Pros & Cons of a Hydroponics System
Jake Berrier
Using a hydroponics system can be one of the most efficient ways of growing different kinds of plants. Whether it’s from everyday vegetables or spices we may use in cooking, a hydroponics system gives us the ability to grow plants without the traditional use of soil but instead, a running stream of water. This system has attracted much attention due to it’s ability to grow an excessive amount of plants in very little space, giving people the ability to grow without farmland in a basement, backyard, greenhouse, or balcony. The use of this system in an acre can grow thousands of plants while a traditional garden may only be able to grow hundreds.
There are many advantages with a Hydroponics system and one of them being the minimized attention it requires. With a hydroponics system, it’s easily manageable due to a constant flow of reused and filtered water, giving the owner easy ability to set up electronic timing equipment for when the system should run and when it should idle. Timers can be used to control whether it should be on or off and a remote monitoring system would be able to control the timers. Automation will be able to provide the ability to maintain the growth environment and requirements without the need of the owner to be there. Saving water will play a factor by this role because this system will know whether or not if the water is low without the overuse and waste of water. Hydroponics systems are known for saving up 80% of water use by this closed filtering system. This is only one perspective of the advantages.
Another positive affect a hydroponics system brings is the lessened concern of weeds, pests, and diseases. In a hydroponics system, there is no need for the use of soil which removes the factor of soil-borne pests. They also have a sterile medium used in hydroponics which eliminates the weeds as well. This will help reduce the attention to the gardener of removing these unnecessary pests, also giving hydroponics pants of growing faster. Faster growth is another factor that farmers are looking for giving them early harvest to certain plants. Hydroponics systems evenly distributes the food and water for these plants, reducing the need for it to spread out and search. Also, given with it’s small space, it makes hydroponics more ideal to home gardeners and small scale farmers. It will give a more productive use of the small space a greenhouse provides.
There are very little negatives versus the amount of positives found in a hydroponics system. One being the possible growth of salmonella, which is a type of bacteria frequently found as a food-borne illness. The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) address this problem with this type of bacteria by changing the way food is handled in a production, including a farmer. Most thorough farmers can easily maintain and detect this type of bacteria, if properly farming, which can then be easily stopped.
In conclusion, a hydroponics system is one of the most efficient gardening systems with a very small space requirement, the ease of maintaining a hydroponics system, the faster growth of plants, and the water reduction aspect. With the system only having one to two negative impacts, which can be eliminated, this leaves the hydroponics system as one of the most efficient gardening systems without a question.
Sources
Kline, Christopher J. "Understanding Organic Hydroponics." Understanding Organic Hydroponics. Cox Communications, 15 Aug. 2010. Web. 21 Sept. 2011. <http://members.cox.net/ckline72/Understanding_Organic_Hydroponics.htm>.
"Simply Hydroponics - A Note on Mediums." Hydroponics Systems from Simply Hydro - Buy Online and Save. Simply Hydro, 2008. Web. 21 Sept. 2011. <http://www.simplyhydro.com/hydrou.htm>.
Admin. "Hydroponics Facts | General." Be Green Blog. BeGreenBlog.com, 2010. Web. 01 Oct. 2011. <http://begreenblog.com/hydroponics-facts/>.
"Why Use It?" Why Use Hydroponics? Orange County Hydroponics, 2010. Web. 1 Oct. 2011. <http://www.ochydro.com/home/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=62&Itemid=74>.
Using a hydroponics system can be one of the most efficient ways of growing different kinds of plants. Whether it’s from everyday vegetables or spices we may use in cooking, a hydroponics system gives us the ability to grow plants without the traditional use of soil but instead, a running stream of water. This system has attracted much attention due to it’s ability to grow an excessive amount of plants in very little space, giving people the ability to grow without farmland in a basement, backyard, greenhouse, or balcony. The use of this system in an acre can grow thousands of plants while a traditional garden may only be able to grow hundreds.
There are many advantages with a Hydroponics system and one of them being the minimized attention it requires. With a hydroponics system, it’s easily manageable due to a constant flow of reused and filtered water, giving the owner easy ability to set up electronic timing equipment for when the system should run and when it should idle. Timers can be used to control whether it should be on or off and a remote monitoring system would be able to control the timers. Automation will be able to provide the ability to maintain the growth environment and requirements without the need of the owner to be there. Saving water will play a factor by this role because this system will know whether or not if the water is low without the overuse and waste of water. Hydroponics systems are known for saving up 80% of water use by this closed filtering system. This is only one perspective of the advantages.
Another positive affect a hydroponics system brings is the lessened concern of weeds, pests, and diseases. In a hydroponics system, there is no need for the use of soil which removes the factor of soil-borne pests. They also have a sterile medium used in hydroponics which eliminates the weeds as well. This will help reduce the attention to the gardener of removing these unnecessary pests, also giving hydroponics pants of growing faster. Faster growth is another factor that farmers are looking for giving them early harvest to certain plants. Hydroponics systems evenly distributes the food and water for these plants, reducing the need for it to spread out and search. Also, given with it’s small space, it makes hydroponics more ideal to home gardeners and small scale farmers. It will give a more productive use of the small space a greenhouse provides.
There are very little negatives versus the amount of positives found in a hydroponics system. One being the possible growth of salmonella, which is a type of bacteria frequently found as a food-borne illness. The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) address this problem with this type of bacteria by changing the way food is handled in a production, including a farmer. Most thorough farmers can easily maintain and detect this type of bacteria, if properly farming, which can then be easily stopped.
In conclusion, a hydroponics system is one of the most efficient gardening systems with a very small space requirement, the ease of maintaining a hydroponics system, the faster growth of plants, and the water reduction aspect. With the system only having one to two negative impacts, which can be eliminated, this leaves the hydroponics system as one of the most efficient gardening systems without a question.
Sources
Kline, Christopher J. "Understanding Organic Hydroponics." Understanding Organic Hydroponics. Cox Communications, 15 Aug. 2010. Web. 21 Sept. 2011. <http://members.cox.net/ckline72/Understanding_Organic_Hydroponics.htm>.
"Simply Hydroponics - A Note on Mediums." Hydroponics Systems from Simply Hydro - Buy Online and Save. Simply Hydro, 2008. Web. 21 Sept. 2011. <http://www.simplyhydro.com/hydrou.htm>.
Admin. "Hydroponics Facts | General." Be Green Blog. BeGreenBlog.com, 2010. Web. 01 Oct. 2011. <http://begreenblog.com/hydroponics-facts/>.
"Why Use It?" Why Use Hydroponics? Orange County Hydroponics, 2010. Web. 1 Oct. 2011. <http://www.ochydro.com/home/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=62&Itemid=74>.