Growing and maintaining the plants is a difficult task for any gardener.
Hydroponics is considered as the best possible way of growing vegetables and herbs for the home-gardeners who do not have access to large cultivation space. In a hydroponic system, farmers can have 100% control over how they are growing their plants. They can manage the nutrients and pH, making sure that their plants get all the crucial nutrients they need. The hydroponic system allows the farmer to design their growing space as per their needs and availability of sources.
The hydroponic systems are a lifesaver in such areas where the soil condition is too poor to grow plants or the farming area is limited.
Why hydroponics is better than traditional soil-grown crop production?
Some of the major advantages of the hydroponic system over the traditional soil-grown cropping method are listed below.
- No soil required
The plants which are grown with the hydroponic technique do not require soil for their growth, rather they are grown in water or coco coir. The plants are well supplied with nutrients with the help of water. In today's world, there is a scarcity of land areas for crop cultivation, so hydroponics can the ultimate solution as it doesn't require soil for growth. Hydroponics is also considered as the farming of the future.
- Efficient use of growing space
The plants are provided all the nutrition they need separately, so no competition is left for the root systems to spread for food. The non-competitive environment leads to efficient use of the growing space. Hydroponics can give almost 10times more output from the same area when compared to the traditional soil-grown crops.
- Controlled growth environment
Similar to the greenhouse, the gardeners using hydroponics have 100% control on the climate, because the plants are grown indoor we can control temperature, humidity, light as well as the composition of air. This enables the gardeners to grow the plants all round the year regardless of the season outdoors.
- Water-saver
Plants grown in soil require more water as compared to hydroponics. Soil absorbs the water leaving the surface area dry and it also requires frequent watering. But in the hydroponic technique, no soil is present so, water consumption is up to 90% less.
- Better use of nutrients
The root systems do not need to spread in hydroponics because there is no competition for the nutrients. When the roots do not need much food for growth, plants can utilize the nutrients in the plant mass growth which leads to better production of vegetables and herbs.
- pH balance
Hydroponics use nutrient solution to provide food to the plants, so the chemical properties of the solution is decided by the owner according to the need of the plant. This increases the life and health of the plants.
- Fast growth
The hydroponic plants are grown in a controlled environment. They grow faster because they are provided the most suitable environment for their growth.
- No weeding
There are no soil media present in the hydroponic technique so, there are 0% chances of weeding. The gardeners can rely on their hydroponic media fully because unwanted