Hydroponic vs soil: which one is the best method, especially for beginners? Read the article and find out why hydroponics system is the clear winner!
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Anyone can easily build a hydroponic garden at home
Hydroponic vs soil gardening has been a recurring debate among garden enthusiasts. Some traditional growers prefer to stick to the old method; however, there are also quite a few who favor hydroponics garden as the best method to grow plants. While I don’t have anything against soil gardening, hydroponics system has shown a number of advantages that are far better than the conventional soil gardening method. Without further ado, here are some reasons why hydroponics gardening is the clear winner in hydroponic vs soil:
Vertical hydroponic gardens can also be used to decorate your backyard or balcony
Hydroponic Vs Soil: Why Hydroponics System Is The Clear Winner!What Are the Benefits of Hydroponics?1. Flexible Space2. More Production3. Year-Round Production4. Water Conservation5. Faster Harvest6. Different Hydroponic Systems to Choose From!Conclusion
What Are the Benefits of Hydroponics?
1. Flexible Space
Unlike conventional gardening that needs a huge space for garden beds, hydroponics are suitable for both limited and spacious garden. If you intend to grow plants commercially, then building a hydroponics garden with a large grow room is suitable. However, if yours is just a hobby and a way to be sustainable, then a small hydroponics garden in your backyard or even indoor will suffice.
A lot of individuals living in apartments prefer hydroponics more than the conventional gardening for the obvious reason— limited space. You can grow plants hydroponically in your apartment balcony or even in your kitchen window sill. The key here is finding the right hydroponic system that suits your lifestyle and preference.
Plant more and get more harvest through hydroponics
2. More Production
Just because a hydroponic garden needs less space doesn’t mean that it produces less. In fact, hydroponics garden allows you to grow the same amount of crops on less land or space. This means that even with a six square meter of space, you can produce as many crops as you would have in a 12 square meter of space in conventional gardening. How is this possible? The answer is quite simple— In hydroponics, you can have vertical or hanging gardens, which don’t need that much space.
The best hydroponics systems for individuals with limited space are Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) and Ebb and Flow systems. The ebb and flow system doesn’t need much space and can be attached to the wall. The NFT system, on the other hand, is great even in a small-scale garden as it is often used in vertical gardening wherein floor space is limited.
3. Year-Round Production
With hydroponics, you can have a year-round production of vegetables, fruits, etc. Some vegetables are only available on the certain season. For instance, bell peppers are one of the best plants for indoor hydroponics that are best grown during summer or when the temperature of the soil is at least 70° Fahrenheit. Fortunately, because of hydroponics, you can have access to this plant all year round. All you have to do is to grow the bell peppers in a grow tent or grow room that has sufficient amount of heat from LED grow lights. Amazing right?
Hydroponics offers a way for you to control the environment of your plants. This allows you to copy the most suitable environment that will help yield more harvest. Need more heat for plant’s growth? Then use HPS bulb or LED grow lights! How about more water and nutrients? No problem. You can use Deep Water Culture method and use the best hydroponic nutrients for vegetables.
In conventional gardening, you get to use 80-90% more water than in hydroponics
4. Water Conservation
One might think that soilless gardening, such as hydroponics, consume more water than the conventional method, but you couldn’t be more wrong. Believe it or not, hydroponics can, in fact, save 80-90% of water as compared to the conventional gardening.
Hydroponics garden has a system in which enough amount of water from the water reservoir is pumped directly to the roots of the plants. What does it mean? It simply means that less water is wasted whilst traveling to the plant’s roots. Water loss is a common occurrence in soil gardening. Once the water hits the soil, a good portion of it is lost on the soil surface through evaporation. Moreover, when the water hits the other parts of the plants like the leaves and stems, the water is also lost through transpiration.
5. Faster Harvest
Aside from having more production, hydroponics garden is surely the clear winner of this hydroponic vs soil battle. This is because hydroponics also grow twice as fast as the traditional soil-based method. In hydroponics, not only is the water being pumped directly to the plant’s roots, but the recommended nutrients are also transferred. Furthermore, it is easy to monitor the plant’s pH and moisture level in hydroponics. This means that your plants will have all the nutrients and conditions that they need to grow faster and healthier.
You can grow different vegetables and fruits like tomatoes using the hydroponic method
6. Different Hydroponic Systems to Choose From!
Lastly, there are quite a lot of hydroponics system to choose from. You can choose the best system that suits your needs. Moreover, hydroponics allows you to get creative and use whatever space you have at home. To know more about the different hydroponics systems that you can try, click here.
What plants can grow in hydroponics – Lettuce is one of the most common crops that are best grown hydroponically
Conclusion
With all these advantages that a hydroponic system can offer, it is safe to declare that hydroponics is the clear winner in this hydroponic vs soil battle. While others see hydroponics as a pretty expensive method, especially for beginners, serious growers see this as a great investment that can help them yield more production in more years to come. Besides, there are a lot of hydroponics equipment available online that you can purchase at affordable prices.
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