Strictly speaking, the question of what hydroponics can be answered is simple and clear - this is a special technique by which plants can be grown. And quite often, this method is the best. All gardeners are aware that the land under plants requires constant cultivation, because they need not only water and soil minerals, but also air for normal growth and gas exchange. When growing vegetables and green crops using the hydroponic method, the earth and other soil fillers are not used, the roots of plants are constantly in the solution of fertilizers necessary for their normal development.
What usually happens to plants?
The roots provide the ground part with all the necessary nutrients. But there is one caveat - these useful minerals can be absorbed only in dissolved or diluted form. The soil becomes a kind of substrate, which contains substances that are soluble during irrigation. The situation is different in hydroponics. If you use only ordinary water for irrigation, the plants will die. Here is partly the answer to the question of what hydroponics is - it is a complex system that allows the plant to receive all the necessary nutrients. Most enterprises in agriculture have long switched to the use of this system.
Hydroponic Features
In the hydroponic system, synthetic fibers are used that do not allow the solutions contained in them to evaporate too quickly and do not enter into chemical reactions with them. The porous structure passes the optimal amount of oxygen to the roots. Thus, the substrate in relation to plants becomes completely inert. One can easily imagine what hydroponic is. Thanks to this system, plants receive enough nutrition for their proper full development, which allows us to achieve high stable crops. Equipment for hydroponics is a complex farm with electronic control of all parameters: temperature, humidity, concentration and feed rate of solutions.
About the disadvantages of growing in the ground
Another way to understand what hydroponics is is to simply explore the disadvantages that simple soil cultivation can have. When grown in the ground, one can only guess about its chemical composition, and often fertilizers and mineral additives are used without taking these features into account. In addition, it is no secret that the fertile layer often becomes a real nursery of all kinds of insects, mollusks, fungi and diseases.
Some features of soil cultivation
Perhaps the only advantage of the soil is that it is accessible and open, you can just go out and arrange a bed wherever you want, this is a traditional and proven method of plant growing for centuries. But even in closed ground, green spaces are not immune to mold, acidification of the soil.
New in the modern market
Therefore, it is worth thinking about how to turn to modern technological systems. For example, purchase a hydroponic nutrient solution. Although you can use a hydrogel, which has recently become increasingly popular and widespread. True, we use hydrogel for the decorative design of flower plants.