Why Is Hydroponic Gardening Better Than Conventional Gardening?

By Author: Isabella Whitmore
Total Articles: 106
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Hydroponics change the way we plant. Instead of relying on soil, plants are placed afloat in nutrient-rich water to grow faster and healthier. This method makes easy for plants to get their much-needed water and nutrients with minimal effort. Unlike soil-base planting where roots have to expand in search for them. This technique allows plants to invest their energy into growing upwards, giving growers early and bigger harvest.

Since roots don’t have to expand in search for nutrients and water, plants have smaller root systems. This means that crops can be planted close to each other which saves space giving room for more plants. This is great for people living in apartments who have limited area but want to grow their own crops, such as fresh herbs. They can plant in containers and put them in the kitchen or on a windowsill.

Many farmers take advantage of hydroponic system to grow plants vertically to save more space. This lets them yield eight times more than planting on fields. For vertical hydroponic systems, large pipes and water pumps are used for continuous water flow to the root system.

Hydroponics ...
... allow growers to plant crops in-door. This lets them harvest all year round as they don’t need to worry about the weather outside. This also makes plants healthy as they won’t attract bugs and pests which can destroy their leaves or growth. In the absence of sunlight, high-density discharge (HID) lights are installed to supply the necessary light energy on plants.

Total control of plants is impossible in soil-base planting because it is difficult to tell what nutrients is in the soil. Hydroponics make this possible allowing growers to provide optimal nutrition to their plants. This way of gardening lets you know what nutrients the plants receive as you get to choose the nutrient content in the water. The water formula can be tweak according to the plants’ needs. This prevents nutrient deficiency and toxicity. It also wards off soil-born bacteria which can cause diseases on plants.

Removing soil in gardening prevents unwanted elements that can affect the health of plants. Aside from disease-carrier bacteria, soil-less planting prevents weeds. Grass is difficult to deal with. It grows quickly and compete with plants in getting nutrients from soil. They are one of the reasons that make plants unhealthy. Getting rid of grass requires time and money for herbicide.

Although hydroponics is water-based systems, they use up to 90% less water than soil-base gardening. Growing crops in soil loose large portion of water in grounds instead of getting absorbed by plants. In hydroponics, the water that is not absorbed by plants stay in the system until it will be absorbed eventually.

Hydroponic plants are less maintenance. They don’t need to be water every day, fertilized often, or applied pesticides. You just have to check them once a while to see the water level if you need to add more.

Hydroponic systems can be use in almost all plants but they are mostly use to grow crops. They have great advantages growers as plants can be brought to maturity all year round as they are needed by the customer, whether it’s herbs on the windowsill or a supply of leafy greens for a supermarket.

Isabella Whitmore loves plants and gardening. She has a small hydroponic garden at home in which she grows herbs and vegetables. She works at https://electrickettlesplus.com which helps people find the perfect electric kettles for them.