Do you love the garden, but you don’t have land in your house? Maybe this is the solution for you: hydroponics.
It is basically about growing different crops without the need for soil. Instead, a system is put together in which the roots of the plants receive the nutrients they need to grow through water, thus managing to grow as strong and healthy as in a garden.
And you know what’s best? What can you do at home!
In this article we tell you everything you need to know about the subject.
What is hydroponics and how does it work?
Hydroponics comes from the Greek, ὕδωρ = ‘water’, and πόνος = ‘labor’, ‘work’. It is a way of farming that uses mineral solutions instead of soil to grow plants.
In addition to allowing more efficient use of space, and giving the possibility of growing in areas with arid soils, hydroponic cultivation is the best way to have total control over the healthy growth of plants.
Hydroponics has been used particularly for commercial use, in the cultivation of tomatoes, lettuce and a wide variety of vegetables. However, little by little its use in small private orchards and gardens is beginning to be in vogue.
This type of cultivation is carried out in containers where nutrients such as rock wool, sand, coconut fiber, perlite, and other specific substances that are acquired in specialized stores are placed, capable of carrying the food that each plant needs.
The main element in this cultivation system is water, so the most important thing is to ensure an adequate irrigation system.
Hydroponic cultivation consists of a substrate (generally expanded clay, vermiculite or rock wool) to which water is supplied with the incorporated nutrients and that can be continuously watered as long as the liquid is drained and does not flood the substrate to make the most of the water. .
Create an Eden for plants
This type of cultivation is called hydroponics, but it could just as well be called “aeroponic cultivation”. What do we mean by this?
Although the plants with this system grow in water, the true achievement of those who implemented hydroponic cultivation for the first time was to achieve the creation of a general environment, and especially light, whose purpose is to provide any type of plant with an ideal medium for develop and flourish.
The really essential thing about this technique, then, is to optimize the environment where the plants will grow. It is necessary to avoid the disturbing and multiply what the crop accepts well.
In other words: hydroponics is about creating an Eden for plants.
It may sound exaggerated, but it is not. When you manage to create the perfect environment for hydroponic cultivation, the results are spectacular.
The results are even so incredible that it allows us to dream of a future in which everyone could satisfy their vital needs at home, creating a much more sustainable planet.
The advantages of hydroponics
One of the main advantages of this type of cultivation is the rapid growth and maturation of the plant. Well done, a hydroponic crop can shorten cycles by 60% compared to those of the same plant in its natural environment.
For those who do it on a large scale, this crop also has a competitive advantage: uniformity, smell and taste.
In addition, it also has advantages when sowing, for example:
- It provides the roots with a constant level of moisture at all times, regardless of the weather or the growth stage of the crop.
- Reduces the risk of excess irrigation.
- Avoid the useless waste of water and fertilizers.
- Ensures irrigation throughout the root area.
- Considerably reduces the problems of diseases caused by soil pathogens.
- Increases yields and improves production quality.
Finally, hydroponics also has enormous ecological advantageswhich could make a real difference in the use of resources in the long run:
- Free the plants from the presence of weeds or pests.
- It favors the rest of the earth. It is useful on worn or scarce land.
- It does not require large spaces, which is why it is especially profitable from an economic point of view.
- It does not depend on weather conditions, so it guarantees the plant variety throughout the year.
Disadvantages of hydroponics
The truth is that, as you have seen, the advantages of hydroponics are many. But of course, it also has some disadvantages that you need to know before you start preparing your own hydroponic garden at home.
The truth is that hydroponic cultivation needs to be very much on top of it. In particular, it is required to be extremely careful with irrigation. It makes sense, if you think that’s the only way plants receive nutrients.
Therefore, if you have little time to dedicate to the garden, it may not be the best option for you.
In relation to the above, there are ways to automate the irrigation of hydroponic cultivation, which could solve the problem. However, achieving this requires energy-intensive automation.
- Most susceptible plants
We have said before that hydroponics is about creating an Eden for plants. If you get it, congratulations! they will grow by leaps and bounds.
But think for a moment… How would you react if you were living in Eden and suddenly, something turned ugly? Surely you would get angry and react badly. Wasn’t this Paradise?
Plants grown hydroponically work more or less the same way. They react well to care, but I am very susceptible to changes in the environment. Any environmental failure will affect them terribly. In addition, they are much more dependent and require more care.
So, again… You need to spend time and love on it!
hydroponics in the world
The model was perfected by Europeans and Israelis, some to defend themselves against the foggy cold and others to avoid the aridity of the desert.
However, these efforts only came to fruition with the spread of new lamps and new root anchoring systems, thanks to which it is possible to grow a wide range of vegetables in periods two or three times shorter, obtaining specimens of extraordinary quality, and saving both water and nutrients in amazing proportions.
In Spain and after 12 long years of studies, practices and costly investments, the so-called NGS SYSTEM (New Growing System) begins to prevail.
The most important achievements, in terms of installed area, are in the Almeria town of PULPI, where there are about 90 hectares, mainly of lettuce. Tomatoes, strawberries and some parsley, rosemary, watercress, etc. are also grown.
Currently, in addition, he goes for more. The hydroponic cultivation of vegetables is part of a project designed to provide food for humans in extreme conditions. That is why, for example, it is currently carried out in Antarctica, to provide food for researchers who spend long periods there.
It is hoped that one day even hydroponics can be used in space.
How to make a hydroponic culture at home
If you want to grow at home, first watch this super educational video, and then we’ll give you some practical tips:
A container that provides for the average size of the plant to be cultivated, with a minimum depth of 30 centimeters, is necessary. It is essential that the container does not let light through, that is, transparent containers should be avoided.
Second, hydroponic growing requires a system to vent the contents of the container. One possibility is to get an aerator pump for fish tanks, to which you can connect a perforated plastic tube that is inserted into the container.
Suitable nutrients for hydroponics are calcium, copper, sulfur, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, nitrogen, iron, oxygen, etc. These nutrients are provided through continuous irrigation, which takes place thanks to the fact that the roots are in contact with the water.
The substrate, that is, the material that will replace the soil in the garden or hydroponic garden, ensures that the roots of the plants are attached to the container. This material also fulfills the function of protecting from light, retaining the nutrients provided by irrigation and providing sufficient oxygenation to the plants. This substrate is cheap and consists of elements such as sand or pumice stone.
As for the plants to be grown using the hydroponic system, it is possible to buy them in specialized horticultural stores, but they can also be grown directly by home germination of the seeds.