Health, Wealth, Wisdom & Fun

Link: http://www.billboardmama.com/hydroponic-gardening-misconceptions-p-470.html

Hydroponic gardening (growing plants without soil) is a growing but largely misunderstood practice. Some view it with suspicion since they associate it with growing illegal plants; some see it as an overreaching of science; some see it merely as a novel-but-expensive hobby. In reality, however, hydroponics is a system that several hobbyists, gardeners, farmers and even nations utilize to grow strong and healthy plants. To clear things up, let us discuss the common fallacies.

The first misconception is that hydroponics is used to grow controlled substances in secret rooms. Internet sources don't seem to help since they associate the concepts of hydroponics and illegal activity. But that's precisely because those spreading that information know how to use the Internet-not because every hydroponic garden is an illegal one. Statistics suggest that only a tiny percentage of hydroponic gardens grow these controlled substances. A large number of plants and vegetables do very well in hydroponic environments, and there are many good, honest gardeners using hydroponics to do just that. For instance, in Canada and Holland, farmers are making use of hydroponics to grow food on a larger scale. Thus, saying that hydroponics is bad because of its connection to illegal substances is the same as saying that soil is bad. In other words, farming, whatever the method, is still farming - and hydroponics is just one of the alternatives.

Second, many people believe that hydroponic gardening is unnatural or artificial because it foregoes the use of soil. The truth is, there are no genetic or chemical alterations in hydroponics, and no natural processes are disrupted. All the normal ingredients for growing things in nature are supplied to the plants just the same as if they were planted in soil: light, water, nutrients, and an anchor for the roots. It is just that soil, which acts as a medium for all of these ingredients except light, is replaced by other root-anchoring methods; and nutrients, water and light are supplied in ways that optimize health and growth. Hydroponic plants, in fact, can be healthier and stronger than those grown conventionally-and without the use of additives. The process is more complex, but the result is still the natural production of plants and food.

Others erroneously believe that hydroponic gardening is merely an expensive hobby-a fad of sorts that has no real point. While hydroponics is indeed a fun pastime (and a growing business) for hobbyists, it can also be very useful. With hydroponics, growing plants and food in almost any setting becomes a possibility - regardless if it is winter, in the polar regions, in contaminated soils and even in space. More significantly, this alternative method in farming makes the yield and quality of food-bearing plants better - as a result, food is made readily available to third-world nations and in places where famine is rampant.

So maybe, there's more to hydroponic gardening than meets the eye; there is absolutely more to it than these common misconceptions might lead us to believe.