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Hydroponic Glossary Of Terms
Have you ever wondered what is involved in Hydroponic gardening? In order to understand how to use hydroponics for gardening you will need to understand the terminology of the various parts. You will notice that some of these terms are similar to regular gardening as well.
Taproot - A primary, sparsely branched root which may penetrate to considerable depth; a carrot).
Thrips - Thrips are very small insect pests that attack a number of different plants species, ranging from onions to pears. Thrips will generally attack plants already stressed. Since thrips are sucking insects, the leaves and fruit may become deformed in severe attacks. In lesser cases, the leaves may only wilt or lose color. Thrips thrive in hot, dry conditions, so well watered plants should be protection enough. Use insecticidal soap if thrip populations are high.
Tobacco Mosaic Virus - Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV--the widely studied plant virus that causes tobacco mosaic; it was the first virus discovered (1892)
Toxicity - The quality or degree of being poisonous or harmful to plant or animal life.
Transformer - A transformer is an electrical device that transfers energy from one circuit to another by magnetic coupling with no moving parts.
Transpiration - Process in which water is absorbed by the root systems of a plant, moves up through the plant, passes through pores (stomata) in leaves, and then evaporates into the atmosphere as water vapor.
Transplant - A seedling or cutting raised to be replanted in another situation in order to raise an agricultural product.
Trellis - An open-framed garden structure on which plants and vines can grow.
Trichoderma fungi - A mitosporic fungal genus frequently found in soil and on wood. It is sometimes used for controlling pathogenic fungi.
Trichogramma wasp - Trichogramma wasps attack the eggs of over 200 species of moths and butterflies. These almost microscopic wasps (0.5 mm; 1/50 inch) are very important in preventing crop damage because they kill their hosts before the insects can cause plant damage. The female Trichogramma lays an egg within a recently laid host egg, and as the wasp larva develops, the host egg turns black. Each female parasitizes about 100 eggs and may also destroy additional eggs by host feeding. The short life cycle of 8-10 days allows the wasp population to increase rapidly. These wasps are harmless to people, animals, and plants.
Tuber - A type of modified stem or root, consisting of enlarged subterranean storage tissue. Potato tubers are stem tissue, which have nodes, or "eyes", from which whole plants are propagated. Sweet potato tubers have similar nodal structures but are actually root, not stem, tissue.
Turgid - Abnormally distended especially by fluids or gas.
Urea - A fertilizer made by combining nitrogen and carbon dioxide, and granulating the solution to form a product with a 46-percent nitrogen (N) content.
Vegetative - Not flowering. The stage of development when a plant is producing only roots, stems and leaves, that is, the vegetative organs.
Vermiculite - Is a light, mica-derived mineral added to potting mix to improve aeration and moisture retention.
Verticillium - any of several fungal diseases that afflict plants; commonly called wilt. See also Fusarium.
Viability - The ability of a population of a plant or animal species to persist for some specified time into the future. Viable populations are populations that are regarded as having the estimated numbers and distribution of reproductive individuals to ensure that its continued existence is well distributed in a given area.
Virus - A noncellular biological entity that can reproduce only within a host cell. Viruses consist of nucleic acid covered by protein; some animal viruses are also surrounded by a membrane. Inside the infected cell, the virus uses the synthetic capability of the host to produce progeny virus.
Volts - A unit of measure of the pressure in an electrical circuit. Volts are a measure of electric potential. Voltage is often explained using a liquid analogy--comparing water pressure to voltage: a high-pressure hose would be considered high voltage, while a slow-moving stream could be compared to low voltage.
Watt - A measure of electrical power or amount of work done in a unit of time and equal to the rate of current flow (amps) multiplied by the voltage of that flow (volts). One amp of current flowing at a potential of one volt produces one watt of power.
Wavelength - The distance, especially on an electromagnetic wave, that a wave travels in the time it takes to oscillate through a complete cycle. Wavelengths of visible light are measured in nanometers or microns. The wavelengths that are visible to the human eye are approximately 400 to 700 nanometers.
Whitefly - Minute insect that feeds on plant juices; related to scale insects.
Wick - woven fiber used in some hydroponic systems to draw nutrient to a plant's roots through capillary action.
Wilt. (See Fusarium and Verticillium.)
Wood ash - Wood ash is the inorganic and organic residue remaining after combustion of wood or unbleached wood fiber. Calcium is the most abundant element in wood ash and gives ash properties similar to agricultural lime. Ash is also a good source of potassium, phosphorus, and magnesium. In terms of commercial fertilizer, average wood ash would be about 0-1-3 (N-P-K). In addition to these macronutrients, wood ash is a good source of many micronutrients needed in trace amounts for adequate plant growth. Wood ash contains few elements that pose environmental problems. Heavy metal concentrations are typically low.
Woody plant - A plant having hard lignified tissues or woody parts especially stems.
Worm castings - Earthworms' castings have unique characteristics that make them an absolutely ideal plant food. In soil, they hold water and release nutrients in a form well suited to plants. They are a concentrated fertilizer that is most efficiently used as a portion of a planting mix, but still won't "burn" plants if applied more heavily. Laboratory trials show that even 10% vermicompost in potting mix improves germination rates, plant growth, appearance and fruiting. Castings also contain plant growth hormones that provide a strong "kick" to plants.
Xylem - The main part of the tree trunk made up of tiny tubes which transport water and minerals from the roots up the trunk and branches to the leaves.
Yield - The production of a certain amount.
Zinc - One of seven micronutrients necessary for plant health. Zinc participates in chlorophyll formation, and also activates many enzymes. Symptoms of zinc deficiency include chlorosis and stunted growth.
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