How to Grow Limes Hydroponically
- 1). Choose a location for the grow station, direct sunlight, controlled temperature and humidity, and of course access to sufficient electrical outlets are ideal. Lay down the rubber stall mats on the floor of this area to protect it from excess water from the hydroponics station.
- 2). Place the NFT upon a table large enough to support the weight. Your system itself should include a basin, which you should line with a rubber spreader mat to prevent leakage, and a water pump the same kind that one would use in a large aquarium. Place the water pump at either end of this basin, extending below the estimated water level.
- 3). Fill the system with distilled water (no solution) at least a day before adding the nutrient mixture, this allows the water to rise to room temperature. The water should be ideally 68 to 76 degrees Fahrenheit (20 to 24 degrees Celsius); an aquarium water heater can be used to regulate this.
- 4). Soak the roots of the lime tree saplings in distilled water to remove previously retained soil from its system.
- 5). Place a layer of netting over the basin, and into the netting situate your saplings so that their bare roots extend through and fully immerse into the water. If your saplings are too heavy to support themselves, support them with strings tied to the trunks and fastened to a nearby fixture.
- 6). Set up the grow lamps above the grow station. Depending on the model of lights that you choose either suspend the lamps from a ceiling fixture, or attach them to the side of the basin position the lamps to allow maximum illumination of the plants. Lime trees will require a minimum of eight hours of sunlight per day.
- 7). Mix the nutrient mixture and water and introduce this into your grow system as instructed on the package. Check the pH balance daily with a pH analyzer. The pH should stay in an acidic range between 5.5 to 6.5.
- 8). Prune regularly. Remove branches below the graft joint, a swollen section near the base of the trunk. After removing the low branches, ensure that the tree is open to receive more air and sunlight by removing excess branches crowding the trunk as well as dead spindly branches that will not yield fruit. The tree should not need heavy pruning more than once every one to two years.
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