Unit 3 Vocab Flashcards
Aeration
The process by which air in the soil is replenished by air from the atmosphere.
Bark
The tissues outside the vascular tissue overlying a woody stem.
Cubic measurement
A system for the measurement of volume or space in cubic units.
Density
Mass per unit volume.
Drainage
The removal of surplus ground or surface water by artificial means.
Fertilizer
Any organic or inorganic material added to soil or water to provide plant nutrients and to
increase the growth, yield, quantity, or nutritive value to the plants grown therein.
Gypsum
A mineral calcium sulfate, combined with water of hydration.
Lime
Calcium oxide, CaO, but, as commonly used in agricultural terminology, calcium carbonate,
CaCO3, and calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2, are included. Agricultural lime refers to any of these compounds
with or without magnesium carbonate, which are used as amendments chiefly for acid soils.
Mass
A measure of the amount of matter in an object.
Media
Soil or soil–like material in which plants are grown.
Peat
Fibrous, partly decayed fragments of vascular plants that retain enough structure so that the peat
can be identified as originating from certain plants (e.g., sphagnum peat or sedge peat).
Perlite
A volcanic glass having numerous concentric cracks that give rise to perlitic structure. Used in
synthetic potting media mix.
Porosity
Refers to the extent of voids or openings in the soil that exist between soil particles and soil
peds or clods. These pores hold water and air for absorption by plant roots.
Pumice
A porous or spongy form of volcanic glass.
Soil
The mineral and organic surface of the earth capable of supporting upland plants.
Vermiculite
A mineral, or minerals, classified with the micas, which with treatment at high temperatures,
expands into scales, and becomes a loose, absorbent mass.
Volume
The quantity of three–dimensional space enclosed by some closed boundary.
Acidity
Measure of hydrogen ions in a solution.
Aeroponics
A system of hydroponics that involves misting of the roots with a nutrient solution.
Aggregate culture
A hydroponic system that uses a media to absorb the nutrient solution and hold it for
the plant.
Alkaline
A chemical term referring to a basic solution over a pH of 7.
Conductivity tester
An electronic device used to measure the electrical conductivity.
Dissolved oxygen
The amount of oxygen found in water or solution.
Electrical conductivity
A measurement in hydroponics used to determine the amount of nutrient in
solution that is available to a plant.
Hydroponics
Growing plants in a nutrient solution and a media other than soil.
Media
Soil or soil like material in which plants are grown.
Neutral
Having neither acid nor alkaline qualities, pH of 7.
Nutrient
The minerals absorbed by plant roots and used for plant functions.
Nutrient flow technique
A popular water culture technique where the nutrient solution is continuously
flowing at the tips of the plants roots set in a medium.
pH
A numerical measure of acidity or hydrogen ion activity of a substance such as food or soil. The
neutral point is pH 7.0. All pH values below 7.0 are acid and all above 7.0 are alkaline.
Rockwool
Fibers made of natural or synthetic minerals used as a media for growing plants in a
hydroponic system.
Vermiculite
A mineral, or minerals, classified with the micas, which with treatment at high temperatures,
expands into scales, and becomes a loose, absorbent mass.
Water culture
A hydroponic system where the roots are in constant contact with the nutrient solution
where the media may not be as absorbent.
