The Joy Of Hydroponics Gardening
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by Wyatt Pottoe
How does your garden grow? With fresh air, sunshine and rich, black soil? Not if you’re one of the countless gardeners who are now enjoying the benefits of hydroponics gardening.
Also known as the cultivation of plants in water, hydroponics gardening is booming in popularity, partly due to shrinking fresh water supplies and scarcity of fertile farmland.
There’s nothing new about hydroponics gardening. This method of growing has been abound for thousands of years, and can be traced to the famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon. This ancient wonder of the world was created with a form of hydroponics. Since those ancient times, researchers have proven that a number of different aggregates or media could be used in place of black earth to support plant growth. Hydroponics gardening is just one of many alternatives to traditional soil growing.
Benefits of Hydroponics Gardening
Many people enjoy hydroponics gardening simply because of the space saving benefits. Homeowners and apartment dwellers alike are able to grow fresh vegetables and plants in the smallest of spaces, even on apartment balconies. Greenhouses have also adapted hydroponics gardening due to these same space-saving benefits.
It’s been suggested that, when properly grown, hydroponics plants may be healthier and more vigorous than their soil-bound counterparts. Without soil, nutrients are more readily absorbed by the plant. Hydroponically-grown plants mature more quickly and yield their harvest of flower and vegetable crops earlier.
The convenience of hydroponics gardening is enhanced by the ability to automate the entire system with a timer. This reduces the actual time it takes for the home gardener to maintain the overall plant growth requirements. Through automation, the gardener enjoys greater flexibility, and can be gone for periods of time without having to worry about watering the plants.
Healthy Hydroponics Plants
All plants, whether grown with hydroponics or in a traditional soil garden, require the same basic elements: nutrients, water, light and air. When grown in a traditional garden, your plants will obtain their nutrients and water from the soil. The nutrient uptake is a little slower, because the soil can impede the roots’ abilities to access what they need.
The simple lack of soil is one of the joys of hydroponics gardening, making it a cleaner and easier way to grow. Plants are never stressed, because water and nutrients are always available. A hydroponics system set up outdoors will receive natural sunlight and air. Indoor systems, on the other hand, require artificial lighting and air circulation for plants to enjoy optimum health.
To provide artificial sunlight, many hydroponics gardeners use metal halide lamps and sodium vapor lamps in conjunction with incandescent light bulbs. Specially-designed grow lights or fluorescent bulbs may also be used.
Plants are like all living things, and need oxygen to live. A plant’s healthy, white roots are responsible for delivering all of the nutrients for the plant. If the roots die, the plant cannot survive. Even with all other growth requirements in place, those elements will be useless if the plants can’t access nutrients through the roots. That’s why it’s so important for your hydroponics system to provide adequate aeration with an air circulation supply. This incorporated air into the nutrient solution and allows the plants to draw out the carbon dioxide necessary for natural photosynthesis.
The final piece to your successful hydroponics puzzle is a sterile medium. A wide selection of media choices is available, from simple gravel to special formulations. There is no soil, so there are no weeds to pull. That is, perhaps, the true joy of a hydroponics garden. There are no soil-borne pests to worry about, so diseases caused by pests are minimized, if not eliminated altogether.
Just because you’re short on time and space, that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy fresh produce. Even if you just don’t like to get your hands dirty, you’ll dig the joys of hydroponics gardening.
About the Author:
Contributor Wyatt Pottoe contributes to a variety of Internet sites, on home improvement and my family topics. This and other unique content ‘hydroponic equipment’ articles are available with free reprint rights.
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