Commercial Hydroponics

 

Our final subsection on hydroponics is all about commercial hydroponics and related topics. Although this section is directed towards those folk wishing to grow produce for profit it is also of great use to hobbyists and those new to the world of hydroponics as many of the points raised are directly relevant and others can be scaled down to match even the least requirements.

Our first article will look at the world of hydroponics farming which is increasing in popularity all of the time due to reduced costs, improved results and recent advances made in the area of experimental hydroponics (which we take a look at in our last article in the subsection).

Throughout Europe more and more commercial growers are seeing the benefits of commercial hydroponics as a serious alternative to the conventional methods of growing plants in soil. Sadly the industry is still rather small but, on the brighter side, as more and more growers take up this technique some of the costs will reduce and, in theory, there will be a greater demand for improvements (research and development budgets may therefore increase due to the likelihood of reasonable returns on investment).

There is one area of commercial hydroponics that is really exciting and that is the growing of herbs for medicine. Growing certain herbs and medicinal plants in a hydroponic system can vastly increase the yield of essential oils (which is the main element of interest for medicinal purposes).

Hydroponics has opened the doors for so many commercial growers in places which would not, ordinarily, be suitable for growing. Furthermore it is possible to grow produce in the optimum growing conditions for all of the year. It is now becoming common to see a hydroponics vegetable greenhouse fully stocked with fine looking lettuce in the middle of winter. Often this lettuce is of a vastly superior grade than those grown outdoors and even better than those grown in soil in a greenhouse.

Commercial hydroponics is still in its infancy but ahead are some very exciting times. More plant varieties are being developed in the laboratory which are suitable for growing this way and, in future years, it is distinctly possible that hydroponics will be the preferred method of growing certain crops. In the next article we shall be taking a look at hydroponics farming in more detail, followed by a closer look at the greenhouse and, finally, finishing off this section looking at hydroponics supplies and a brief look at the experimental aspects of the technique.

 

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