Why Grow Hydroponics?

Hello again.

Why hydroponics, you may ask? Why should I grow hydroponics? Let us start with the state of modern farming.

Over the past century or so, the small farm has been gobbled up by large commercial corporations. Farming is now approached with a purely business/profit mind-set rather than an approach where you provide for the land and it will provide for you and your family.

Land is now farmed for an extremely high yield per acre so crops are planted closer together and humongous amounts of fertilizer are used to keep up crop yields. This upsets the natural soil balance and results in lower yields forcing even more fertilizer to be used.

This along with heavy robotic farm machinery packing down the soil causes soil to be more easily washed and blown away. The US is losing tons of topsoil every year reducing the amount of farmable land.

Hydroponics is a good alternative to producing fruits and vegetables and will help stop this vicious cycle of lost topsoil. In fact, you cannot go into a grocery store now without seeing a sticker on some vegetable saying hydroponically grown.

Have no fear; I am now stepping off my soapbox.

And what does this mean to the individual Hydroponics hobbyist? The same advantages and disadvantages to grow hydroponics apply to large corporations as well as to the individual.

Advantages over dirt gardening are:

• Much greater yield per square foot of garden space; a small growing system will produce enough vegetables to regularly supplement the diet of small family.
• Water and fertilizer is reused.
• Hydroponic gardens can be used when there is no land available for gardening or can be set up indoors as well as outside.
• There are dramatically fewer pests and disease when soil is not used as the growing medium.
• Plants do grow faster and yield more.
• Plant growth does not rely on seasonal factors - an indoor system can function adequately in the 'dead of winter' as long as it is kept warm.

And what are the disadvantages?

The cost of initially setting up is a factor as well as an increased electric bill for such items as the small water pump (if used) and the plant lighting system (if set up indoors). Another disadvantage is the complexity of set up. No matter how simple the hydroponics growing system it is still more complex to build and manage compared to dirt gardening.

Still, in my opinion, the advantages definitely outweigh the disadvantages. And to grow hydroponics is definitely cool, not to mention that a hydroponics system will give you a working garden if you are an apartment dweller or otherwise have no space for a garden.

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