Hydroponics -The Most Under Appreciated Cultivation Method Today

by Cathy on May 13, 2009

Roma tomatoes in my hydroponic garden.

From confusion about what this growing method is has arisen unjustified suspicion. Let’s separate the fact from the fiction and take a look at what exactly hydroponics means to the world of gardening and food production.

The word hydroponics is derived from Latin and means “working water.” Hydroponic growing is the growing of plants without soil. Water delivers all of the nutrients to hydroponic plants that they need. To feed the plants all the tiny amounts of metals, calcium, and trace organic substances the hydroponic practitioner uses special formulations of feed.

One common misconception about hydroponics is that is a new fangled, fashionable trend. In truth it is not new and has been used by many civilisations in the past. Egyptians are known to have used hydroponics. Great strides have been made in the field since the 1970s, when agriculturalists began studying it in earnest as an alternate means of food production, which perhaps is the reason behind so many people thinking it is a new invention.

Hydroponics has absolutely nothing to do with genetic food modification (GMA) although many people do erroneously ink them in their minds. It is a fact that GM crop modification has been hailed as a solution to world hunger, in the same way as hydroponics has, it is a different point entirely though. Because genetically modified food is so controversial, hydroponics sometimes gets a bad rap. In truth, hydroponic food is 100% natural food, it is a food which has been modified at all, and no chemicals are added to the plants to make them grow that they would not get in traditional fields. Genetic modification, is a completely alien idea to the method which is just an alternative to growing in soil, and is not involved.

Some people believe hydroponics is bad for the environment and climate change. The truth is quite different. Hydroponic plants require much less water than traditional plants do - in most cases, they require around a tenth of the water of traditional plants. No water is wasted on weeds; it all goes to the growhth of the plants. Plus, there can be no loss of pesticide released to get into rivers, streams and underground waters. Energy is used for lighting hydroponic greenhouse, particularly for lighting, but no more than a soil based crop.

If you take care, hydroponics start ups can be achieved cheaply although most of the public would not accept that overall. True, nutrient mixtures and growth mediums are expensive, but the field has come a long way in developing reusable materials to balance some of these costs. Hydroponics practised at a small scale, should be no more expensive than soil grown methods.

Nor is hydroponics some little used or understood obscure gardening technique. It is used in nearly every country on earth, and in some environments, it is the most commonly used technique. For instance, in British Columbia, 90% of the plants grown in greenhouses are hydroponic plants.

One thing people consider a benefit of hydroponics is actually a myth as well. Hydroponics and organic farming are not interchangeable terms. In fact one does not imply the other, although many of us do think it does. The biggest number of hydroponic cultivaters use pesticides on their crops. The best thing is that the water based system is contained, while in the field the fertilizer and pesticides often gets washed into ditches, streams and rivers to cause pollution. We have often seen organic hydroponic crops for sale, but the term does not imply whether organic methods will be used or not.

You would be wrong to think that hydroponics is of little use other than for the illegal drug growing in attics and garden sheds. That is completely untrue. It is true that some do use the method for illegal under-cover crops, nevertheless, the vast majority are just gardeners like you or I. 

Hydroponics is destined to become more widespread in the future, due to its food production potential and environmentally friendly techniques. With more understanding of the field, hydroponic growers will find it easier to convince the public about the viability of their crops.

Related Blogs

Tagged as: , , ,

Leave a Comment