyacinth grow larger in sufficient light, the flower stem gradually elongates. Then the flower bud grows, colors, and continuously develops, at which point it is important to ensure sufficient lighting to avoid yellow leaves or flower bud withering. At the same time, we need to rotate the orientation regularly, which can be 180 degrees from the original direction. The purpose is to prevent it from growing biased. Keep the indoor temperature at 17-20 degrees. It will bloom after about 2 months. After blooming, expose it to less sunlight, and growing in a semi-shaded environment can extend the flowering period.
Note: Round glass containers have a strong focusing effect. If exposed to strong sunlight for a long time, the temperature of the nutrient solution will increase significantly, which the hyacinth cannot tolerate. Therefore, avoid direct strong sunlight.
Hyacinth Growth and Flowering Process
Pink Hyacinth
3.2 Add Nutrient Solution when 3-4 Leaves Appear, and Supplement Water when 20%-30% of Water is Consumed
Although hyacinth can bloom without adding nutrient solution, if you want the hyacinth to grow and bloom better, it is still necessary to add nutrient solution, but it should be light rather than concentrated. When our hyacinth has grown 3-4 leaves, we can start adding nutrient solution until the bud appears. Ideally, each hydroponic flower should be cultivated with a matching plant nutrient solution, but different flowers and the same flowers at different growth stages require different nutrient elements. For simplicity, we can purchase a universal nutrient solution at a hydroponic flower store. If preparing it yourself, you can use an equal mixture of 0.5% compound fertilizer and 0.5% potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution. After adding it, generally, supplement once every 15-20 days. As the roots absorb and water evaporates, the water level in the container will decrease, and it will decrease more if the temperature is high. When 20%-30% of the original water volume is consumed, we add clean water to supplement to the original water level.