Hydroponics

Hydroponics is a farming technique that uses less water than traditional agriculture (almost 95 % less). This method relies mostly on water and not soil to grow. The plants are placed afloat circulating oxygen rich mineral – nutrient solution in a water solvent. By changing the nutrient content in the water almost any plant can be grown. Plants those are usually grown in this technique are tomato, capsicum, cucumbers, model plants etc.

• Agricultural flood irrigation in large fields loses water to simple evaporation, run-off, and dispersion beyond the reach of plant roots. Even the best drip irrigation method cuts flood irrigation losses by about 25%.
• Space taken to grow the plants is less. Since the nutrients are delivered directly to the plants the roots of the plants do not expand too much. As the does not spend its energy in root growth it invests the “excess” energy in its growth and giving bigger harvests. This leads to the production to increase by 3 to 10 times.
• NO PESTS, NO CHEMICALS. Many diseases are soil-born, so are many organisms that potentially feed on the plant. The problem of annoying weeds that must be removed is also exclusive to soil-based agriculture. Since weeds, pests, and plant diseases are heavily reduced, there are fewer chemicals. This helps grow healthier, cleaner and non-toxic food.
• Hydroponic systems can be built and maintained indoors, so there is no need to adapt to outdoor climate. So, plants can be grown continuously throughout the year and can be implemented almost anywhere.

• High initial investment. For a large-scale hydroponic operation, a facility must be built. Directly watering plants in a field is much economic. Small decentralized hydroponic operations have a cost-advantage here. They can be established in pre-existing spaces for little cost.
• Need Deep knowledge in this field. For commercial systems to function properly, technical skills are required to keep it running and constantly controlling the systems.
• There is a microscopic chance that a plant is infect. If a disease does make it into the system, it spreads much quicker in water than in soil.
• In the pumps malfunction, it stops the circulation of water and the restoration might be expensive.
• Not all crops can be grown. Root based vegetables like potatoes and carrots do better in traditional agriculture.
• Water in hydroponic systems needs to be discharged periodically as the salts and chemicals build up in the water which eventually becomes toxic to the plants.

• Aeroponics
  • An Aeroponic garden is a revolutionary system that allows plants to grow in the air, without any soil while being suspended inside of an enclosed environment. Spraying their roots with nutrient-rich water solution allows them to grow strong and healthy. Typically, pressure pumps are used to gently mist the plants roots with the water solution.
  • Aeroponic systems can have a much higher initial start-up cost compared to the Hydroponic systems. This is partially because Aeroponic systems depend on machinery to keep the plants alive & healthy and need to be implemented in a facility.
  • Aeroponic systems consist of machinery such as high-pressure pumps, automatic mist nozzles, and a timer. With this system, plants are susceptible to power outages and require a backup generator.
  • If the machinery fails and the plants go without the needed nutrients, the plants in an Aeroponic system will fail to survive within just a few hours post malfunction. It is this fact that causes the Aeroponic system to have a more substantial cost than Hydroponics when first starting out.
  • A backup solution that is ready to use, is required in case the machinery fails. This is a necessary precautionary measure that is needed to ensure that all the plants are not dead within a few hours.
• Fogponics
  • Fogponics can be defined as working fog. In its simplest meaning, in fogponic system, growers use the fog to grow plants.
  • Like any other active hydroponics system, plants are given with what they need, moisture, nutrients, oxygen. All their efforts are spent on growing, flowering, or sprouting (for seedlings), and root development (for cloning).
  • But unlike traditional Hydroponics, where plants get the oxygen from the water oxygenated by an air pump, Fogponics/Aeroponics works by hanging the plants in the air. It is held by a tray/foam. The plant roots are suspended, so they have plenty of oxygen access. Water is provided by plants via the foggers. The action is usually automated by a timer.
  • Fogponics operates just like aeroponics. But instead using the water misting, the foggers are used. They produce and atomize much smaller droplets than in aeroponics, usually less than 10 microns in size.
  • Advantages:
    • Tiny sized droplets => Great coverage
    • High nutrient concentration
    • Easy to clean
  • Disadvantages:
    • High initial cost
    • Built up salt
    • Susceptible to power outage
    • Heats from atomizer