Hydroponics what is it all about?

Hydroponics is the method of growing plants without the use of soil, there are many different systems and methods 

of hydroponics that are becoming ever more popular in recent years.How can you grow plants without soil? I hear you,

all ask, well its alot easier than you think. When growing plants in hydroponics your plants get fed directley from 

the nutrient rich water that passes over the roots of your plant. This is not a new concept and plants have been 

grown this way for a very long time. Plants grown by hydroponics tent to grow alot faster and stronger than their

 soil grown counter partsand in addition are much less affected by heat,pest and all other stress factors that could 

influence growth.

Today there are many types of system from the auto pot to the IWS system each having their positives and negatives

 ranging fron cost, ease of use and ease of setting up. The systems can be expensive to buy going right up to

over a thousand pounds, but once you have bought it there are very few running costs e.g. no media to buy every time.

Most are easy to use as they are typically automated syatems, just fill them up with feed and nutrient switch it on, 

set your timers and your away. Setting hydroponics systems up is usualyy very easy aswell. Take the NFT system for

example, a tank with a tray that sits in the topand a pump connecting the two easy job.

Hydroponics is big business today with major wholesalers in the uk having a turn over in excess of fourteen

million pounds a year! In any bodies eyes this is a great deal of money and only goes to show the extent

of the industry, and with over one hundred new hydroponics retailers opening their doors for business last year alone

you know that it is here to stay for a long time to come.

We often hear of tales on the news about chinese gangs using hydroponics in the cultivation of illegal cannabis crops

and to some degree this has got to give the industry a bad name and reputation, but it is not the only face of hydroponics users at all.

Many Uk strawberry farmers use NFT gulley systems to give them bigger stronger plants and in turn bigger yeilds and bigger profits.

I have a friend who actually owns and runs a successful hydroponics shop and he says most of his customers are old men and women

with just a few skin heads to make up the numbers. When i go on holiday i notice hydroponics everywhere for feeding plants in public areas

to save time and money paying a man with a long spray gun.

If you are a serious gardener who has never grown with hydroponics  you really should give it a go, try growing half in soil and half in a system

and see which plants end up producing the most fruit. The results from this test would no doubt speak for themselves.