Does hydroponics use soil? You may have heard that hydroponics is an indoor gardening method, but is it really? Hydroponics uses nutrient-rich water to plant, grow and harvest plants. This method of gardening has revolutionized how people grow their produce at home. The result? A healthier, less expensive and more sustainable way to eat at home. Find out your answer by reading this article until end. In this blog, we also have an article about best lettuce hydroponic growing system that you might want to read about it.
Hydroponics is a type of horticulture and a subset of hydroculture which involves growing plants without soil, by using mineral nutrient solutions in an aqueous solvent.”
Wikipedia.org
Does Hydroponics Use Soil
So, does hydroponics use soil? Hydroponics is the use of hydroponic systems to grow plants in water, without soil. Hydroponics does not use soil, which means that it does not need a nutrient-rich medium to provide a favorable environment for plant growth. The nutrients are supplied by the roots of the plants and are absorbed directly into the plant tissues. This allows hydroponic systems to be used in areas where it is impractical or impossible to grow plants using traditional methods.
Hydroponics is a way to skip the soil, sub in a different material to support the roots of the plant, and grow crops directly in nutrient-rich water.”
Verticalroots.com
How it works
Hydroponic systems can be applied indoors as well as outdoors. They come in many forms including growing bags, soilless trays, aeroponically filled pots, hanging baskets, troughs, and more. Growing bags commonly consist of polyethylene with holes punched through it, allowing air to pass through while providing light, water, and fertilization to the root system of the plant. Polyethylene is cheap, durable, and flexible enough to move around easily.
It also prevents leaching of fertilizer from the bag when planted. Many growers prefer to mix their own organic fertilizers such as fish emulsion and rock phosphate before planting. Most commercial fertilizers are too rich in nitrogen or phosphorous, causing unhealthy growth. Some growers may mix these elements together in different ratios depending on what they feel will work best for the plants. In addition to fertilizing, most hydroponic systems include some sort of lighting device to promote healthy growth.
Benefits of hydroponic
The primary benefit of hydroponic technology is its ability to produce plants year round. It doesn’t require much maintenance, making it an ideal choice for home gardeners who don’t have time to devote to gardening but still want fresh vegetables. The lack of soil is especially beneficial for people with allergies to dust mites, pollen, and other allergens found in normal soil.
A study done at Ohio State University concluded that indoor environments harbor higher levels of allergen particles than outdoor environments, because there are fewer naturally occurring organisms (such as earthworms) to help break down harmful materials like mold and fungus. As such, indoor gardens reduce exposure to those kinds of environmental toxins.
Another advantage is that you can control exactly how much light a plant receives. Since the nutrients are provided by the roots, light penetration isn’t as critical as it would be in soil-based gardens. Plants grown in hydroponic environments typically start out larger than those grown in soil-filled gardens. While this might seem like an issue, it’s actually desirable. Larger plants tend to keep producing throughout the season, thanks to their increased access to sunlight.
What’s the difference between hydroponic and aquaponic gardening?
Aquaponics combines aquaculture and horticulture. Aquaculture is the raising of aquatic animals, while Horticulture is the cultivation of food crops and ornamental plants. These two are combined by placing them both together in one place. You feed your fish food, which then excretes waste into a reservoir containing gravel and sand where the water drains down through a filter bed made up of rocks and gravel.
This process takes the carbon dioxide released by the fish waste and adds oxygen back to the water, creating an environment hospitable to algae. The algae grows, die, and decompose releasing nutrients back into the water. The filtered water is then pumped back into the tank where the nutrient-rich water is used to water the plants.
There are many benefits of combining aqua-culture and horticulture. One benefit is that the system produces natural filtration of the water without the need for chemicals. Another benefit is that the water quality remains constant regardless of changes in weather conditions. This makes it easier to grow certain plants indoors during inclement weather. Hydroponic and aeroponic technologies are often very expensive, but aquaponics is less so. In fact, a DIY kit can cost only about $500.