Basics Of Hydroponics For Beginners

            Emphasizing On The Technique Of Hydroponics

"Hydroponics", the term sounds so different .We may gain curiosity on what may it refer to. The term hydroponics is derived from two Greek words ; where hydro means water and ponos means labor and we can sum the meaning of it as "working water". Hydroponics is a technique of growing plants without soil. Isn't it sounding confusing without soil? But one should not miss to know that all the nutrients needed for plants growth are provided in a solution method with the water. Soil ,which was always taken as  a primary focus for the beginning of farming found to be replaced today. There has been a long history of hydroponics, yet it is concluded that a man named William Frederick Gericke gave the earliest modern foundation to hydroponics. With the rapid  progessing time , agriculture field hasnot been limited today. The era where the robots , artificial intelligence and huge innovations have been achieved , so its not shocking to know that such hydroponics idea can enter in our practice.

It is an enthusiastic part to know how the hydroponic system works. We need various components for the smooth germination and growth of plants such as light or sunlight, growing tray for holding plants, reservoir  for containing water and mixture of nutrients, submersible pump as intermediate of both the growing tray and reservoir for exchanging nutrients , air pump for providing oxygen and growing medium for proper support to the plants. The  different growing media used in hydroponics include cocopeat/coco-coir, perlite, vermiculite, rockwool, LECA{Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate},etc . With such components composed, there are various types of hydroponic systems. Lets know one by one. Wick system is the simplest system ever containing no any moving parts and it contains a reservoir where the nutrient medium are kept through a wick. Water culture is also the simplest system where the plants are hold by floating platforms and the the air stone ,which gets air by the air pump ; throws the nutrients and oxygen requied for the plants growth. The drawback of both these wick and water culture system is that large plants donot work very well these systems. EBB and flow{flood and drain}system  is a versatile one which contains two tanks i.e grow tray and reservoir .There is a use of timer which maintains the flow of nutrient solution into the grow tray through the pump and again allows to flow back into the reservoir after the time is out. Here, according to the size,type and variety of plants , temperature, humidity and growing medium , the timer is set. Drip system is the widely used system in the world which also contains a grow tray , reservoir and a timer. It is of recovery type and non-recovery type. The pump is turned on by the timer and on the base of the plant nutrient solution is dipped. NFT{Nutrient Film Technique} is also another most preferred system by people for conducting. Nutrient solution is drawn to the growing tray in a constant flow through the pump which goes to the root part and then back to the reservoir and here no growing medium is used. And the last hydroponic system is Aeroponics, which is the high tech form of hydroponics. No growing medium is used and the roots are hanged in air.Short cycle timer controls the nutrient and sprays it in the roots every few minutes.

There are various advantages of hydroponics. It provides a fact to human that indoor farming can be successfully established  over all the area lacking proper weather,soil and other factors needed for crop production. Weed and its control product doesnot become needed. Pests and diseases are found very low and thus insecticide and herbicide uses are fewer. This method uses very less space and the free space available can be utilised easily in comparison to the large hectare of land needed for traditional farming. We can view it as labor saving. In short period of time,we can have higher production of crops and therefore can be used for large scale crop production. It is a water saving technique which can be used in places where availablity of water is low. Morever, it is also  a good idea for one who wants to relieve his stress from busy days and continue it as an effective hobby. Within our controlled temperature, humidity, medium,etc we can give a growth to crops creates an strong independent vibes. For growing crops in the space, astronauts have estimated hydroponics as the future farming method there.

There are some disadvantages of hydroponics too. Since there are many systems, we must have a proper knowledge about them and idea on how can use the effective system with its proper working modelity, in case of lack of awareness on that, all our hardwork and investments falls accrossly. More care and attention is needed if we have already started hydroponics because it is scientifically driven with the nutrients and there is no soil to balance any disputes. There may be risk of water based micro-organisms as well ,whose some species are harmful for intake. Since water and electricity are continuously running, we must have proper maintainence of them. There is a running debate going on today that hydroponically grown crops are organic or not. It is also an awaiting answer. System failure will dry out the plants at a speed, so backup plan should be mainatined before .