Erick Johnston Ph.D - Aeroponics Gardening: An easy guide to start your own aeroponics farm at home

Copyright 2020 by Erick Johnston Ph.D

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Contents

Intrdutn

Arn is th ll ultvtn and t a process f grwng crops undd in the r or in a mt wthut using soil. Th principles f rn r bd n the blt of cultivating vgtbl wh rt r nt nrtd n a substratum r l, but in ntnr filled with flwng lnt nutrition. In th containers rt n fnd the bt ndtn rgrdng oxygenation nd mtur. These conditions allow fr bttr plant nutrtn assimilation n a mr blnd w, with consequential ftr dvlmnt f th cultivated lnt. The aeroponic tm more ur-frndl th lnt r ll separated, they are ll suspended n th r and th rt of the lnt r nt n nthng like l or water. Al, th hrvtng f crops ml. Many vgtbl r lk tt, yams, tmt, lttu and some of th leafy vgtbl are bng mmrll cultivated n aeroponic tm.

Arn ffr the possibility t nhn crop rdutn nd dmnh t mrd to traditional frmng method r ltrnt ll mthd f farming. It successfully utlz vr vrtl space fr farming r rdutn f grnhu. Evr vlbl n the grnhu it horizontal r vrtl n b ud for mxmm rdutn f food r r.

Arn

Arn th r f growing lnt n n r r mt nvrnmnt wthut u f l or n aggregate media. Th wrd aeroponic derived frm th Latin wrd r (r) and n mn labour (wrk). Th is n alternative method f l-l ultur in grwth-ntrlld environments. Aeroponic ultur dffr frm both nvntnl hydroponics, aquaponics, nd n-vtr (lnt tu culture) grwng. Nowadays, aeroponics being applied ufull n South Amr nd ttmt are md t ntrdu th technology l in m Afrn untr. In mdrn hrtultur, dffrnt soil-less rdutn techniques uh aeroponics nd NutrntFlm Techniques hv bn dvld. Earlier wrk h hwn good results wth NFT for tt tuber rdutn. Hwvr, tuber initiation was rr in nutrnt solution wthut ld md thn n rumd (.g. perlite r vermiculite). Th tuberization nhbtn f tln immersed n a solution uld b the nun f the lk f mechanical rtn. Th utlztn f rn tm fr tt seed production vr rnt n Europe. Until 10 r g, th u f th technologies w lmtd almost vrwhr in th wrld nd nl some countries such China r Kr wr using thm fr th commercial production f tt ult d .Th aeroponic ultur technique is an optional device f l-l ultur n grwth-ntrlld environments uh greenhouses. This method consists f enclosing th rt system in a drk chamber and supplying a nutrnt solution f mist dv. This w widely ud n hrtulturl species nludng tmt, lttu, uumbr and rnmntl lnt uh hrnthmum r poinsettia. Arn tm fr d rdutn have been tblhd following increased dmnd fr more efficient high quality seed rdutn methods. Arn tm has bn applied ufull in Korea fr tt seed tuber production. Thrfr, aeroponics r r hdn have dld trdtnl hdrn systems fr mn tubr rdutn. Dt nrng ntrt in l l ultur mthd n mmrl hrtulturl production, lttl information available for tt. Arn tm r mr water rur efficient thn hydroponic tm. Anthr remarkable dvntg of the aeroponics th minimal contact between th support structure nd lnt, due t which th unntrnd grwth f th plant is possible. Th rn tm r widely ud for NASA research programs.

U of Aeroponics

Bu aeroponic tm are to use ftr they're built setting the grw lght and um pump timers allows rltvl hands fr growth the thnlg mng nt wider u. Small commercial utft hv found th technology uful fr cutting t nd boosting profits. A Colorado basil farmer h th tm to wrk h day job n tmtrt whl tll providing the hrb t mr than 100 area restaurants. Arn tm cut t lk wtr, frtlzr nd l: Ultimately, ll u nd is th nutrient lutn and th water rurd to mx t. It l rdu rurmnt. Bu of ll th ttrbut f aeroponic grwng, little gu can compete better wth lrgr growers.

Aeroponics h become a fvrt tool mng ru grwr f another vrt of lnt -mrjun. Pot growers hv tkn t grwng ndr in nrng numbers. Mn are fndng tht the thnlg produces higher ld wth l rurmnt. The lk f water needed to grow rnll l mk this method attractive. A single mtur mrjun lnt n rur muh 15 glln f wtr r d [source: Elg Cntr]. Unusually hgh water bills n t ff lw nfrmnt. Pt grwr wh mv thr rtn nd, ll th wh opt fr city grwng, wll find th'v gt mn. Urbn grdnr have fund tht rn ut their needs wll. Sl often r in t, whh mk ung aeroponics a gd growing tn in twn.

Growing fd r n rft nd n apartments, t use nthr example, rvl some bvu dvntg. Grwng n' own fd h become increasingly ttrtv as food r hv increased, but th m fd prices r based around n nvrnmntl threat. Lt u xln: Eh fd tm h a trnrttn t, th munt of mn nd rur ddtd t mvng t frm t r f origin t ur dnnr table. Many nvlvd n the urbn grdnng mvmnt blv tht local fd rdutn ut dwn n both r and environmental impact. It tk a lot of carbon dioxide emissions to mv a grfrut frm Florida t New Yrk; growing food lll ll in a mmunl rn system n n rtmnt buldng reduces th mt drmtll.

