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Vertical Hydroponics Saves Resources And Space And Produces Quality Crops

By Ida Dorsey


The size of the typical residential backyard continues to get smaller, and as cities expand every year, it leaves relatively little space for those who enjoy growing fruits, vegetables, and other plants to do so. This is why vertical hydroponics is taking off as an alternative approach to gardening, which has the advantages of saving money, work, and water and ultimately produces superior crops.

Hydroponic growing can be done both indoors and outdoors and it does not use soil as a medium for planting, but rather relies on another substrate such as gravel or a nutrient-enriched solution. Gardening can be done all year in an environment with no pests, and it isn't necessary to rotate crops. The stacked growth system save space and allows for a larger number of plants. The gardener has considerably more control over the nutrient levels too.

Just about any type of plant can be grown in this way. The gardener must ensure that the crops are provided with all the nutrients essential for growth that would normally be found in soil. It is not only less work and money to maintain a hydroponic garden, but it has also been associated with better quality produce simply because the grower has more control over the growing conditions.

The need for such tiring tasks as fertilizing, tilling, mulching, and weeding is eliminated with this gardening method, as is the need to worry about the crops receiving too much or too little water. Weather and ground conditions also play no role with hydroponic growing as they do with traditional outdoor soil gardening. Grow lights can be used to allow round-the-clock, year-round gardening.

Poor quality soil in a particular area does not matter either when plants are grown using this technique. The lack of a need for weed killers and pesticides means that fruits and vegetables will be grown organically which makes them healthier than those grown with chemicals. As the plants grow they are able to extract all essential substances they need including carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen from the air.

Crops produced hydroponically are usually more abundant and of higher quality than their soil-grown counterparts because the nutrients they need are consistently delivered to them by the grower. The threat of weeds and insects, sunlight or nutrient deprivation is eliminated, and the gardener saves money because there is no need to buy pesticides and herbicides.

Less water is needed for hydroponic gardens than those which use soil, since the plants are continually submersed in a solution rather than needing to be regularly irrigated. Some growers will also install a timer system to provide automatic fertilization at specified intervals to the crops, which helps to further limit water consumption.

The consistent supply of vital nutrients also encourages faster ripening in crops that are grown using hydroponics. There is less demand placed on the plants to seek out and absorb water and nutrients from the soil as with traditional gardening methods, allowing the growing plant to develop more fully, which makes for better overall quality in both health value and flavor.




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