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Hydroponics.

"The science of growing plants in a medium other than soil, using a mixture of essential plant nutrient elements dissolved in water."

In this article I will outline the advantages and disadvantages of hydroponics.

Advantages and Disadvantages:

'Why bother with chemicals, tanks and such things, when all you have to do is put a seed in the ground, water it, and leave the rest to nature?' Their are several answers to this question:

no need to fertilize no cultivation no crop rotation virtually no weeds a tendency towards uniform results cleanliness larger yields less labor better control ease of starting new plants a means of upgrading poor plants

This list certainly looks impressive, but my personal experience backs up every claim.

No need to fertilize: There is nothing better for growing plants than a first-class soil. But what makes such a soil? Among many attributes, a good soil must have a balanced supply of available plant nutrients.

Many soils entirely lack one or more essential nutrient elements. Take phosphorous for example. This has often been supplied to the soil in a form of a fertilizer application of super phosphate. Similarly potassium sulphate is used for potassium deficiency, ammonium potassium or nitrate or urea for nitrogen deficiency, and so on.

In the hydroponic method a balanced diet of plant nutrients is constantly available. There is no need to fertilize.

No cultivation: The back-breaking tasks of digging, raking or hoeing are virtually unknown in hydroponics. This particularly true of the coarser medium such as coarse sand or gravel. The voids in gravel provide all the soil atmosphere required by the plant. In fact with the sub irrigation technique in gravel, this atmosphere is replenished at least once daily. Part of the outstanding success of this method is due to the periodical supply of fresh air to the root system.

No crop rotation: There is no need to practise crop rotation in hydroponics. Lettuce, tomatoes or any other crop can be grown in the same place as the last crop, and as often as desired.

Crop rotation becomes necessary when the level of available nutrients in the soil, for a particular crop, falls below certain minimum limits. The hydroponic method per se precludes such an occurrence.

No weeds: Sterile media is used for growing, so soil-borne weeds are impossible to occur. If, by any chance, an 'air-borne' weed manages to land on your medium and get a footing, they are easily dealt with. This is gardening with one of it's most annoying problems virtually gone!

Uniform results: This is a great boom for commercial farmers, who are, among other things, interested in getting uniform results in their production. Soils vary tremendously in both physical chemical makeup. When using hydroponic gravel, and the same nutrient formulation, very uniform results are acquired.

Cleanliness: Many people fall victim to eating infected lettuce leaves. This is a real problem when animal excreta are used to enrich the soil. The US Army's hydroponics project in Japan was carried out specifically for this reason. Using sterile media and nutrient solution completely removes this problem.

Larger yields: Larger yields may definitively be expected, though some people expect extraordinary results from hydroponic gardening. If the 'yield' is defined as the return of mass of numbers of fruit, vegetable or flower per unit growing area per time, then the hydroponics method is superior. The reasons are not hard to see. Plants mature faster. Tomatoes for example, mature within 4 months from time of seeding. Lettuce take about eight to ten weeks. Secondly there is no competition by the plants for nutrients, so plants can be packed a lot closely together. With some crops, such as the tomato, it can be estimated that you can receive 3 to 4 times more than the yield expected in soil.

Less labor: Any businessman will tell you that labor is the most expensive item when manufacturing goods. The same is true of agriculture. There is digging to be done, fertilizer to be applied, and frequent irrigation. With hydroponics all three of those can be eliminated. It is completely possible to go away on holiday - return home, and pick the fruits or flowers from your hydroponic tank.

Better control: One of the many problems faced by gardeners is pH control. In the hydroponic system this problem is easily dealt with. Since inert growing media is used, it is a relatively simple procedure to change the pH of the nutrient to any desired level below 7,0. It is also comparatively easy to provide more or less nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium etc., should the plants require special treatment. With hydroponics this can all be arranged.

Ease of starting new plants: Growing seedlings in vermiculite is simplicity itself. There is no need to prepare special soil. Seedling will transplant with minimum of shock. Both these factors add up to the greater efficiency and ease for the gardener.

Upgrading poor plants: There is no finer way of revitalizing a poor plant than by transplanting it from soil into a hydroponic tank. Provided that there is no serious damage, a poorly growing plant may be transformed into a vigorous and healthy plant in the tank. It then may be transplanted into soil again if needed.

Of course, there have to be some disadvantages. Here are some of them: On a large scale the construction of tanks and purchase of equipment such as pumps and reservoirs makes for a high initial outlay. This rather limits commercial growing to expensive floral crops and special vegetables fetching high prices. However, with the modern use of plastic lined tanks and overhead drip systems, this disadvantage falls away. Some people state that hydroponics requires a bit of chemical knowledge. While it is true on a large scale it is helpful to have a knowledge of chemicals, for small scale and home hydroponics, many company's sell reasonably priced pre-made hydroponic nutrient solution powders, that you just need to mix with water. This eliminates the need for chemical knowledge, expensive scales, stocks of different chemicals etc.

I hope this article has been of interest to you and I hope you will lookout for more of my hydroponics articles!

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