In natural environments, plants must extend their roots far and wide in order to find pockets of nutrients within the nearby soil. Aeroponic plants, on the other hand, are immediately and directly applied with all the nutrients they need via daily misting. This means the plant can spend all its energy growing its fruit or flowers and thriving, rather than growing out its roots. Because aeroponics is so nutrient efficient, crops can grow faster, bigger, and healthier. A lack of soil also means that disease is much less likely to occur in aeroponic plants, as pathogens and bacteria have no medium in which to take hold. High oxygen exposure and absorption is incredibly good for plant growth.
Since aeroponics requires no soil, it’s a popular choice for farmers who are trying to make the absolute most of their space. All that room that would be used for dirt can now be utilized for more plants, equipment, or anything the farmer desires. Farmers working indoors, with tight spaces, often find success through vertical aeroponics farming. Not only does this maximize space, but it also utilizes gravity to help mist travel from the topmost crops to the bottom, reducing energy costs found in additional pumps and piping. This use of space is a wonderful way to reduce land and soil fatigue that traditional agriculture often encounters. When soil is used repeatedly, it begins to lose its nutritional value. Helpful nutrients and chemicals are stripped away as the soil is continually introduced to new, hungry plants.
Since aeroponics directly applies nutrients, it eliminates the need for soil, meaning there’s no chance of tiring out a field. Additionally, the closed environment ensures that there’s no runoff or pollution into the local ecosystem. Since aeroponic water is so nutrient-rich, any leaks into the environment can lead to serious consequences, like algae-blooms and ecological die-offs. An aeroponics growing system uses minimal water, meaning the amount of run-off itself is majorly reduced, and is easily contained.
Pros & Cons
There’s lots of reasons to choose Aeroponics for your growing needs. Aeroponics has some serious benefits:
- Lack of soil or other growing medium means plants can absorb the maximum amount of nutrients needed from each round of watering
- Plants are constantly exposed to oxygen through aeroponics, maximizing their opportunities for growth and majorly improving their health. High levels of oxygen promote healthy and fast-growing plants.
- Aeroponic mist can be sterilized in order to reduce the chance of pathogens or disease
- The lack of soil reduces opportunities for diseases to take hold
- Considerably fewer nutrients and water used on average compared to other systems because of higher nutrient absorption rate
- Plants become much easier to move or adjust without root systems buried within the soil
- Aeroponics take up less room than traditional forms of soil agriculture
- System maintenance becomes less invasive and messy
- Easy to replace old plants, no repotting needed
- Less dirt means less mess!
There are things to consider however, to ensure that Aeroponics is right for you:
- Multiple systems for misting require fine-toothed maintenance, including careful water quality control
- Initial investment and installation may be larger than some traditional agriculture designs
- Requires constant supervision
- Equipment will require energy to run, and may be susceptible to power outages
- Dependence on the system. An aeroponic system is made of mist nozzles, high-pressure pumps, and timer.
- Require regular disinfection of the root chamber (a common disinfectant is hydrogen peroxide) to prevent root diseases.
- High levels of moisture within the growing system can lead to bacteria or other unwanted growth
