I recently watched this video about making your own hyrdoponics for gardening, and it left me wondering how and why it works in leue of gardening in soil (besides a benefit of being able to grow year round) I am sorry I had to use the “Other” flair, because this subject actually spans Biology, engineering, Physics, etc…?
In: Other
In theory, all nutrients needed by the plants are delivered by the water/nutrient mix. In hydroponics, this is accomplished using fish in your system to fertilize the plants. This can result in healthier plants and faster growth, but takes more work to keep the system clean and the nutrients balanced.
Hydroponics are generally more efficient if done right. You get each plant the exact nutrients it needs and you allow “root respiration” wich is almost nonexistent in soil, and things the plant can’t absorb immediately aren’t lost forever
Hydroponics are basically “hands on” cultures, you can adjust the nutrients in real time and don’t rely on hoping the soil already has most things the plant needs. (In professional agriculture that is usually done by measuring the electrical resistance to get information how much electrolytes are in the water).
For simple decorative plants the real benefit is that you don’t have to water plants that really need a lot of water so often. If it actually grows better or worse than with soil depends mostly on the species (assuming you don’t actively optimize nutrition)
Also there will be less pests attacking your plant. No soil means noone in the soil can attack the roots. And less molds can be relevant for allergic people.
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