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Chapters

This textbook is organized into 21 chapters covering all 500 concepts in the learning graph. Chapters follow the dependency order of the learning graph — each chapter assumes the concepts introduced in its listed prerequisites.

Chapter Overview

  1. Introduction to Hydroponics — History, soilless principles, plant life cycle fundamentals, and the scope from mason jar to vertical farm.
  2. Root Biology and Nutrient Absorption — Root anatomy, passive diffusion, active transport, osmosis, xylem/phloem, and root exudate chemistry.
  3. Water Transport, Photosynthesis, and Plant Health — Dissolved oxygen, root rot physiology, and visual deficiency symptom identification.
  4. Essential Nutrients: Macro and Micro — All 17 essential plant nutrients and Mulder's Chart for pH-nutrient interactions.
  5. Nutrient Solution Chemistry and Mixing — EC, ppm, mineral salt mixing, pH adjustment, bicarbonate buffering, and stock concentrates.
  6. Passive and Basic Active Systems — Kratky, DWC, NFT, ebb-and-flow, aeroponics, and fogponics compared by oxygen delivery and failure risk.
  7. Advanced Hydroponic Systems and Maintenance — Pump sizing, reservoir design, failure modes, redundancy, scalability, and inter-cycle cleaning.
  8. DIY Systems and School Projects — Mason jar Kratky, 5-gallon bucket DWC, PVC NFT builds, beginner crops, and science fair design.
  9. Growing Media and Crop Management — Rockwool, clay, coco coir, perlite; variety selection, succession planting, and post-harvest handling.
  10. Lighting Science — PAR, PPFD, DLI, LED vs. HID efficiency, light recipes, uniformity maps, and energy cost per kWh.
  11. Environmental Control and CO₂ Management — Temperature, humidity, VPD, CO₂ enrichment, HVAC sizing, data loggers, and alarm setpoints.
  12. MicroPython Fundamentals — MicroPython on Pico and ESP32: variables, control flow, functions, OOP, and inheritance.
  13. Hardware Interfaces and Sensor Programming — File I/O, CSV logging, I2C, SPI, UART, ADC, PWM, GPIO, interrupts, timers, and asyncio.
  14. Networking, IoT, and Advanced MicroPython — Wi-Fi, MQTT, HTTP, memory management, OTA updates, and sensor-specific libraries.
  15. Sensors and Electronics Hardware — pH electrodes, EC probes, relay modules, dosing pumps, PCB design, noise filtering, and waterproof enclosures.
  16. Data Collection and Analysis — Logging strategy, pandas, time-series resampling, NumPy, and linear regression.
  17. Data Visualization and Process Control — Matplotlib, Plotly, real-time Dash dashboards, SPC control charts, and anomaly detection.
  18. Food Safety and Pest Management — Biofilm, human pathogens, HACCP, sanitization protocols, and integrated pest management.
  19. Solar Energy and Power Systems — PV effect, MPPT, battery sizing, off-grid design, power monitoring, and energy audits.
  20. Vertical Farming and Commercial Operations — Multi-tier systems, commercial profiles, robotic harvesting, AI crop management, and supply chain.
  21. Financial Modeling and Hydroponics Economics — NPV, IRR, break-even, cost modeling, revenue channels, grant writing, Monte Carlo simulation.

How to Use This Textbook

Work through chapters in order — each chapter builds on the concepts introduced in its prerequisites. Chapters 1–9 establish the biology, chemistry, and systems foundation; Chapters 10–11 cover the physical environment; Chapters 12–17 build the automation and data science stack; and Chapters 18–21 address food safety, renewable energy, commercial scale, and financial viability.

Each chapter includes an interactive MicroSim, concept diagrams, and a list of all concepts covered that links back to the learning graph. Use the learning graph viewer to explore dependencies visually before diving into a chapter.

Chapter structure generated by the book-chapter-generator skill on 2026-05-28. All 500 concepts assigned with zero dependency violations.