Hydroponics: harm and benefit - more

To call this method the most modern would not be entirely correct. Even the ancient world knew methods of soilless cultivation of fruit and vegetable and ornamental plants. One of the seven wonders of the world - the hanging gardens of Semiramis or the floating plantations of medieval Aztecs - this is hydroponics modified today. The harm from obtaining plant products using chemical solutions is widely discussed in society. Moreover, the method has both ardent opponents and obvious adherents.

What is hydroponics? Harm and Benefit

As already mentioned, this is a method of growing plants outside the soil using solid non-nutrient substrates - expanded clay or any mineral fiber - and a nutrient solution consisting of 99% water and 1% trace elements. Hydroponic systems can vary in structure and scale: from mini-greenhouses to industrial workshops, but the same method is always the basis: using a liquid to deliver to the roots of the plant all the substances that are usually found in the soil. But the difference from ordinary conditions is not only external. If in the soil there are insufficient certain components or the plant cannot fully remove them from the earth, then all of them are present in concentrated and pure form in the solution on which hydroponics works. The damage to the culture in this case is minimized, since access to it is limited by pests and diseases present in the soil. However, consumers are frightened by the other side - the chemical composition of the working solution, which, of course, passes into the fruits. What do experts and farmers who have already introduced hydroponics say about this?

Harm is much less than when grown in open field

So say knowledgeable people, but simple assurances are not enough for the simple consumer. To prove their case, experts cite the following arguments:

• Growing vegetables, greens or berries in your area using a minimum of chemical means of protection and top dressing, you can’t rely on the ecological purity of the crop and forget about soil poisoned by wastewater, chemicals, car exhaust, acid rain. Unfortunately, there is no longer a clean environment.
• Without a certain share of pesticides and fertilizers, one cannot count on a crop, which means that the owner himself brings synthetic substances into the soil. After all, otherwise it is impossible to avoid such troubles as fungal diseases, rot, late blight, bear and so on.
• There are no more chemicals in a hydroponic solution than in conventional top dressing for open ground, and the trace elements necessary for the plant are in it in its pure form and in optimal doses. Thanks to this, it is possible to get a clean crop, and the growing and ripening periods are reduced.

When hydroponics is harm and obvious evil

Yes, there is such a moment. The fact is that in the drug environment, hydroponics is called marijuana grown in this way. It would be surprising if someone did not use such a progressive method for criminal purposes. In this case, the drug obtained in this way is much stronger than that created from ordinary wild hemp. And if they write and talk about how drugs affect the body, what consequences can lead to addiction to them, then in the case of hydroponics, the level of harm increases by an order of magnitude.

DIY hydroponics

For the cultivation of vegetable, berry or ornamental crops in limited quantities (for the family or for a small business), it is entirely possible to build a hydroponic installation on your own with a minimum of cost. If you need a very small number of plantings - up to 50 bushes or less, you can do with ordinary plastic pots with a hole, which should be inserted into more spacious containers with liquid. Expanded clay, perlite, coconut fiber and even ordinary foam rubber are suitable as a substrate. Liquid dilution and dosage - strictly according to the instructions attached to the nutrients. If conditions allow, it is best to assemble a simple automated system for water circulation. The most expensive is a small electric motor. A device for arranging plants can be made trivial simply. The required number of plastic sewer pipes with a diameter of 15 cm with all the necessary joints and transitions is purchased. Round holes are cut out in them with an electric jigsaw under a plastic cup, on the bottom of which several small holes are made with a soldering iron so that the solution passes and the roots of the plant break through. It remains to take care of the lighting and wait for the harvest.