Hydroponic Gardening
Hydroponic gardening, the system of soilless growing,
is rapidly gaining in popularity because of the growing
disappearance of a large water supply and fertile farmland.
This method isn't new since a form of hydropics was used to
cultivate plants in the famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one
of the Ancient Wonders of the World.
Today, research
has since discovered that many different aggregates or
media will support plant growth, not just soil with
hydroponic gardening being just one of several systems.
One of the most major advantages of hydroponics
is that it saves space, which
allows any home gardener to adopt this
technique and grow their own fresh vegetables and
plants even on apartment balconies. In addition,
hydroponic gardening has become a widely preferred method for
greenhouse gardening because of its space-saving
benefits.
Hydroponic gardening uses a sterile medium.
For the home gardener, this means that there are no
weeds to remove and no soil-borne pests to
worry about. In addition, diseases caused by these pests are
minimized, if not eliminated all
together.
In fact, properly grown
hydroponic plants have proven to be healthier and more
vigorous because in hydroponic gardening, no soil is
used, which means the nutrients are more readily
available to the plant. Thus, the plants can mature
faster, yielding an earlier harvest of vegetable and flower
crops.
The major advantage of hydroponic
gardening is the ability to automate the entire
system with a timer. This reduces the actual time it takes to
maintain plant growth requirements. This automation also
provides flexibility to the gardener because you can be
gone for long periods of time without having to worry about
watering the plants.
What Plants
Need
All plants, whether grown hydroponically
or traditionally, require nutrients, water, light and air to
grow. When grown in soil, plants get their nutrients and water
from the soil. However, uptake is slow because, though
soil provides the nutrients, it also impedes the roots’ access
to these nutrients.
With hydroponic gardening
there's no soil involved and since water and nutrients
are always available, plants are never stressed. You can make
sunlight and air available by using an outdoor hydroponic
gardening system. However, if you prefer to do your gardening
indoors, you
may need to use artificial devices to provide adequate light
and air circulation.
Metal halide lamps and
sodium vapor lamps used in conjunction with incandescent light
bulbs are often used in hydroponic gardening. Gro-lights, or fluorescent
lights can also be used.
Oxygen is needed to keep
plant roots alive. Healthy roots (which are white in color)
are responsible for the uptake of all nutrients for the plant.
It's impossible for plants to survive if the roots die. Even
if you have all the growth requirements of plants on hand,
they will still be useless since the plants won't be able to
use them without roots. To keep adequate oxygen supply,
hydroponic gardening uses air circulation. This technique
mixes the air and allows plants to draw out the carbon
dioxide necessary to carry on photosynthesis.
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