7 Advantages of Hydroponic Farming丨OG Roots
You can indeed grow any vegetables or plants indoors hydroponically. However, it is easier to grow certain hydroponic vegetables for beginners than others, like lettuces, tomatoes, radishes, kale, cucumbers, spinach, and beans. The reason is that they thrive better in a hydroponic environment and don’t outgrow their setup.
Hydroponics also comes with numerous advantages for homeowners and businesses. You can get more use from a limited space, conserve water, and get quality food. The immense potential of hydroponics is likely to lead this sustainable farming method to become a major source of producing all our vegetables and fruits in the future.
Advantages of Hydroponic Farming
Space constraints? Not a problem! Producing your own hydro vegetables at home or office requires far less space than soil-based farming practices. A hydroponic system can be installed to accommodate vertical farming techniques. As a result, they occupy 99% less land area than a conventional farming plant.
The reason? Hydroponic plants don’t have to grow larger root systems or spread them out to capture nutrients and moisture. The water carries nutrients and hydroponic fertilisers directly to the roots intermittently or constantly, depending on the technique in use. With each plant taking small space, you can put plants closer and grow several plants in a limited space. As you stack up multiple shelves vertically, you will be surprised to be able to grow a huge number of plants in a much smaller area than a traditional farm.
Contrary to the likely assumption, growing water-based hydroponic vegetables require far less water than growing the same plants in soil. In fact, the water usage in this soil-free farming method is 80%-90% less than that of traditional growing methods.
A reason is that it takes a lot of water to irrigate farming lands so that moisture reaches deep into the soil to the root level. Only a small percentage of water is taken in by plants, while much of it is lost through evaporation. The Hydroponic system doesn’t require a lot of water as the roots are suspended into it. Moreover, hydroponic plants recirculate water to the plants before it is discarded, making the system more efficient in water usage.
Fruits and vegetables are best when obtained fresh from the farm. However, many of us live in far-off areas and can’t access fresh produce in all seasons. With traditional farming, farmers are supposed to pick it before it is ripe, and then it ripens through its journey to the end consumer - in the warehouse and along the supply chain. When these crops travel far-off areas, they are picked too early and later are ripened artificially using ethylene gas.
Food has to ripen naturally on the plant for the best taste and nutrients. However, with hydroponic plants, farms are brought closer to consumers. Thanks to the micro-climate, growing any plant is possible just about anywhere. As the supply chain is shortened, fruits and vegetables can be picked when completely ripe as they don’t have to go too far to reach the consumer.
Hydroponic gardens can be easily installed in an enclosed structure or a greenhouse. This means that these areas establish and maintain their own micro-climate, unaffected and insulated from the outside weather. These plants don’t have to struggle in strong winds or heavy downpours or survive pest attacks. As a result, there is no need to treat these plants with pesticides or growth-promoting fertilisers.
The temperature-controlled facility provides a favourable environment for plants to grow all year round. This means they can have a cooler or hotter environment as needed, irrespective of the weather outside. Also, artificial grow lights can be leveraged to provide sunshine as and when needed.
Hydroponic systems are built to create favourable growing conditions for plants wherein they get all the farming nutrients needed to thrive. The ease of year-round growing leads to faster crop cycles. All these add up to higher produce quantity than traditional farming. This is believed to be 240 times more of the yield produced in other farming practices.
Seasonality is a serious bane of traditional farming. Fruits and vegetables are costly when purchased in the off-season, and they do not taste as good as those available in their growing season. Moreover, farmers suffer crop damage due to unpredictable weather almost every growing season. Natural disasters like floods, fire, drought, and massive pest problems can claim the entire crop.
The hydroponic greenhouse does away with unpredictability by allowing the grower to completely control the conditions inside. This means you don’t have to think about the season when growing a crop. Whether it snows, rains, or gets flooded with a swarm of locusts, the greenhouse will keep your valuable crops out of harm's way.
There are many additional benefits of growing vegetables hydroponically. Soil-grown vegetables often face challenges due to drainage problems, eliminated in a hydroponic environment. Also, growers find it easier to maintain an ideal pH level for each crop produced, as well as the supply of the right nutrients used in hydroponic farming.
Weed is also not a problem in hydroponics, which eliminates the use of chemicals and herbicides. Since hydroponics is a soil-free system, growers no more face the challenge of soil depletion.
Over the years, we have grown to be more concerned about how we produce our food. Customers are demanding safe, chemical-free food produced through sustainable farming practices. And choosing to grow your food in your own hydroponic garden is the direction to go. But before you do that, connect with OG Roots to get your supply of hydroponic vegetables for beginners. Hydroponically grown food is a healthier and smarter alternative to organic food.
