Being from the similar background of
soil-free rearing of plants, Aeroponics takes one step further by eliminating
the need for any medium whatsoever. Aeroponics
system often consists of plants supported on channels with their roots
dangling midair for the whole time.
So, when in hydroponics, the nutrients are
supplied to the plants thorough water acting as a reservoir, Aeroponics just
takes out the middleman entirely. The nutrients are directly sprayed onto the
roots of the growing plants dangling in form of an atomized mist sprayed with
much high pressure.
So, here we’ll discuss the benefits
of employing the Aeroponics
system for gardening, by citing the some basic
differences that separate the same from the conventional hydroponics.
Better Results
As the plant roots directly receive the
nutrients in atomized form, the uptake for the same certainly is faster. Also,
since every spray of nutrients is separated with intermittent time gap, the
oxygen intake of the plants is much more. This not only accelerates the growth
of the plants, the roots even spread out seeking more air and speeding the vegetative
growth altogether.
Aeroponics is the most advanced method
of farming, which takes the whole ‘accountability to every input’ idea to a entirely
new level. As with the absence of any growth medium and thus resultant spatial
availability issues , the plant are no more deprived from any amount of nutrients and oxygen.
Efficient
Resource Management
Three crucial
factors are to be considered here. Water, nutrients and air, these are the
factors which were primarily targeted in the first place with the advent of
aeroponics.
No system of any
kind in modern farming provides such efficient use of water. As the nutrients
solution is directly sprayed on to the roots, the water requirement is much
less. This is in lieu of fact that water is no longer acting as the medium, but
instead as to transmit the nutrients to the roots directly. Thus the total
water requirement can be maintained up to 1/20th of the amount that
is used in conventional methods.
With no medium to
dilute the possibility of uptake by roots, the nutrients requirement in an
aeroponics system can be tuned much more closely. As the maximum amount of nutrient
supplies taken by roots, the total nutrients input in the system decreases even
further. Nutrients are can be now supplied evenly throughout the crop, thus
eliminating the randomized effect that a growth medium has in this respect
In hydroponics or
any other method, the supply of air is managed thought the medium itself, which
in turn leads to uneven distribution. So, now we have dangling roots in constant
supply of air i.e. oxygen and CO2, making the equipments such as
aerators more or less redundant.
Economical
Aeroponics systems
are generally built with few commonly found or even recycled materials. A readymade
setup is also available if one is looking for an aesthetically pleasant
structure. Tubes, buckets are often used in a modular structure to build an
efficient system.
Money is also saved
in maintenance of the system with a nutrients solution of 700-900 ppm is found
to be quite adequate for a typical scenario. A simple water pump giving out 60
psi worth of pressure can be used to provide the required atomized mist.
Disease-Free
Conditions
With a constant
supply of fresh air and absence of a medium which may act as a shelter,
pathogens are less of a problem in any Aeroponics
system. Not only the excess
oxygen keeps the anaerobic bacteria at bay, removal of affected plant part is much
easier.
Mobility
An aeroponics
system offers a certain ease when it comes to moving the entire crop from one
place to another.
Changes
in the Regimen
Any kind of change
in the nutrient input is much economical if not easier, as the plants do not
need to be flushed altogether. This gives a grower certain freedom so as to
manage the crop more efficiently
The benefits which
are listed above presents a better scenario for any grower in order to procure
the maximum yield with best of the quality.
