All about Hydroponic Way of Growing Plants
Hydroponics is a practice that has soared in popularity during the recent years. Hydroponics can be defined as the practice of growing plants in a non-conventional way, i.e. without using soil. The word ‘hydroponics’ can be split into two words, ‘hydro’ which means water and ‘Ponos’ which means labor. The science of hydroponics has definitely grown and thrived and this has been accompanied by the introduction of new hydroponic equipment as well. Many argue that this form of gardening is much better than conventional gardening which features soil as its main component.
The reason why people go to great lengths to obtain specific hydroponic equipment or their gardening is because this concept of hydroponics works very well. Here, an inert growing medium (water) is used and this solution is usually pH adjusted, perfectly balanced and filled with nutrients in the most soluble form. This enables the roots to absorb nutrients with minimum effort, whereas in the case of soil the root has to scour the place for extraction. Thus, the energy saved by the roots in this process is utilised towards flower and fruit production and vegetative growth of the plant.
People who cannot comprehend why hydroponics is a better way of gardening have probably never experimented with it. If one were to grow two identical plants together, using hydroponics for one and soil for the other then the difference would be obvious. In case of hydroponics, with the use of the right hydroponic equipment one can grow plants faster and better and they would even produce greater yields. This is the reason why hydroponics is being adapted all over the world as far as commercial food production or hobby gardening is concerned.
Another reason why hydroponics is so appealing is because the gardeners do not have to deal with pests. Since there is no soil used in the process therefore the question of pests and bugs do not arise. This means that there is no need to use pesticides and nor can the plants pick up diseases and bacteria easily, which makes them so much more organic. Hence hydroponic gardeners do not really mind purchasing hydroponic equipment in order to get started in this form of gardening. Another tempting fact to go for hydroponic gardening is that it is much easier to maintain.
While hydroponics can be extremely complicated, it doesn’t have to be that way. You can make it super simple by simply growing a plant in a nursery pot or bucket. In this case you won’t need any grow lights, electricity or automation. On the other hand, you can try out the expert way by employing different kinds of hydroponic equipment and experimenting with the lighting and the environment by tweaking them to produce different results. The potential to go high-tech and use cutting edge technologies is limited by the gardener’s budget and imagination.
Types of general hydroponic equipment used typically by hydroponic gardeners are a submersible pump (for watering the plants), a reservoir, a growing tray, air pump, air stone, a simple timer and artificial light in the absence of natural lighting. This system is worth giving a shot for all those individuals who have green thumbs and who do not mind learning about this process of growing plants and vegetables the ‘non-soil’ way. Hydroponics is an extremely vast subject and therefore you have plenty of opportunity to experiment and explore new methods of growing plants.
While it is common knowledge that plants grow in the soil there is the unique concept of hydroponics which puts forth an alternative method of gardening. One of its imperative requisites is hydroponics equipment and having acquired this it is just a matter of grasping the basics and commencing on the task.
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