Wtr h l bm a nt f ntntn mng humn n the 21st ntur. Abut 70 percent of th water consumed by humans ud fr grultur, nd but 45 percent of that is lt due to hdd irrigation techniques. Arn' u of wtr, n n nld tm tht recirculates t, drtll ut dwn n water consumption by as muh 98 percent.

As more l r brn nt th world, land bm scarcer. Arable land often rtd b leveling frt nd other tm. S r cities, uburb nd xurb. B mbnng th nrd growth of humn activity wth fd production nd th areas instead f reserving rurl r for fd rdutn, humans could drtll rdu thr impact n the nvrnmnt nd llw m rlnd to return to its nturl state. Allowing th areas t nturlz huld let frt rturn, arguably leading t more rbn dxd scrubbed from th air, whh what hld humnt develop and flurh in the first l.

Importance f Aeroponics n Vegetable r

Arn is n improvement n rtfl life urt for nn-dmgng plant support, d grmntn, environmental ntrl, and dr rrgtn thnu tht have been ud fr decades b traditional grulturlt. Exllnt aeration is the mn dvntg of Aeroponics. These techniques hv bn gvn special attention frm NASA; n a mt easier to hndl than a liquid n a zero grvt environment. One f the main ddvntg w expensive. Growing n soil is no lngr a utnbl w to grw fd fr th 7 blln l n th lnt. Increase r yields by 45% t 75%. Outcomes f ung aeroponics system over thr untr parts r mr efficient u f wtr. Almt 99 percent f th wtr is ud. Sn pesticides nd l mtbl frtlzr r not ud, frut nd vgtbl obtained r ur and dnt nd to b washed bfr u. Dlvr nutrnt drtl t th lnt roots, whh rult n a ftr grwth of crops. Frut and vgtbl obtained frm n rn-bd greenhouse are healthy, nutritious, ur, rich, frh nd ttful. Unfrm grwth mng ll r w l brvd [33].Arn b-hrmng ud t grow hrmutl medicine nd the lnt. The thnlg llw fr completed ntnmnt f rmn inside a ld-l flt. Rrt show that th tm is tn tm mr successful thn nvntnl thnu, tissue ultur and hdrn, whh tk lngr nd are l more labour ntnv. Th tm h th ability to nrv water nd nrg. Aeroponics tm u nutrient lutn recirculation hence, a limited munt of wtr used. It mrtvl ffr lwr wtr nd nrg inputs per unt grwng r [15, 43]. Ung aeroponics fr cloning improves rt growth, survival rate, grwth rt nd mturtn tm . Stud hv hwn tht, th mn tubr yield under rn better than when the same material lft to produce tubr undr nvntnl means. Suh results lrl hw that, rn system can b effectively ud fr potato rgtn.

The rn tm tmz rt rtn. Th is true bu th lnt totally undd n r, giving th lnt tm nd root systems t 100% f th vlbl oxygen n the r whh rmt rt grwth. Suh nvrnmnt also gives lnt 100% t th rbn dioxide nntrtn rngng frm 450 t 780 m fr htnth hn, lnt in n rn environment grw faster and brb mr nutrnt than regular hdrn lnt. Th in ln wth Sun. th rn tm nrd tmtl conductance f lf, ntrllulr CO2 concentration, net photosynthetic rate nd hthml efficiency f leaf. Aeroponics mthd f propagation one f th most rd mthd f seed multltn. An ndvdul potato lnt n rdu vr 100 mntubr n a ngl row, as opposed to conventional mthd tht rt approximately 8 dughtr tubr only n the ur f a r while nl 5 t 6 tubr r lnt r produced ung l n th greenhouse n 90 d. Another advantage of rn tm tht of easy monitoring of nutrnt nd H. Arn system rvd r lnt nutrient rurmnt fr th r, thereby, rdung fertilizer rurmnt nd minimizing rk of xv fertilizer rdu moving into th ubtrrnn wtr tbl Arn system also llw th measurement f nutrnt utk over tm undr varying ndtn. All these results lrl show tht, aeroponics is a research tl fr nutrnt utk and opens u possibilities fr th mntrng of lnt health nd optimization of r grown n ld environment. Arn rdutn system is very ffnt, wth lnt tkng u mnml rm. In ntrt with thr thnu such hdrn nd nvntnl system, rn xlt bttr verticalspace fr rt and tuber development. Th environment undr aeroponics kept free from t and d n lnt t lnt ntt rdud hn, plants grow hlthr and ukr thn lnt grwn in a medium. In ddtn, if a lnt bm dd, t is ukl removed frm the lnt urt structure wthut drutng r nftng th thr lnt. A a rult, mn plants n grw t hghr dnt (plants r unit r) thn n th trdtnl frm f ultvtn such hdrn and soil. Th system ln plants in l tm nd reduce numru labour t td wth th other thnu uh as tu ultur thnu. In ddtn, th air-rooted plants r cloned nd transplanted directly in th field wthut a fr f a seedling being prone to wilting and lf l, du to trnlnt hk.