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Most gardeners who garden in soil are curious about hydroponics and somewhat fascinated by the idea. But very few actually make the leap to gardening using hydroponic techniques.So let’s have a look at some of the pros and cons of each method of gardening.First, let’s look at the advantages (or pros) of gardening in soil.Gardening in soil is low cost – or is it?
Gardening in soil is the traditional method of gardening; it’s the way my grandparents did it.
Anyone can garden in the soil.
There is a connection with the earth when you dig in it, getting your hands dirty.Now let’s look at a few disadvantages.The earth must be tilled or in some cases amended because the existing soil is unsuitable for gardening.
Due to depletion of soil nutrients, the resulting crop is unpredictable at best.
Soils may be contaminated.
Traditional gardening in soil usually involves a lot of bending, kneeling and thus can aggravate back problems or make it impossible for older folks who have mobility challenges.
Garden pests can be a real problem – either stealing your whole crop or munching holes in tomatoes and leafy greens. Those pests can come in walking, crawling, slithering and flying forms. And although all the gardening books say that roly-poly bugs are not destructive in a garden, I beg to differ. I have really voracious ones in mine!
Growing things in soil is messy and involves dirt and sometimes mud.
Weeds can be a real problem.
Watering can be a challenge. Too much rain can wipe out the garden; too little can wipe it out also. Watering may be cost prohibitive and sometimes banned during very dry weather.
Some people just don’t have a “green thumb” and their plants seem to wilt and die no matter what they do.Now let’s explore the pros and cons of gardening with hydroponics.First, let’s look at the advantages of hydroponics gardening.The garden can be at your ideal height so you don’t have to bend, kneel or crawl on all fours to garden.
When you use a high quality nutrient solution for your hydroponic garden, you can be confident that your plants are getting all the nutrients they need to produce high quality produce – thus your body will have access to those nutrients via the plants.
Problems with pests are minimal.
There is no weeding necessary.
Vegetables and greens grow faster than they do with conventional gardening methods.
There is no “mess” or “mud” involved. Vegetables come out clean.
Gardening can be done just about anywhere, even in your basement or on a porch.
You can garden any time of year.
You have control of water and you can grow an equivalent amount of produce on much less water.
Hydroponics is an easy DIY project.
This gardening method is almost foolproof. In other words, anyone can garden with hydroponics and get a successful harvest.There are also some disadvantages to hydroponics.The initial setup may be expensive. However, most of the cost is incurred one time at the beginning and can be reused many, many times.
Setting up a hydroponic system may seem complicated.
Some people don’t like the idea of “buying” nutrients.
Some may object to eating something they consider to be produced with chemicals. However, there are many organic nutrient options that can be used in hydroponics.So let’s recap; both growing in soil and growing with hydroponics have their advantages and disadvantages. The more adventurous you are, the more fun you can have with either method of gardening. You must decide for yourself but I hope this information has given you food for thought.