Hydroponics farming is becoming more popular but some people often wonder if hydroponics is better than conventional farming. There are certainly advantages and benefits to both hydroponic farming and conventional farming but when compared to each other there may be more advantages of hydroponic farming over conventional farming.

See the various reasons why hydroponics may be more beneficial below:

You Don’t Need Soil

One of the biggest advantages of hydroponics over conventional farming is that you don’t need soil or land to grow your garden or plants. This can be a huge benefit especially for people living in space-limited environments like apartments or living quarters that do not have any backyard or extra outdoor space.

In spite of this limitation, you can still grow your plants and have a garden by utilizing suitable hydroponic systems and methods.  Hydroponics can also be used in situations where the land conditions are poor and can hardly support a healthy garden or plant growth. Hence, you can consider hydroponic gardening or farming if you don’t have adequate land or have soil with poor conditions that cannot support healthy plant growth.   

Plants are likely to Grow Faster

There is a lot of research evidence that shows that plants that are grown using hydroponic methods tend to perform better than the same plants that are grown with soil. For instance, this research study performed at the University of Nevada and published in the International Journal of Agricultural Extension showed that strawberries grown with hydroponic methods produced a higher fruit yield and had a higher plant survival rate than soil grown strawberries.

Another study that compared plants that are grown using a hydroponic system and soil based system showed that plants that are grown using hydroponic systems tend to grow faster than plants grown with soil based system.  

One of the reasons for this difference is the challenges with nutrient availability for plants in soil. Nutrients may be inadequate or not available in the correct amounts in the soil which may result in poor growth outcomes; whereas nutrients are usually available in the correct amounts for plants in hydroponic systems and plants tend to grow under controlled conditions in most hydroponic systems. 

It Can Be Done Anywhere

Another big advantage of hydroponic farming over conventional farming is that hydroponic farming or gardening can be done anywhere since you don’t need soil to grow your plants. NASA is already researching how to grow plants and vegetables in space so that astronauts can grow their food whenever they are at the space station.

And guess what method they are using – hydroponics. If you don’t have access to soil or maybe you are living in a high-rise apartment building with limited space or you are living in a single-family house with a large backyard; it doesn’t really matter. You can still grow your garden or plants using hydroponic methods.

You Don’t have to Wait for Farming Seasons

Farming is typically characterized by seasons where you typically wait for the winter to be over before plowing your farmland and planting your crops in the spring, and then nurturing it and harvesting in the summer. Whatever happens, in most cases you will have to harvest your crops latest in the fall before the winter sets in.

This is not the case with hydroponic farming or gardening. There are no seasons to adhere to and you can plant, grow and harvest your crops or gardens at any time without adhering to any seasonal cycles. 

Ability to Control Environmental and Nutritional Conditions

In most situations farmers are often depending on environmental conditions like rain, sunlight, air etc. to grow their crops as well as the natural characteristics of the soil like water retention, soil PH, macro and micronutrients etc. It is very difficult or expensive to control these natural occurring characteristics of soil.

However, in hydroponic farming, you can have complete control of the environmental and nutritional conditions under which you are growing your garden. You can setup systems to regulate the temperature of the environment where you are growing your hydroponic garden, and measure and provide the exact quantity of your plants nutritional requirements.

Ability to Grow Crops in Areas Where it’s Almost Impossible to Farm (Desert)

If you love farming or growing a garden, the climatic or weather conditions of the place where you live can no longer be an excuse or hindrance for you. People who live in arid or desert environments may not be able to farm easily because of higher costs and a higher likelihood that crops will fail because of harsh environmental conditions.

On the other hand, these environmental issues will not be a barrier because you can eliminate such risks or challenges with hydroponic farming in deserts since you don’t need soil and very minimal water is required when compared to conventional farming. 

Less Use of Water

One of the short comings of farming when compared to hydroponic farming or gardening is the weak or lack of efficiency in the utilization of resources. For instance, a large percentage water used for irrigation on farms is often not taken up by plants and it is lost due to evaporation and drainage. 

Hydroponic farms or gardens on the other hand use less water and excess water that is not taken up by plants can be recycled and used again. Evaporation can also be controlled or eliminated completely by covering water reservoirs or using hydroponic systems that prevent water evaporation.  

No Challenges/Issues with Weeds or Herbicides

Any farmer will tell you that one of the annoying issues to deal with when growing crops is weed control. Weeds compete with crops for nutrients and resources which often lead to poor crop yields when weeds are not removed or controlled. In most cases, the easiest method of weed control is the use of herbicides which can lead to increased crop production costs with other potential dangers of herbicide use.

Conversely, this is not the case for hydroponic farming and gardening. There are no weeds to control and that saves you time and other resources that could have been used for weed control. This allows hydroponic plants to grow quickly and often produce better quality yields since there are no weeds to compete with the plants for resources.  

