On May 20, 3:34 pm, lordsirrah wrote:
Many gardeners are beginning to switch to Hydroponics gardening for
many different reasons.

You wish.

These types of gardens are small and can
easily be grown inside and are perfect for most vegetables, especially
the red tomato. Also the equipment required for Hydroponics gardening
is not expensive and they are relatively easy to manage.


Well if you have limited space and no soil it would be better than
nothing. To do on a scale that would supply a good range of veges for
a family would NOT be cheap.

Hydroponics gardening is the growing of plants without soil, in other
words, "dirtless gardening". There are many methods of Hydroponics
gardening, most of which work better than regular soil gardening
because it is easier to give the plant exactly what it needs when it
needs it.

You have stated but offered no evidence that it is easier.

Plants will only receive what you give them; therefore you
will be able to regulate the pH, nutrients, nutrient strength, water
amount, and light amount.

You carefully neglect to mention that hydroponics REQUIRES this level
of micromanagement, so why is it a benefit? It is is in fact a cost.
For example, your growing medium and solutions have very little
buffering capacity so the pH is likely to swing widely as a result of
comparatively small changes. With good soil that is not a problem so
you don't need to micromanage pH.

This makes it imperative that you research
the kind of plants you will be growing so you know what they need to
survive.


Duh!

Hydroponics gardening is only as difficult as you make it.

Or the depth of your pockets.

It can be
complicated if computers with sensors are used to control water
cycles, nutrients, and light for the plants. However, it can also be
as simple as a hand watered bucket with a single plant.

Yes sure, but growing a single plant in a pot of soil is very
straightforward too.

The normal
home Hydroponics system is usually made up of a few basic things: a
growing tray, light (natural or artificial), a reservoir, a water
controlled pump for watering (or some type of watering equipment), and
some form of air pump to give oxygen to the nutrients.


If you have land with soil why do you need all this?


The growing medium used in Hydroponics gardening can be any number of
things, such as Rockwool, perlite, coconut fiber, gravel, sand,
vermiculite, or even air. You can get instructions from a gardening
store or online or buy separate parts and build your own. There are
also kits already assembled for sale in gardening supply stores.


Which is wonderful if you are selling these things.

There are certain micro-nutrients that are necessary for healthy plant
growth including magnesium, sulfur, calcium, cobalt, boron, iron,
copper, manganese, and zinc. These nutrients are absolutely essential
to plants and if missing could cause the food to not be as healthy and
in some cases even cause health problems for those who eat it. It is
very important that you use a quality fertilizer when Hydroponics
gardening.


Of course you don't need to add most of those things to natural soil
in most cases. Magnesium, sulphur and calcium are present in macro
amounts in good soil (they are hardly micronutrients) and they can be
added easily and cheaply if required. The trace elements listed are
required but once again not that likely to be missing in soil and not
that hard to add. You are actually pointing out that hydroponic
solutions must be complex to mimic soil. I bet you sell these
solutions too.


Another important aspect of Hydroponics gardening that must be closely
regulated is the pH balance. When the pH balance varies the plants
will lose the ability to absorb nutrients that it needs. The ease
with which the pH in Hydroponics gardening is tested and controlled
give it a huge advantage over regular dirt gardening.


Bullshit! Altering pH is easier in solution but that is a
disadvantage not an advantage. You only need to closely regulate pH
because of the inherent instability of the system. I suppose you want
sell expensive pH meters too.

Even though there are hundreds of different variations, Wick, Water
Culture, Ebb and Flow, Drip, N.F.T., and Aeroponic are the six most
basic types of Hydroponics gardening systems. Hydroponics gardening
is easy, affordable, and you can have fresh produce, flowers, herbs &
spices all year long!

If you have a greenhouse or a very benign climate. Which has nothing
to do with hydroponics of course.

So far you have done nothing to convince me that generally speaking
for the home gardener hydroponics is better than soil.

David