Hydroponic gardening is steadily growing in popularity. With reduced quality grocery products and skyrocketing costs, this profit should increase popularity. At its most basic, hydroponics is simply growing plants without soil. This is done in a number of ways, but all include the use of nutrient rich water. There are four types of hydroponics, from simple to complex, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. These types are access and withdrawal, drip, aeroponics, and nutrient film. The two simplest are access and reflux, and drip. It is an ebb and flow system in which the containers are periodically flooded and drained, approximately every three hours. Drip, as it sounds, a continuous low flowing nutrient rich water is stably supplied to the plants. . The other two growing systems are advanced, and should be avoided as far as hydroponic gardening is concerned.
One of the disadvantages of hydroponics is that the systems are difficult to find in brick and mortar stores, and if you can find the supplies, the workers at the store are usually not able to deal with the systems. However, there are a number of very good online providers. The first of which is Aero Garden (http://www.officialaerogarden.com/). This is an aeroponic system, and in addition to what I said a little earlier, this would be the one exception where a beginner would do well with an aeroponic system. The reason is that the Acro Garden is completely self-contained and complete. All you need to do is plug it in and plant. It also includes a built in grow light. This system will handle smaller plants, up to small tomatoes and cost around $150.
Another good place to look is Ecogrow Hydroponic Supplies (http://www.ecogrow.com/). This shop seems to have some of the best prices I’ve found, especially if you look at their 30-50% off section. This outlet sells everything from grow plugs and systems, to grow cameras. As the price of any new hobby can start low, but if you want, you can spend thousands of dollars. As with any new venture, it’s wise to start small and see how things go before you take out a second mortgage for your garden.
By far, my favorite developer is meliogrow Hydro (http://www.bghydro.com/). If you live in the Los Angeles area, you can visit their facility as well. I found a better variety of supplies. In addition, the web site is very informative. If you need help or advice, you can email or call to speak to a live person. They also offer callback service and live online support at certain times of the day. While the prices are slightly higher than some other courses, I feel that their expertise makes up for it.
Hydroponics is a wonderful garden all year round. Imagine producing fresh flowers at your discretion whenever you want! Although it is an initial investment, the cost of saved time should be more than compensated for by the purchase. Besides, did I mention it has tomatoes that also taste like tomatoes?
