What is Hydroponics?

Hydroponics has been hitting the news lately with some impressive numbers for farmers and profitability, but what does that mean to the local farmer on the African continent? Let’s take a look at what all the fuss is about.

Hydroponics, by definition, is a method of growing plants in a water based, nutrient rich solution. The basic premise behind hydroponics is to allow the plants roots to come in direct contact with the nutrient solution, while also having access to oxygen, which is essential for proper growth.

Advantages of hydroponics

What does that mean to you? Well, there are many benefits to hydroponic farming. Some of the main benefits and advantages are:

1.   Hydroponic farming happens in an indoor environment, so it allows you to grow plants all year round.

2.   Being indoors, we can manage and automate the conditions of the plants. That helps us increase our yield and quality of crops.

3.   Since many of the plant diseases are present in the soil, hydroponic farming gives us much more hygienic and nutritious produce.

4.    Hydroponic plants grow faster than plants grown in soil.

5.    A hydroponic system uses less water than soil-based plants because the system is enclosed, which results in less evaporation.

6.    Hydroponics is better for the environment because it reduces waste and pollution from soil runoff.

Disadvantages of hydroponics

It is a great way to grow incredible crops, but everything in life has also its disadvantages:

1.  Hydroponic farming is more expensive than soil-based farming. Because we need to control all the aspects of the farming and plant condition, it requires more facilities and equipment than traditional farming.

2.  The farmer needs to have more complex knowledge about the growth of the plants to make sure the end result is a healthy, bountiful crop.

Types of hydroponics farming

Knowing which one will work for you is simply a matter of understanding what types are available. There are many types of hydroponic farming, but the main six are:

1. Wick system

Nutrients and water are moved into a plant’s root zone via a wick, which is often something as simple as a rope or piece of felt. It’s nown as passive hydroponics, meaning that you don’t need any air pumps or water pumps to use it. This method is good for smaller plants that don’t use up a lot of water or nutrients.

2. Deep water culture (DWC)

This method is the easiest type of hydro system to use. In a DWC system, you use a reservoir to hold a nutrient solution. The roots of your plants are suspended in that solution, so they get a constant supply of water, oxygen, and nutrients. The DWC is again good for small plants and for short term growing period.

3. Nutrient Film Technique (NFT)

This is the most popular commercial hydroponic system. Plants are grown in channels that have a nutrient solution pumping through them and constantly running along the bottom of the channel. When the solution reaches the end of the channel, it drops back into a main reservoir and is sent back to the beginning of the system again. This makes it a recirculating system, just like deep water culture. This creates less waste of resources.

4. Ebb and Flow (Flood and Drain)

Also known by the name Flood and Drain, it is a less-commonly seen system. The ebb and flow system does not expose the roots of your plants to nutrient solution on a constant basis. Instead, you grow in a tray filled with a growing medium. The tray is “flooded” with your nutrient solution a few times per day, depending on different factors like size of plant, air temperature, water requirement etc. This is a great choice if you are looking for more flexibility in your growing.

5. Aeroponics

This is the most “High tech” hydroponic system although once you understand how it works, it is not the most complex one. It’s very similar to the NFT system but the difference lies in the added factor of suspending the plant roots in air and misting the root zone with a nutrient solution constantly instead of running a thin film of nutrient solution along a channel.

6. Drip System

Drip systems are extremely common in commercial operations because they’re simple to operate on a large scale, but not suitable for a smaller garden.

Hydroponics is an excellent choice for all types of growers. It gives you the ability to meticulously control the variables that effect how well your plants grow. A fine-tuned hydroponic system can easily surpass a soil-based system in plant quality and amount of produce yielded.