Hydroponics Herbs Essential Oil Extractions

hydroponics herbs essential oils extracts

Hydroponics Herbs Essential Oil Extractions

Hydroponics herbs essential oil extractions can be fun and easy to do.  Essential oils extracted from plants have been used for centuries for a wide variety of purposes including cosmetics, medicines, cleaning products, industrial applications-you name it!  In fact a lot of medicines are discovered in plants in their natural state.  From there, they may be examined and if the purpose suits, re-tooled for synthesis so that they may be patented-.

Unlocking the power of common garden plants is getting to be easier and more affordable for the home hydroponics herbal enthusiast-like many of the hydroponic growing technologies that have allowed millions of people across the globe top benefit from the ease, accessibility and efficiency of hydroponic growing methods.

garden herbs essential oils extracts steam distillation

Above: Direct Steam Distillation Kit for Extracting Essential Oils from Garden Plants at Home or on the Farm. NOTE, the purple marks on the collection tube is where the spearmint oil is

Hydroponics has allowed people to grow more productively where they may have never grown before, as is the case with the current boom in roof top growing and indoor growing in major urban centers across the globe.

Whether you harvest your herbs from hydroponics or are enjoying growing your garden the old fashioned way out in the sun, for example with organic gardening practices, there are countless botanical extracts you can perform  at home for a wide variety of applications–you are only limited by the amount of looking and asking you want to perform in your search for finding your own remedies and filling a wide variety of needs 100% naturally from the plant kingdom.
 Here is a partial list of common garden herbs and plants that are harvested and extracted for their value in the naturally occurring essential oils they hold:
Mint
Spearmint
Lavender
Sage
Basil
Oregano

There’s a pretty good chance you have some of the plants growing already-it’s easy to find 100’s of uses for the short list of herbs above for a wide variety of things from healthy and beauty to household cleaning-and of course, the culinary possibilities are simply sublime!

collecting essential oils and resins from plants steam

When you extract essential oils from herbs yourself, the results can be very POTENT & CONCENTRATED.  You are wise not to underestimate how powerful these extracts can be!
In our photo examples here in this article, what you are seeing is a 2L Direct Steam Distillation Essential Oil Extractor.  This works on a very simple principle:
1) steam, at atmospheric pressure from distilled water in the lower flask that is heated, travels to the upper vessel which holds the plant material.  In this instance, Scotch Spearmint.
2) the steam from the distilled water dissolves and carries the volatile essential oils and biological compounds from fresh or dried plant material that is water soluble to a condenser.
3) the colder temperature of the condenser separates the oil and the water from the vapour, where they fall via gravity into the collector
4) the collector allows pure water, which sits at the bottom of the unit to drip out, while the oil (because oil and water don’t mix when cool) usually floats on top
5) to collect the extract once the distillation p[process is complete, you simply drain the water out of the collector, and then catch the essential oil in a container or vial

steam distillation plant material spearmint extract

How much oil that is yielded is dependent on factors like plant type and of course, the quality of the plant harvest itself.  Modern growing practices and crop fertilizer management along with variety selection can significantly increase the potential quantity and quality of essential oil from an acre or even a square meter of crop grown specifically for the purpose of extracting essential oils from the harvest.

 

Stay tuned, we have lots more to come on how you can benefit and have fun with hydroponics herbs essential oil extractions.

About Erik Biksa 246 Articles
Erik Biksa has been writing about and discussing hydroponics growing, related technologies and cropping methods since 1999 in a variety of professional publications and platforms globally Erik has travelled the world learning and teaching modern growing techniques and technologies and is appreciated by many growers for his informative yet hands on approaches. Presently, he is the Editor at Grozine Hydroponics Mag.