Aeroponics

Aeroponics is perhaps the most sophisticated and hi-tech method to be used in hydroponic gardening. An attempt is made to explain it simply, but before going into that one needs to know what is hydroponics gardening. Researchers and botanists knew that the roots of plants get the nutrients from the soil and that the roots need to breathe also and these air passages are generally provided by earthworms. So they assumed that if the plants were given a soil free environment and did get the required nutrients and aeration they would grow much faster give a better yield and reduce the risk of being hit by plant diseases. So with this goal in mind they decided to try out their theories and the field of hydroponic gardening came into being.

Different methods are currently in use and each one of them has their advantages and disadvantages. In the areoponic method like in the nft technique the roots are suspended in the growing tray and a mist of nutrient solution is sprayed on the open roots after every few minutes. The worst that happens in this method is that the spray pump or timer goes out of order and as the roots are freely suspended they are going to dry out very rapidly and die. So to avoid this proper backups have to be in place.

To build an areoponic system one would need a deep channel and this should preferably be of plastic. As metal would rust and wood would rot over time a plastic container is the best solution. This trough would then need to be painted black to stop light reaching the roots now a mist sprayer or sprayers would need to be installed in the trough which should be connected by a pump to the main nutrient reservoir tank. The plants are placed in open pots through which the roots can grow in a growing tray. As the tray would not have to float on the solution any material can be used for this. Holes to contain the plant holders would need to be cut in the tray and the plants placed in them. The timer would start the pump which would run long enough for the roots to get covered in the solution and would then stop. After a certain time the pump would start again and the cycle would be repeated. This is a continuous start stop method in which the plants roots are sprayed at pre-determined intervals. Now should anything go wrong the roots are going to dry out resulting in the plants dying. Also the placement of the spray dispensers is very important as the root growth has to be taken into account and they should receive a continuous all round spray. If this is not done one portion of the roots would dry up and die.

The major draw back to this method is that the nutrient is sprayed and is not being recycled. So this is quite a costly method. Using organic nutrients in the areoponic system can cause the spray dispenser nozzles to clog and this can be disastrous. Some vendors profess that by using organic nutrients the plant growth is better however too much or too little can result in the loss of some favorite plants. In the other hydroponic techniques one can check the drainage pipes to ensure there is no clogging however there is no such safe guard in this method. Therefore one is dependent on everything working well. Because of the use of on off pumps and timers this is really a very tricky method of doing any cultivation as the slightest technical flaw would result in disaster.

That is why this is not a very popular technique in hydroponics also it is quite costly.