An image depicting how to grow indoors - https://www.advancednutrients.com/articles/easy-hydroponics-beginners-guide/
Every single hobby or endeavour has a wide variety of people taking part and whilst it’s impossible to put people into clean, well defined boxes, we can always look at those common traits that seem to fit well into hydroponic growing.
Patience
It’s no shock to most people reading this blog that a plant cannot be grown overnight and of course requires weeks of care. What a lot of other hobbies have in common is a sense of instant gratification where the enjoyment and excitement happens at the time you put the effort in. For example, sports such as football and rugby are enjoyable at the time and games like chess can be won in under and hour whereas hydroponics requires regular attention over a course of weeks before you see the fruit of your labour.
Plants are very different to human beings. We come from different biological kingdoms for a start! The pace of life of a human is much faster than that of a plant. We can taste a morsel of food and immediately decide whether we like it or not. Plants, however, may not react for several hours or days. A good grower must slow down his pace of expectations. Growing a great plant is a long-game and never won in a day. Develop your patience and empathise with your plant's pace of life. The hobby of plant-growing will then become far more easy to understand.
Curious
With so many products on the market, it’s difficult not to be tempted to try them. Walking into our shop in Stoke-on-Trent you’ll see a whole wall covered in shelves packed to the brim with various nutrients and boosters and it’s difficult to not be drawn in by the choice. This natural curiosity is what brings creativity to hydroponics and sets it aside from other hobbies.
While plants can be grown with just a couple of bottles of decent quality feed. Educate yourself about different ways of growing (soil vs hydroponics) and the different compounds that occur in nature that are highly beneficial for your plants. Good examples of this are hemic and fulvic acids, silicates and amino acids. Learning about and trying new products is all part of the enjoyment of becoming a good grower. Engage your curiosity and your skills will grow.
Attentive
Growing a plant comes with its problems which are solvable, but only when you keep a close eye on the progress of your grow.
Common problems include root rot and various bugs which you’ll only know about if you’re taking an interest in how your plant is coming along. A non attentive grower is one that may miss the early signs of a problem and only be able to intervene when it’s too late.
Spend unhurried time with your plants. Take a close look at the soil. Is it muddy, compacted and lacking any oxygen flow? Are your plant stems thin and the growth wispy? Are your leaves a good deep green without spots or brown tips? Pay attention to the early signs of things not being quite right. Learn what the causes are of the various problems that plants have, particularly those common in an indoor grow environment. Learning how to correct matters quickly in the event of a problem will minimise the disruption to your plants growth and make you a much better grower.
Resourcefulness and Forward Looking
Although there’s a whole array of equipment available to us when growing, financial restraints are put on all of us that mean we can’t just buy everything we want or require at the point in time when we need it. There are certain items that you will definitely need. There will be others that you would love to give a try one day but are far from absolutely necessary.
Being able to look ahead and take stock of the consumables you have available between the present moment and your next payday is a valuable character trait that will serve you well in hydroponics. Careful planning will help you avoid running out of those items that you cannot grow without.
The above characteristics are by no means exclusive to hydroponics but overlap heavily with other popular hobbies, sports and pastimes. An example of this might be martial arts which instils a sense of discipline and personal development in all areas of life. Although there are many types of activity in life that build character, it is important to choose one that rings your bell of interest. Trying to excel at something in which you have no interest requires a huge amount of mental effort and self-discipline. For those that have been bitten by the growers "bug", and have gained a keen interest in the subject, the learning will be a pleasure and the growing will be all the more fruitful.
Nurturing and growing your plant successfully is a rewarding experience and will undoubtedly have a positive impact on you as a person. It will develop character and a give you a overwhelming sense of achievement when that all-important crop comes in for harvest.
