Growing a garden isn’t new but the plant marijuana has changed and introduced new alternative ways of growing plants. These new ways of growing can and most times outperform growing in soil and doesn’t take any more time to manage. These Alternate methods are:
- Aquaponics
- Hydroponics
- Aeroponics
Most people have heard about hydroponics and may understand how it works or may not. But it is fascinating how water, nutrients and minerals is all a plant needs to grow along with sunlight or artificial light. Basically all three systems have one thing in common and that is the movement of water. I personally have found that keeping the water moving at all times keeps the water in a healthy state. No matter which system is used the moving water is important. One great benefit all three offers are the conservation of water compared to growing in soil. During the summer months my outdoor aeroponic system would use up to four gallons a day. In soil I would use at least 20 gallons a day.
I discovered growing with aeroponics a couple of years ago and when I saw that NASA invented it for growing plants in space it had my attention. The system they developed was very complicated as you can imagine due to zero gravity but to take their concepts and apply them here on Earth with gravity was very easy to do. I made my own DIY Aeroponic system and the results were and still are amazing.
Aquaponics has to be the coolest way to alternative growing and possibly the best sustainable method. The system not only grows plants but it also grows fish. By feeding the fish the bio system delivers the waste from the fish to the plants where the water gets filtered and returns as fresh clean water to the fish. For a large scale eco growing system this maybe what a future farmer may use.