Maximum Yield Cannabis Canada 2017 November/December | Page 26

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hydroponic hydrogels
HYDROPONIC HYDROGELS
BY SHANNON MCKEE
Hydrogels, strange products that
act as a solid even though they
absorb vast amounts of liquid,
have a wide range of uses in the
modern world. As Shannon McKee
tells us, they also have a place
in your hydroponic set-up.
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H
ydrogels can be found in many common applications, but
how can they be employed when it comes to your hydro-
ponic garden? Already used in biomedical, environmental, and
pharmaceutical industries, modern hydrogels have a longer
service life, more strength, a higher water capacity, and can
be designed with controllable responses to expand or shrink
depending on the surrounding environment.
What Are They?
Hydrogels, also called hydrophilic gels, have been used since
the 1970s in horticulture. Prior to the ’70s, they were made of
natural materials. Then, they were synthetically engineered
with three-dimensional, ultra-absorbent polymers, usually
proteins such as gelatin and collagen, and polysaccharides
like agarose, alginate, and starch. Water can be absorbed at
several hundred times the structure’s own weight thanks to the
strong polymeric backbone within the hydrogel.