It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when getting started with a new venture. Rather than panicking, simply absorb the information, then take materials procurement and setup one step at a time. Once you’ve got everything in place, you can boost the success of your aeroponics operations with the following tips.
Be Diligent About Materials Research
Materials can make or break your aeroponics system. Do your research and buy only the best tank and reservoir liners, using highly engineered products that steer clear of natural substances and PVC. Choose agricultural-grade pipes, mister and sprinkler heads specifically formulated for aeroponics, and high-quality nutrients.
It’s always a plus to go American-made and distributed! Not only does that help people locally, it ensures that all your supplies meet the highest standards for growing in the United States. Such standards are important to meet if you want to sell your produce professionally.
Don’t Be Afraid to Trim
Everyone knows that pruning plants is important. This is less true for annual plants (think lettuce and squash) than it is for perennial plants, which are less common in aeroponics setups. However, that’s not a rule. Strawberries are quite well suited to aeroponics, and some people even have success with cane plants like raspberries or woody plants like blueberries. In all of these cases, ongoing pruning is necessary to keep plants healthy and producing.
However, trimming is important for annuals as well. For instance, you’ll want to prune off any wilting leaves or stems on nightshades, pull out withered spinach or lettuce leaves, and cut off squash leaves that look mildewed.
Many people don’t know that root pruning is also beneficial. This is especially true if plants look like they have root rot – blackened, slimy, or whitish and moldy-looking infections of the roots. This can occur from improper or too-infrequent cleaning and sanitizing of the aeroponics system, and when it does, it’s important to address it immediately by scrubbing down your growing chambers.
However, root pruning is also important. Research shows that “pruning at a level of ¼ of the total root length can be recommended for aeroponically grown potato with root infections as it does not cause any yield or quality reduction.” There isn’t a ton of research about exact fractions for different plants, but in general, aeroponics experts do recommend periodic trimming for health and disease treatment.
Aeroponics DIY recommends you “do most of your root cutting on the smaller thread roots, not the larger tap roots. The tap roots will be the larger roots and the thread roots will be the smaller roots that grow off the tap roots. All you have to do is take the plant and pull the tap roots apart, removing no more than a third of the thread roots in the process. Also, prune roots that are dead looking away from the plant.”
Periodic trimming of roots is more necessary for plants that are ever-bearing, such as strawberries, and less necessary for plants you’ll replace often, such as lettuce.
Trust Your Nose
Your olfactory senses can tell you a lot about what’s going on beneath the surface of your plants, down in the growing chambers. Granted, you should check your plant roots and chambers periodically, but no one has all day to go up and down the rows examining every plant.
Therefore, keep your nose peeled for any odd pond scum smells. These usually indicate algae or other growth that can harm your plants. If you detect such an odor, immediately conduct a thorough search and find the offending area. If you need to trim plant roots or replace plants, do so. Then clean everything thoroughly.
Understand the Risks of Power Reliance
There are risks associated with anything, and aeroponic plant growth is no exception.
For one thing, although Mother Earth is a limited resource when it comes to growing food, she does provide a number of advantages over highly technical systems such as aeroponics. Plants growing in the ground are insulated from heat and cold, can procure their own water and nutrients by growing roots, and are hardened off to the outdoors (unless they’re in greenhouses).
On the other hand, aeroponics systems carefully control every aspect of the environment: temperature, water, nutrients. This is great for plant growth until the power goes out, at which point plants are in serious danger. Misting or spraying should occur around every 5 minutes, so even a brief power outage can compromise your crops.
For hobbyists, this can represent a bummer. For agricultural producers, this can mean a lost crop, making it harder to pay bills or even putting you in the red. Serious growers, therefore, need a backup power supply that can withstand several days of outages, especially if you live in an area with thunderstorms, wind storms, grid overloads, or high heat – all of which lead to greater incidences of outages.
Check for Clogs
Misters are the best solution for healthy plants in an aeroponics system. They provide the best distribution of water and nutrients to all areas of the root, and they don’t have to rely on large droplets or unequally dispersed fog to do the job.
However, the tiny holes that make misters such an effective nutrient delivery system make them more prone to clogging than sprinkler heads. The high levels of salt in your aeroponics solution (many plant nutrients are salts) means that it can easily crystallize inside those tiny holes, plugging them up and preventing your plants from getting the spray they need.
Stay vigilant about clogs. That means checking roots for dryness, monitoring plants for yellowing or withering, and inspecting mister heads every once in a while. Keep extras on hand in case you find one that stays clogged even with a good washing/bleaching. If you have to take the time to go to the store, you may lose plants.
Aeroponics: The Pros and Cons
Before we sign off, it behooves us to take a quick look at the pros and cons of aeroponics. If you’re still on the fence about how to grow fruits and vegetables at home, at your organization, or as a large ecofriendly operation, perhaps this will provide some assistance!
PROS
We’ve already discussed some of the main pros of aeroponics, including the preservation of resources, healthy plant growth, and nutritious produce. Other major benefits of aeroponics as opposed to other systems include:
- Extremely fast plant growth: Because plants don’t have to focus on growing their roots to seek water, nutrients, and oxygen, they grow extremely quickly. You can expect record times to harvest when you use aeroponics.
- Reduced plant maintenance and inputs: Because aeroponics is a closed-loop system, constantly recapturing unused water and nutrients, you not only have to spend less money on it, you can save time with far less tending.
- Control of growing climate: Because aeroponics takes place indoors or in gentle outdoor climes, you needn’t worry so much about changes in weather. As long as your plants get the light they need, they will do well.
- Good use of space: Because aeroponics is so well adapted to vertical farming, you can begin doing it in a small amount of space, such as in an office or a classroom. If you’re trying to make a business of it, you don’t need to get that large of a grow room or greenhouse in order to see generous yields that can support you as a side hustle or full-time income.
- Ever-evolving technology: Because aeroponics is so critical to meeting population food needs and transforming the human race into a spacefaring species, it is at the top of the list of priorities for many of today’s smartest minds. Getting started now will give you a front-row seat to each of these new developments and accelerate your time to success.
In other words, if you’re looking to turn aeroponics into a well-paying venture, your best bet is to join the race now, while there’s still major growth potential.
CONS
Of course, nothing is perfect. You should go into aeroponics with eyes wide open to the cons as well. These include:
- Total reliance on the closed-loop system: While the closed-loop nature of aeroponics is part of what makes it so resource-light, it can also lead to problems if you don’t maintain the system very carefully. Unlike in soil, plant roots have nowhere to go to seek more nutrients if you don’t give them what they need. If your misters get clogged or the ultrasonic fogger stops working, they can’t grow down to a different water source.
- There is math involved: Our teachers always promised math would come in handy later in life, and aeroponics is no exception. Expect some juggling of numbers, as you must calculate nutrient ratios, pH and EC levels, and timer settings.
- Ongoing cleaning and maintenance: Although cleaning and maintenance are no one’s fave, they do not outweigh what you’d have to put in with hydroponics, container growing, or traditional in-ground farming. In that sense, this “con” is often viewed as a pro by growers.
Again, and we can’t say this enough, your yields will only be as good as your setup. If you truly want to succeed with aeroponics, it starts with the right materials to ensure healthy and disease-free plants, minimal clogging issues, clean water, and an all-around great operation.
That’s where BTL Liners comes in.
