| Uses of Hydroponics
Hydroponics – “Soiless Agriculture” is useful in two main ways. First, many plant species grow more in less time and often are of higher quality. With the result, under certain environmental and economic conditions, hydroponics growing is more profitable and beneficial to the farmer. Second, by providing more controlled environment than growing in soil, the hydroponic techniques remove many unknowns from experiments.
When plants are grown hydroponically there are no soil-borne diseases, weeds to pull, or soil to till, and plants can be placed very close to one another. This allows producing a large amount of food in a small amount of space. Water-efficiency is one more feature of hydroponics as it uses closed loop systems or containers that re-circulate the water, and therefore requires only a small fraction of the water used in traditional farming.
The same qualities make hydroponics ideal for those who wish to grow plants with maximum density and maximum control over conditions. These qualities combine to make hydroponics useful wherever people wish to grow plants in a non-traditional manner. Science fiction writers have long speculated that hydroponics would allow space stations or spaceships to grow their own food. |
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