If you garden, you should consider hydroponics as an approach to gardening. . Hydroponics, when looking at the roots of the words, means “working water.” Hydroponics is the technique of gardening without soil. There are many ways of going about growing plants hydroponically. While hydroponics is very simple, there are differences in technique and approach that are worth mastering. This article covers only a few of the most basic aspects. There is more to hydroponics than covered here, and this is only a survey of the most basic aspects.
Seeds and plant cutting can be raised and grown throughout their entire life cycle hydroponically. Many of the basic principles of gardening don’t change when you garden hydroponically. You must maintain correct levels of water, temperature, light and air in order to grow your plants successfully. Hydroponic growing media are designed to help with this process and it is worth considering using commercial growing media rather than simply using gravel, although gravel is a perfectly viable growing medium.
Most propagation is done in a growing medium with small particles made of perlite or vermiculite. Perlite is a form of mined volcanic glass, can be formed into a grow medium when heated quickly at 871 Celsius. It then pops like popcorn, forming bubbles. It has been used in gardening as a soil additive for a long time, as it allows excellent aeration. It is often used as a soil additive in addition to being used for hydroponic growing. Vermiculite is very similar, except more like mica in its native form it also pops like popcorn, but has the advantage of being hydrophilic—that is, it attract water.
The depth of sowing for hydroponics is similar to that for normal growing. Look at the seed packet for advice. Sow thinly to allow them space to develop. Most seeds do not need light at their early stages. Alternatively, you can use cuttings from live plants to grow your plants. This is basically a crude form of cloning. It is very effective. Use semi-ripe young shoots rather than mature shoots. Insert them at a depth to which they can support themselves.
Hydroponic gardening can be done almost anywhere. One of the key ingredients in traditional gardening is soil. With hydroponic gardening, you don’t use soil, by definition. This makes it very feasible as a form of gardening for apartment dwellers. Or in your house, on your patio, or even in a closet, if you have a grow light.
Plants require some basics to grow normally. Hydroponics, just like growing plants in soil, makes plants grow by supplying them with what they need, when they need it. Otherwise growing plants hydroponically isn’t that different from growing plants by any other method. The techniques may vary, however.
Hydroponics produces the same kind of plants as any other method that produces healthy plants at their optimum growth. This optimum growth is the source of the myth of the super plants grown hydroponically. Their genes haven’t changed. That’s because t is easier to get a plant to grow to its full potential in a hydroponic garden than in soil, because the soil’s makeup can have a huge influence on the plant’s growth. With hydroponics, the gardener is in full control.
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