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Gardeners Guide

Conventional gardening means that plants are grown in the soil, given water to help them grow and then harvested when the time comes. This has been practiced for many years until the demand for food increased which made scientists rely on other techniques to increase production.

Such practices made the use of pesticides and herbicides, fertilizers, contaminated sewage sludge and irradiation. Since these methods are harmful to the health, people have gone back to organic gardening that does not use any of these methods.

Technology has found another way to increase crop production without jeopardizing the health of people and the environment. This can be done by hydroponic gardening.

Plants need water to survive but this is only one ingredient. The other and most important are the nutrients. Scientists have discovered that it is only when these are diffused into the water system that the roots of the plants consume it making them grow.

By doing this in a controlled environment such as a greenhouse, the nutrients can already be mixed into the water system allowing the plants to produce higher yields which is what hydroponic gardening is all about.

To prove how effective this is, scientists made a comparative study on the growth of tomatoes. One group used soil and was able to produce ten tons.  The other group used hydroponics and was able to produce 60 tons. This shows that hydroponic gardening can produce 6 times more than traditional gardening.  

Almost any type of plant that is grown using this manner will product higher yields. Though some crops will be able to produce more than others, the length of time to harvest it is still faster than the old method.

The gardener does not have to check and pull out weeds, till the land or look for diseases that normally happen during soil cultivation since there are none. Some people might think that this will consume a lot of water but it doesn’t since it is reused which also consumes less than traditional gardening.

The problem with a controlled environment is that the plants may not be able to get the proper sunlight and carbon dioxide that to help it grow. This problem can be addressed by installing lights and infusing artificial CO2 into the air.

There are other ways to cultivate crops while inside a green house. One method is called deep water culture. The roots of the plants are raised in the air and a pump releases air out to make it grow. This is ideal for grapes and other crops that grow in this manner.

Another method very similar to deep water culture is aeroponics. The plants are also raised in the air and the nutrients here are mixed in the form of a fog or mist which also reaches the plants roots so it could grow.

In the flood and drain method, a tray is used to hold the nutrients. The roots of the plants are held by foam chips or clay pebbles then at certain times of the day, this is flooded so that the plants are able to receive the proper requirements for it to grow. Afterwards, this drains itself out.  

Plants can also be grown using films. This is called the nutrient film technique where a light proof plastic is used. The nutrients flow along the passage way giving the roots the essentials it needs to grow.

There are many techniques to employ hydroponics in the garden. The gardener just has to decide what is needed and to choose which plants to grow.

One of the best things about hydroponics gardening is that it does not take a lot of space. This allows the gardener to set up a greenhouse in the backyard. The only things needed are water in containers, tubes to reuse the water consumed by the plants, strong lamps to be used as artificial light and some organic nutrients that are available at the gardening store.

Hydroponics has been around for almost 30 years. By growing plants using hydroponic gardening techniques, you will soon be able to grow fresh vegetables year round instead of buying it at the local supermarket. 

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