Hydroponics is a technique that involves growing plants in a soil-less medium. In hydroponic systems, plants uptake the nutrients they need to survive from nutrients dissolved in water.
Throughout the last few centuries of human history, scientists have been experimenting with different techniques of growing plants hydroponically. In NASA recent history, hydroponics has started to become increasingly popular. For example, NASA has been conducting aeroponics, which is a type of hydroponic system, experiments aboard the International Space Station since the 1990’s.
There are a number of reasons that hydroponics is becoming more and more popular. Some of the benefits of growing hydroponically are detailed below.
1. Conserves Water
One advantage of growing crops hydroponically is that it saves water. This may seem counterintuitive since hydroponic systems rely so much on water.
Hydroponic systems use less water than conventional soil growing because water is captured and reused. This reduces excess runoff.
Researchers at Arizona State University conducted a study that compared the land, water, and energy requirements of lettuce grown using conventional agricultural methods in Yuma, AZ and lettuce grown hydroponically (in a greenhouse) in Arizona. Water use was measured in L/kg/yr. The results of the study found that conventional growing techniques used about 12.5 times more water than the hydroponic system (Barbosa et al. 2015).
It is important that water use depends on the crop. Different crops transpire at different rates, so the numbers discussed above cannot be applied to other crops.
2. Plants Grow Faster
Another major advantage of growing plants in hydroponically is that plants often grow faster than plants growing in soil provided that you are running the system correctly. This is because hydroponics allows you to provide your plants with ideal growing conditions (e.g., nutrients, water, pH, lighting).
Researchers at King Abdulaziz University conducted an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to investigate whether cucumbers grow faster in a soil environment or in hydroponics. Their analysis indicated that cucumbers grew at a statistically faster rate in hydroponics. However, growth of the leaves of a cucumber plant did not differ statistically based on growing system (Gashgari et al. 2018). A table presenting the results of their study is shown below.
| Crop/Planting System | Soil | Hydroponics |
|---|---|---|
| Average Cucumber Height (mm) | 99.5 | 168 |
| Average Armenian Cucumber Height (mm) | 85.5 | 163.5 |
3. Better Use Of Space
Hydroponic systems are also a more efficient use of space than conventional soil growing. You do not need a lawn or greenhouse to grow your own food hydroponically.
Plants can be grown in vertical hydroponic systems which saves space.
Studies have shown that crops have a higher yield per area than conventional agriculture. A comparison is shown in the table below.
| Crop | Hydroponic Equivalent Per Acre | Average Agricultural Output Per Acre |
|---|---|---|
| Wheat | 5,000 lbs | 600 lbs |
| Oats | 3,000 lbs | 850 lb |
| Rice | 12,000 lbs | 750-900 lbs |
| Maize | 8,000 lbs | 1,500 lbs |
| Soybean | 1,500 lbs | 600 lbs |
| Potato | 70 tons | 8 tons |
| Beet Root | 20,000 lbs | 9,000 lbs |
| Cabbage | 18,000 lbs | 13,000 lbs |
| Peas | 14,000 lbs | 2,000 lbs |
| Tomatoes | 180 tons | 5-10 tons |
| Cauliflower | 30,000 lbs | 10,000 – 15,000 lbs |
| Lettuce | 21,000 lbs | 9,000 lbs |
| Cucumber | 28,000 lbs | 7,000 lbs |
Source:
Sengupta, Amrita and Banerjee, Hirak. (2012). Soil-less culture in modern agriculture. World Journal of Science 2012, 2(7):103-108.
4. No Weeding Necessary
Because hydroponics do not involve soil, there are no weeds to pull. Unlike soil, the growing mediums used for hydroponics do not contain seeds from other plants in it.
In addition to being more convenient, no weeds mean that there are no other plants taking valuable nutrients from your crops.
