Aeroponics and its Advantages

To grow and cultivate plants in thin air and water is known as hydroponics, which later begat aeroponics. The science of hydroponics has existed for thousands of years with aeroponics coming on the scene in the twentieth century.

An aeroponics system makes use of air and nutrient-rich water to grow plants. The method isn’t limited to any particular variety of plant life; rather, you can grow anything with the aeroponics systems. The commercialization of aeroponics worldwide has turned the cultivation into one of the more successful methods of the twenty-first century.

Research on air culture began in the 1940s as a means of examination of the roots of the plants’ systems. In 1966, B. Biggs managed to discover he could air-root hardwood cuttings that were stronger than the traditionally grown hardwoods in soil. In 1982, L. Nir patented his low-pressure aeroponic system that does the plants with a nutrient solution while they were suspended by Styrofoam in a metal container. In the 1980s, the process blossomed further when Mr. Stoner of GTI created systems made of plastic with microprocessors to regulate the dispensing of the nutrients. NASA got involved in the research of aeroponics in hopes of using the method to grow food for their astronauts in space or perhaps on the moon or Mars.

How exactly does this method work and what can you get out of it? The plants are grown with their roots dangling in mid-air, outside of any medium such as soil. Aeroponics therefore, allows a much more efficient delivery system of oxygen to the plant’s grown system. The balance can be thrown out of whack if there is a power failure or you accidentally get the nutrient mixture incorrect. Too much or too little mixture can hurt your plants and since the misting is controlled electrically, you need to make sure your power doesn’t fail. A backup system of sorts could be a wise decision. The plants in the aeroponics systems are grown in different types of containments, including troughs or tubes.

The chambers need to remain out of the sunlight and 100% humidity is retained inside. The solution mist needs to include 35% hydrogen peroxide to prevent fungal and bacterial growth. The construction o f most chambers include a lower reservoir, upper chamber, pumps, sprayers, and collars to hold the plants in place. Make sure that the fertilizer is not a bargain brand – only the best should be used to help propagate your gardens and crops. Many different products are available with an array of delivery systems for the nutrient solution to the roots of the plants. There are large commercial systems to harvest a crop as well as smaller kits you can use in your kitchen.

There are many pluses to growing plants by aeroponics. By the use of the misters periodically spraying the nutrients onto the roots, the chamber’s enclosure keeps the humidity inside. This continually waters the plants. There’s no need to continually spray and no need for entire underground sprinkler systems.

With the roots of the plants subjected to open air rather than soil they receive more than enough oxygen. This increases the productivity of the growth cycle. When you plant your harvest in soil id disallows pure oxygenation of the root system and the growth season can last much longer.

When roots on a plant can reach their fullest potential as quickly as aeroponics does, it allows for extremely fast harvests to come to full germination. You quite possible could set your crop of lettuce, corn, tomatoes, etc. to grow year-round for constant food production. This productivity would be a plus for the environment as we add CO2 to the atmosphere. It could also add food to the tables of the hungry or produce more corn crops for more fuel.

Cloning of plants is made extremely possible by the practice of aeroponics. Since each plant is separated, harvesting is simple. The separation also saves the garden or crop from total destruction from bacteria or fungus, unlike when planting in the soil. Just throw away the single bad plant instead of needing to start all over again.

Whatever your ultimate goal may be, save yourself a lot of time and labor and begin your own aeroponic system. Practice first with your nutrients to make sure you get the balance correct. Once you’ve done that – sit back and enjoy! Sustain your family with your own garden or help feed the world and harvest aeroponically.

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