Did you know that the hemp plant can grow just about anywhere? In fact, it doesn’t necessarily need soil to grow. You can grow it indoors using a water-based medium rather than a soil medium, and the results will be nothing short of amazing.
Read on as we go over the hydroponic hemp flower and see how it measures up against hemp grown outside or in greenhouses.
Hydroponic hemp flowers are CBD-rich hemp flowers grown in a water-based, mineral-rich solution. Water is the crucial ingredient in this growing technique and replaces the soil medium.
The hemp plant’s roots float in the nutrient-rich solution. This means that the nutrients are more readily available to the hemp plant than would be the case in a soil medium. The plant also receives adequate amounts of light and oxygen.
With the clamor for eco-friendlier, economical and sustainable hemp farming practices, more and more hemp producers are shying away from other hemp farming methods and turning to hydroponics.
Here are some of the benefits associated with hydroponic hemp flower compared to hemp plants grown in greenhouses, indoors, or outside:
Hydroponic hemp flowers enjoy a faster growth rate than those cultivated in soil. That’s because their roots are bathed in the nutrient-rich solution, meaning they have direct access to nutrients. And unlike the soil medium, water promotes easier and faster absorption of nutrients into the plant’s roots.
With unrestricted access to nutrients, the hemp plant reserves the energy that it would usually use to find its way through the soil, searching for nutrients. Instead, it uses the energy to promote faster plant growth.
Besides that, hemp thrives in humid environments. And the water medium provides the perfect moist environment for them.
Outdoor hemp plants may not experience enough lighting at the right angles. That’s because the availability of sunlight changes across the entire hemp growth cycle, which explains their comparatively low CBD levels.
But hydroponic hemp flowers grown indoors use artificial, spectrum-optimized lighting. These grow lights illuminate the crops at the actual frequencies in which they thrive. You can also control the angle and the duration of illumination.
This aspect of total light control allows hemp producers to maximize the CBD strength of their crops. Outdoor-grown hemp flowers usually have less than 15% CBD concentration. But hydroponic hemp flowers come with higher CBD concentrations between 20% and 25%.
Hemp flower buds need the right amount and type of nutrients to grow. Hemp plants grown in a soil medium rely on the nutrients trapped in the soil, which their roots must look for. This means that how dense their buds grow depends on the accessibility of the nutrients. And that’s why their buds don’t consistently become dense.
But with hydroponics, you can control the nutrients dissolved in the water medium. The most important macronutrients for hemp plants include:
Access to light is another important aspect that affects the density of buds. Outdoor-grown hemp plants may not have sufficient lighting because of weather changes.
However, hydroponic hemp flowers are grown under consistently bright LED grow lights. As such, they produce plump, dense flower buds. And as you already know, the denser the flower buds, the greater the yield.
Hemp plants are naturally resinous and filled with aromatic terpenes. But exposure to the elements affects the hemp buds in the following ways:
As such, outdoor-grown hemp usually doesn’t taste and smell as good as those grown in a humid, indoor environment. While more research needs to be done, experts believe that the ingestion of terpenes together with cannabinoids might increase the strength of hemp in a phenomenon known as the entourage effect.
While you can’t judge a book by its cover, you can certainly figure out the quality of hemp buds through their visual appearance. Hydroponic hemp buds have better access to nutrients and optimized lighting. So they are more visually attractive than outdoor, greenhouse, or indoor-grown hemp.
The buds are basically denser and have a frosty coating of trichomes. And from the color perspective, they wear a bright and sparkly look with orange pistils or hair. You wouldn’t fail to tell them apart from the rest.
Outdoor and greenhouse hemp cultivation uses pesticides and fertilizers that contain chemicals that may cause serious health concerns in the long run.
But with hydroponic cultivation, you don’t need to use chemicals to control weeds or insect infestation. This means that your buds won’t test positive for pesticides or heavy metals in a third-party lab test.
While you might decide to adopt agrochemical-free practices out in the fields, agrochemicals from neighboring farms may seep into groundwater and reach your buds. Wind may also transfer the chemicals to your farm.
Hemp flowers are as good as the environment they grow in. The good thing about growing your hemp in a water-based medium is that you get to control the variables that affect their entire growth cycle. These include aspects like nutrition and lighting.
That’s why hydroponic hemp flower buds tend to be denser, more colorful, and have a pleasant smell and taste. They also have higher CBD concentrations than their indoor, greenhouse, and outdoor counterparts—something that all CBD consumers love.
