Hydroponics, Your Alternative to Indoor Gardening
Indoor gardens have been popular for several years, ranging from large greenhouses to small herb gardens set within flower pots. However, more and more individuals are seeing hydroponics to be both a fun hobby and a creative option to the conventional indoor gardens.
To define, hydroponics is the growing of plants without soil, by directly providing the roots a water-nutrient solution in a controlled lighting environment. At the outset, the process looks too techie-a-thing, but in reality, this is fairly a simple concept. And since this technique of growing plants in gaining more and more in popularity, it turns out that the number of products out there is increasing as well – thereby making the process a whole lot easier.
In short, while soil usually is the medium through which water and nutrients are fed to the plant roots, the only thing soil actually provides directly is an anchor for the roots. The nutrients really are transmitted to the roots in a water solution, which seeps through the soil, but isn’t provided by the soil. So as long as you have an alternate way to anchor the roots, soil is not actually necessary to having a healthy plant. In fact, by providing the water-nutrient solution yourself, you actually have a bigger control over the plant’s well-being.
Here are just a couple of benefits of growing an indoor garden with hydroponics as opposed to soil:
1. Hydroponics actually uses 70-90 percent less water than using soil. In soil growing, only a small percentage of water actually feeds the plant roots; the rest seeps through the soil and evaporates. With hydroponics, however, water is recycled over and over again – thus, this process involves far less water with greater foliage and food.
2. Hydroponics gives you more control over the plant’s overall health and yield. You can control the elements of the environment at which the plant grows – lighting, nutrient content, to name a few. It is way easier to modify the environment when you control the growing elements directly. With this method, you don’t have to be a learned biologist to provide optimum conditions for your plants to thrive, flower and yield a good harvest.
Keep hydroponics on your list as an alternative to indoor gardening. There is nothing wrong with sticking to the traditional options, but hydroponics, when done accurately, is indeed a fun, education and productive option.
