Farming without a Farm: Possibilities from Hydroponics System

Hydroponics is a system of producing crops without soil. As the land is being covered more and more for homes, factories, and developing other infrastructure, the pressure is increasing on agricultural scientists to find alternative ways to produce food, cereal, vegetable, and fruit crops. The system of producing crops without soil, just on water and minerals, is hydroponics. You can adopt hydroponics system as your fertile hobby or your noble green business venture, depends on scale and your investment capacity and choice of career.

Earlier usage of Hydroponics System:

The early use of Hydroponics system is dated back to Babylonians civilization. Early Aztecs also made use of hydroponics systems. But the use of nutrients and minerals in hydroponics systems started developing post 1800. The Hydroponics system is also used and propagated by NASA to develop crops of vegetables in outer space where space and soil are not available.

Hydroponics System works on Water:

The art and science of producing organic plants in water solution of minerals is called popularly as hydroponics system. Nutrients hold up plant development as substitute for earth. Earthly plants are raised in the nutrients’ solution using a medium like grate or perlite. There six types of hydroponics Systems in use, the type are linked with application or use of the System. The most used kinds of hydroponic system are (1) the wick system, (2) the ebb and flow system, (3) the drip system, (4) the water culture system, (5) the aeroponic system and (6) the NFT or the Nutrient Film Technique.

The water culture system of hydroponics is suitable for small experiment. The roots of plant are dipping into the minerals’ solution. The water culture hydroponics system consumes huge quantity of water. The regular aeration of solution should be ensured.

You should build a hydroponics system that (1) hold up the on top of nutrients solution, (2) induces air into nutrient solution, and (3) keeps daylight away from affecting nutrient solution. The free access of light to the nutrient solution will disturb the hydroponics system with unnecessary growth of algae.

The wick hydroponics system is an inert approach where the mineral solution is supplied from a tank using a wick. Coconut Fiber is the cheapest medium for use in wick system. Ebb and flow hydroponics system works by overflow of the medium with minerals’ solution and draining it out in the tank again. You will need a pump with timer. The drip system is another simple system, similar to ‘ebb and flow’ hydroponics system, a pump and a timer are required. Mineral nutrient solution is trickled on the plant roots plants and overflow is reused.

Aeroponics happens to be most recent in hydroponics system. Here you will spray solution on the roots for some time and roots swing in air. Nutrient Film Technique uses no timing device with pump. You will push mineral solution to flow it over plant roots; excess solution goes back to tank and is reused.

Tags: Hydroponics