Deep Water Culture Hydroponics Simulator

In a deep-water-culture (DWC) hydroponic system, a plant's roots hang directly in an aerated nutrient reservoir instead of soil. This simulator models the two competing processes that decide whether that root zone stays healthy: nutrient uptake, which follows saturating Michaelis-Menten kinetics as roots absorb dissolved minerals, and dissolved-oxygen balance, which depends on the air pump's mass-transfer rate against root respiration and how much oxygen warm water can physically hold. Switch growth stages, change the nutrient setpoint, and dial the air pump and water temperature to see how a maturing plant can outgrow an underpowered pump — and watch the roots and water tint shift as the root zone drifts from healthy toward oxygen-starved.