5. Fewer Pests And Diseases
Another fantastic benefit of hydroponics is that there are typically fewer issues with pests and diseases. As a result, hydroponic systems require fewer pesticides.
Keep in mind that this does not mean that you will never experience any problems with pests or diseases. For example, mold can be an issue especially if you live in a humid location.
To prevent problems with pests and diseases, make sure you are doing the following:
- Make sure your equipment is clean.
- Minimize excess moisture by maintaining a relative humidity between 40 and 60.
- Prune your plant and remove dead or diseased leaves, branches, or fruit.
6. Easily Scalable
Hydroponics is a great hobby and can be scaled up easily. You can start out growing one or two plants and expand to growing all of your own salad greens.
Some people have even turned this hobby into a business by selling microgreens to restaurants and at farmer’s markets. These types of businesses are operated out of people’s homes. If you want to learn more about this process, check out this YouTube channel.
Some hydroponic systems are more scalable than others. Systems that involve conveying nutrient solution to multiple plants (like NFT or Drip Hydroponics) can be scaled up more easily than passive hydroponic systems.
7. Numerous Budget Friendly DIY Options
Growers have also figured out how to make growing mediums more budget friendly. For example, you could use a pool noodle as a net cup insert instead of rockwool. This is explained in the video below.
Similarly, you could use a burlap for growing microgreens. Gardening can be a creative hobby/passion, so I encourage you to leverage your own creativity to figure out how to make your hydroponics system better for less (cost).
8. Great For Growing Herbs and Greens
Hydroponics allows you to grow your own (fresh) greens and herbs. Not only is this beneficial to you and your family’s health, but it is also healthy for your wallet. Greens such as kale, lettuce, and swiss chard can be expensive at the grocery store. By growing them yourself, you could be saving your family money.
In addition, microgreens, which are the little greens you see delicately placed on certain dishes at fancy restaurants, are also very easy to grow hydroponically. In addition to adding a classy flair to your food, microgreens are extremely nutritious and most can be grown in less than a month.
Herbs like basil, cilantro, dill, and mint also tend to be among the most expensive items you buy at the grocery store. However, they are probably some of the easiest crops to grow hydroponically meaning that you can grow more herbs for less money than you would pay at the grocery store. In this sense, even a hobby hydroponics system can pay for itself by saving you money on these high-value items.
9. You Can Grow A Variety of Crops
You can grow a large variety of fruits, vegetables, and flowers with hydroponics. You can even grow mushrooms, which is a fungus, hydroponically.
Although you can, in theory, grow most plants hydroponically, there are still crops that are easier to grow than others. Here is a list of crops commonly grown by hobbyists:
- Basil
- Cannabis
- Chives
- Cucumbers
- Lettuce
- Microgreens
- Mint
- Parsley
- Peppers
- Radishes
- Strawberries
- Squash
- Tomatoes
10. Higher-Quality Produce
Hydroponics also allows your to grow superior produce. This is because hydroponics gives you the opportunity to provide your plants with ideal growing conditions. In addition, many hydroponic growers can avoid using pesticides and herbicides.
Researchers at the Southern Illinois University conducted a study with three field varieties of tomatoes planted in hydroponic tanks. Reportedly, hydroponically produced tomatoes were of better quality than the same varieties grown in soil (Lewis et al. 1973).
It is important to remember that hydroponics cannot make a flavorless variant of seed magically flavorful. Like any type of gardening, amazing produce begins with high-quality seeds.
11. Suitable For Indoor Or Outdoors
Hydroponic systems can be easily set up indoors or outdoors which means you can grow your own food year-round. If you live in an area where it gets very cold in the wintertime, it might be worth purchasing a little greenhouse.
If you are going to set up your hydroponics system indoors, it is important to make sure that your plants are getting enough light. Consider supplementing sunlight with some artificial lighting.
12. Good For Houseplants Too
Hydroponics is a growing method that can be applied to houseplants as well as fruits and vegetables. Semi hydroponics (Semi-hydro), which is also known as passive hydroponics, is a method of growing plants in a chemically inert growing medium rather than soil.
Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregates (LECA), also known as clay pebbles, is the most commonly used growing medium in semi-hydro. If you have seen pictures on Instagram of plants growing in “Cocoa Puffs,” that is semi-hydro! In semi-hydro, nutrients are delivered to the plants as water is wicked up through the pore spaces of clay pebbles.
Semi-hydro is becoming more and more popular because it is a low-maintenance way to grow plants. It is also cleaner as you do no longer have to have dirt in your home in order to grow houseplants.
Many types of plants can be converted to semi-hydro. Based on my research, semi-hydro appears to be a popular planting technique for orchids. Here is a video that outlines the steps for converting an orchid to semi-hydro.
13. More Control
Because you are not relying on the soil to deliver nutrients to your plants, hydroponics allows you to have a lot of control over the plants’ growing conditions.
Not only are you able to provide the plants with a nutrient solution that is specific to their needs, but you can also adjust the pH of the water to allow for optimal uptake of those nutrients. Most hydroponic crops do best in a nutrient solution with a pH between 5.5 and 6.5.
It is much easier to control the pH in hydroponics than in conventional soil growing. In hydroponics, you simply add pH Up or pH Down in order to bring your nutrient solution to an ideal pH.
In contrast, there are a variety of factors that influence soil pH such as rainfall, land use (e.g., forests tend to have more acidic soils than grasslands), fertilizer application, the amount of clay and organic matter, and weathering. Although you can adjust soil pH by adding lime or implementing best practices, it is important to control all of these factors.
Hydroponic growers can also provide their plants with ideal lighting conditions.
14. Effective Way To Teach Kids About Growing Food
Hydroponics can a fun way to teach kids about plants and growing food. Although some types of hydroponic systems are complex, there are a number of kid-friendly hydroponic kits as well as instructions for DIY projects available online.
In addition, hydroponics makes a great science fair project. For example, kids could conduct an experiment that compares how fast a particular plant grows in hydroponics versus a conventional soil system.
This type of experience helps kids learn about biology and how food grows.
When kids have the opportunity to participate in taking care of a garden and watch the plants grow, they are more excited to eat the bounty (fresh fruit and vegetables).
15. There Are Numerous Kits Available
There are many people who want to build their own hydroponic systems, but there are equally as many people who want to use a kit to grow plants hydroponically. Luckily, there are numerous hydroponic kits available on Amazon. Here are few that you might want to consider purchasing if you are interested in trying hydroponics:
- Moistenland Hydroponics Growing System, Indoor Herb Garden Starter Kit w/LED Grow Light, Plant Germination Kits 12 Plant Pots for Home Kitchen Gardening (12 Pots)
- TORCHSTAR Plant Grow LED Light Kit, Indoor Herb Garden with Timer Function, 24V Low Voltage, Indoor Harvest Elite for Gourmet or Plant Enthusiasts, Rosemary, Lavender, Seed, Pod Ornamental Gift
- Deep Water Culture (DWC) Hydroponic System Growing Kit – Large Airstone, 6 Sites Bucket with Air Pump – Complete Hydroponics Indoor Herb Garden Starter Kit for Kitchen
- Deep Water Culture (DWC) Hydroponic Bucket Kit 5 Gallon, 6 inch
16. It Is Easy To Get Started
Another great aspect of hydroponics is that it is easy to get started with this hobby. Like I mentioned above, there are plenty of kits available on Amazon or you could build your own system. If you are looking for a new, productive hobby, hydroponics could be for you.
In my opinion, one of the easiest (and fun) way to get started in hydroponics is to grow microgreens. They grow very quickly, are extremely nutritious, and make your food look fancy.
Another great project for those who are new to hydroponics is growing herbs like basil or mint using the Kratky Method. This method does not require moving parts like pumps or air stones.