The term hydroponics is derived from two Greek words hydro (meaning water) and ponos (meaning labor). It is a sustainable system of agriculture that allows for harvesting without the need for soil or land.
This system can be set up in various locations, including outdoors, under greenhouses, and vertically. To install it, you will need a structure to hold the water, a structure for the plants, a tank, and a pump that will recirculate the water throughout the system.
In this article we will talk about what is hydroponics, its advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages of hydroponics
- With all the nutrients and water they always require within reach, the roots need less space to grow.
- Hydroponic cultivation has shorter cycles, growing between 30 and 50 percent faster than traditional cultivation, therefore, higher production in less time and space.
- Compared to traditional cultivation, hydroponic cultivation achieves savings of up to 50%, allowing a much more sustainable use of water, since it has a circuit that reuses water once and again
- The farmer has greater control of the nutrients needed by the plant as it is not always in the soil, so that the product with hydroponics is of a higher quality.
- Although a hydroponic crop is more expensive, the price of the products is very similar to those grown in soil.
- It has fewer problems with pests and diseases because it is not grown in soil, and it saves significantly on fertilizers and does not use agrochemicals.
- Hydroponics reduces the risk of erosion, and all the limitations related to soil quality.
- It's less dependent on the type of climate in which it is located, and therefore it is possible to have a year-round production.
Disadvantages of hydroponics
- Mainly, there is the high cost of the facilities needed to have a hydroponic crop, BUT the investment is recovered.
- It requires more rigorous irrigation control.
- The plants are much more sensitive to the variation that may appear in the places where they are.
- It requires more technical knowledge and much more attention and care.
Agriculture has an enormous impact on the land, representing the main and largest proportion of human land use. Therefore, hydroponics is presented as the best alternative to the future of food production.
At hyfood we are a company committed with the environment, that' s why we have 6 hectares of hydroponic cultivation producing habaneros. Our substrate is of the highest international quality, it is inert coconut fiber imported from Sri Lanka, it is encapsulated in a plastic bolis that works as a pot.
The substrate has placed inside the greenhouses and is irrigated with pure water several times to generate an adequate swelling of the fiber and subsequent washing of salts from it.
Everything starts with the, transponte in the coconut fiber, day by day water is supplied with salts, which are dosed from the fertigation room, the water that is supplied to our crop contains salts for the needs of the plant.
Inside the greenhouse we have a system of and spacer, whose main function is to retain all the drained water volume to support the weight of the bolis together with the plant.
Using the hydroponic production system, we achieve production of premium habanero peppers with the highest quality.
Discover here our hydroponic greenhouses
