Hydroponics and the Ways It Works
The term, hydroponics, is rooted in the old Greek word, “hydros,” or water, and “ponos,” or work. Sometimes, it is mistakenly referred to as aquiculture or aquaculture, terms that are more appropriatefor other fields of science that are totally unrelated to gardening.
As the world population rises and suitable land availability for crop production drops, hydroponics will provide us a lifeline, letting us to produce crops eitherin greenhouses or in multilevel structures devoted to agriculture.
Hydroponics can be defined as a process where plant is grown in a water-based solution that is infused with nutrients. It makes no use of soil; instead the root system relies on an inert medium like vermiculture, clay pellets, rockwool or peat moss. The main premise behind hydroponics is to let the plants roots get in direct contact with the nutrient solution, while at the same time giving it access to oxygen, an essential requirement for proper growth.
In any case, it’s good to learn as much as you can about hydroponics before starting your garden.
Hydroponics Advantages
Hydroponics provides several advantages, the most crucial of which is plant growth at a substantially higher rate. With the correct setup, your plants will be mature up to 25% sooner and give you a yield as much as 30% more than plants grown in soil can give you.
This is essentially because plants don’t have to work so much to access their required nutrients. Even a small root system will give the plant everything it needs, so the plant can focus more on growing upward rather than expanding the root system downward.
This, however, calls for effective control of your nutrient solution, including its pH levels. A hydroponic system will utilize less water than soil-based plants as well, and it is because the system is enclosed, leading to reduced evaporation. Of course, hydroponics is more environment-friendly because it controls waste and pollution from soil runoff.
Why Use Hydroponics?
Hydroponics is a perfect choice for any type of growers. That’s because you will be able to control the variables meticulously, which means you can also control how well your plants grow. Compared to a soil-based garden, a well-maintained hydroponic system will amaze your with its results, both in terms of plant quality and the amount of produce yielded.
If you dream of growing the largest, juiciest, tastiest plants, hydroponics is surely for you. It does seem intimidating at first when you think of all that equipment and work required, but once you get the hang of it, you will find that it’s actually easier than you thought. The secret is to arm yourself with as much knowledge as you can get, both from reading and from talking to an expert.