Hydroponics Or Soil

 

The previous three articles have given you a brief introduction to the method of growing plants known as hydroponics. Through advances in technology it is now possible to grow a broader range of plants more successfully and, as we shall see in later articles, it is now possible to grow crops commercially using hydroponics. We shall also take a look at building yourself a home system so you should be asking yourself is it to be hydroponics or soil?

Advantages Of Soil Systems

Ease of Use: Virtually anybody can plant a seed in soil and leave it to grow to full size and flower.

Diversity: Virtually all plants grow in soil.

Scale: It is possible to plant huge fields of a crop.

Maintenance: Growing in soil is a low maintenance technique.

Disadvantages of Soil Systems

Disease: Soil can harbor all kinds of diseases and pests which can be transferred to new plants planted in it.

Soil types: Some plants only grow in specific soils such as acidic soil or limey soil. If planted in the incorrect soil type a plant will struggle causing it to be prone to disease and, in some circumstances, it can even die.

Neglect: Although soil is low maintenance sometimes it is necessary to add nutrients and this is often overlooked.

Advantages of Hydroponics

Quality: Plants are invariably of a much higher quality than similar plants grown in soil.

Speed: Compared to plants grown traditionally those grown in a balanced solution of nutriments grow much faster.

Control: You are in full control of the situation unlike soil grown plans which rely upon the weather.

Seasons: Because you are in complete control of things, in many cases including light, you can grow plants out of season.

More: There are many other advantages, far too many to list here but we will discuss them in later articles.

Disadvantages of Hydroponics

Cost: Setup costs can be very high even for homemade systems.

Knowledge: While many of us grow up understanding how plants grow in soil we often need to study to understand hydroponics.

Diversity: There is none, simply put there are few plants able to be grown using this system.

Disease: Because plants share the solution if one plant becomes diseased this can spread quickly to other plants in the system.

So what is it going to be for you, hydroponics or soil? To help you to decide we have written several more articles on the topic which you can access by clicking on the link below.

 

More articles about hydroponics >