Genetic ID

Hydroponics vs Soil

There is another technique
HYDROPONICS. In 70s there was big push for Hydroponics in developing countries
which subsequently slowed down (almost vanished) but practiced still in
advanced countries.

Soilless culture

Hydroponics is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient
solutions, in water, without soil.
Terrestrial plants may be grown with their roots in the mineral
nutrient solution only or in an inert medium, such as perlite,
gravel,
mineral wool,
or coconut husk.

Researchers discovered in the
18th century that plants absorb essential mineral nutrients as inorganic ions in water. In natural
conditions, soil acts as a mineral nutrient reservoir but the soil itself is
not essential to plant growth. When the mineral nutrients in the soil dissolve
in water, plant roots are able to absorb them. When the required mineral
nutrients are introduced into a plant’s water supply artificially, soil is no
longer required for the plant to thrive. Almost any terrestrial
plant will grow with hydroponics.

Billions of container plants are
produced annually, including fruit, shade, and ornamental trees, shrubs, forest
seedlings, vegetable seedlings, bedding plants, herbaceous perennials, and
vines. Most container plants are produced in soilless media, representing
soilless culture. However, most are not hydroponics because the soilless medium
often provides some of the mineral nutrients via slow release fertilizers,
cat ion exchange, and decomposition of the organic medium itself. Most soilless
media for container plants also contain organic materials such as peat or composted bark,
which provide some nitrogen to the plant. Greenhouse growth of plants in peat
bags is often termed hydroponics, but, in the technical sense, it is not
because the medium provides some of the mineral nutrients.

Plants that are not
traditionally grown in a climate would be possible to grow using a controlled
environment system like hydroponics. During World War II, produce was grown
with hydroponics on the barren Pacific
Islands. According to a
1938 Times magazine article, this was one of the first times that commercial
use of hydroponics was used on such a large scale to feed people. This group of
islands was used as a refueling stop for Pan-Am Airways, and the food was used
to feed the staff and crew. This means that salad greens could possibly be
grown in Antarctica or even the Mojave Desert.
NASA has also looked to utilize hydroponics in the space program. Ray Wheeler,
plant physiologist at Kennedy
Space Center’s
Space Life Science Lab, believes that hydroponics will create advances within
space travel. He terms this as “a life support system with the biological
component of growing plants — called a bio regenerative life support system. It
has several benefits for NASA.” These Scientists are researching how different
amounts of light, temperature and carbon dioxide, along with plant species can
be grown and cultivated on planets like Mars.

Advantages

Some of the reasons why
hydroponics is being adapted around the world for food production are the
following:

No soil is neededThe water stays in the system and can be reused – thus, lower water
costsIt is possible to control the nutrition levels in their entirety –
thus, lower nutrition costsNo nutrition pollution is released into the environment because of
the controlled systemStable and high yieldsPests and diseases are easier to get rid of than in soil because of
the container’s mobility

Today, hydroponics is an
established branch of agronomy. Progress has been rapid, and results obtained in
various countries have proved it to be thoroughly practical and to have very
definite advantages over conventional methods of horticulture.
The two chief merits of the soil-less cultivation of plants are, first,
hydroponics produces much higher crop yields, and, second, hydroponics can be
used in places where in-ground agriculture or gardening are not possible.

Techniques

The two main types of
hydroponics are solution culture and medium culture. Solution culture does not
use a solid medium for the roots, just the nutrient solution. The three main
types of solution culture are static solution culture, continuous-flow solution
culture and aeroponics. The medium culture method has a solid medium for the
roots and is named for the type of medium, e.g., sand culture, gravel culture,
or rockwool culture.

There are two main variations
for each medium, sub-irrigation
and top irrigation.For all techniques, most hydroponic reservoirs are now built of plastic,
but other materials have been used including concrete, glass, metal, vegetable
solids, and wood. The containers should exclude light to prevent algae growth
in the nutrient solution.

Let us hope Aquaponics and
Hydroponics will be practiced on a mass scale in Developing countries.

Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore (AP), India

E-mail: anumakonda.jagadeesh@gmail.com

“More than 80 percent of seafood eaten in the country is imported. And about half of the foreign seafood is farmed.”

Then put that together with something from GreenTechMedia …

” Rooftop gardens are an example of an old idea that has been rediscovered by modern green architecture. Taken a step further, vertical gardens,
grown in hi-rise structures, have been suggested as a means to reduce
the footprint of an industry that currently occupies an area the size of
South America (and is continuously expanding).

Aquaponics
is a technique for producing fresh, organic fish and vegetables
year-round, anywhere in the world. A combination of aquaculture and
hydroponics, aquaponics allows farmers to grow fish and plant crops
together in a single integrated, soil-less system. In these systems,
fish waste fertilizes plants, while plants naturally filter water for
fish.”

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/the-new-american-farmer/

This is a system that makes a lot of sense to me.  We’ve got cities around the world with lots of people with too little access to fresh and a need for jobs.  And a lot of flat roof space.

I’ve done some hydroponic gardening, it’s works fine and can be a great sp