Pesticides May Not be Needed

Pesticides and conventional farming go together since pesticides are the one of the easiest ways to protect crops from pest invasion either on the farm or during post-harvest storage.  

However, pesticides are almost not necessary for use in hydroponics farming and gardening. There are other better and safer methods of protecting plants in hydroponic farms and gardens from pest invasion. Equipment like hydroponic grow tents, hydroponic grow boxes and greenhouse tents (Amazon product link) etc. can be used to grow plants in a safe environment and protect them from pests without using pesticides.

Efficiency and Waste Elimination

Conventional farming practices and methods have a lot of inefficiencies in resource utilization and in most situations you don’t have any control over crucial factors that can play a huge role in your outcomes or results. For instance, water utilization is very inefficient because of run-offs and evaporations; and you don’t have control over the weather which can negatively impact your farming activities.

Hydroponics farming and gardening on the other hand can be very efficient in resource utilization, and you can control most of the factors that play a crucial role in your farm outcomes. For instance, water can be recycled, and you can control most factors like temperature, PH, nutritional requirements etc. that are required for optimal yields.

Ability to Eliminate or Manage Runoff Effectively

Water runoff from irrigation and rainfall on conventional farmlands can wash away fertilizers and other nutrients that are needed by the plants. In addition to depriving plants of their nutritional requirements, water runoff is also linked to a number of ecological issues, one of which is algae blooms. This is a threat to water habitats and it often leads to loss of water species (both fresh water and salt water species) among other damages.

Algae blooms can be managed very effectively or completely eliminated with hydroponics farming. The water solution used for providing plants with their nutrition can be prepared using exact amounts of nutrients needed for optimal plant growth and performance. Water testing is usually done periodically to ensure that there is no nutritional imbalance in the water solution. Another technique known as flushing or safe hydroponic dumping can be used by small scale hydroponic growers who may not be able to afford or carryout comprehensive water testing of their hydroponic solutions.

This helps in preventing run-offs that may lead to other issues in the environment.   

Potential for Higher Returns and Profits for Growers

Another great advantage that hydroponic farming has over conventional farming is the ability to produce more food with the same space as conventional flat farms. Plenty, a hydroponic farming startup in San Francisco has clearly demonstrated this by producing more food with a 2 acre space than a conventional farm on 720 acres. This means the farm can produce more food and make more money with less space.

Of course, these vertical hydroponic farms are using artificial intelligence and innovative technology to control grow conditions and systems. However, their results have demonstrated that sometimes hydroponic farming can produce better outputs than conventional farming and this can be replicated with the same results in most cases.

Better Results in Managing Disease Pathogens

It is more difficult to control plant diseases in conventional farming than in it is in hydroponic farming. Plant disease pathogens on a typical farm can spread easily in a way that is often difficult to spot and control. Some of these may spread through soil where pathogens may be inactive until it infects a plant. Controlling these pathogens on a conventional farm is also often more difficult to do with less desirable results.

Disease pathogens may also afflict hydroponic farms but may be way easier to identify and control. One of the control measures may just be to dispose the water solution, disinfect and clean out the water reservoir or growing area before using it again. This may be a demanding task but it is way more effective and the results are often better off than the outcomes in controlling the spread of disease pathogens in conventional farming.     

Potential to Control Certain Plant Characteristics

Controlling certain conditions to influence plant characteristics may not really be a priority in conventional farming but it is something that can be done. However, this may not be an easy thing to do and the outcomes or results may not be worth the effort.

Conversely, many hydroponic growers can manipulate conditions in the plant environment to produce desirable plant characteristics like leaf size, leaf color, plant height etc. One of the common techniques often used is the utilization of different light colors to induce desired plant attributes. For instance, the use of blue light is common for inducing compact growth in plants and reducing the vertical space requirement for growth.

Less Messy and Cleaner

Let’s face it, conventional farming has a lot of dirt involved and you need to be comfortable working with soil dirt to like doing it. Cleaning mud and dirt from your tools and equipment can also be an annoying task to do all the time.

On the other hand, hydroponic farming or gardening does not involve dirt at all. It is a lot less messy than working with dirt. Most of what you do is related to water and plants. So if you are the type of person that doesn’t like working with dirt, hydroponic farming or gardening may be a good option for you to consider.

Less Amount of Work Involved

Just like the comparison above, conventional farming involves a lot more work and it is more demanding than hydroponic farming or gardening.

In conventional farming, you will have to plough the soil or prepare the soil beds, plant the seed, and nurture the plants through growth to harvest.

However, in hydroponic farming or gardening, other preparatory processes are involved before planting your seedlings in the hydroponic solution, but this is less work when compared to conventional farming.    

Shorter Learning Curve with High Chance to Replicate Results

For many people, hydroponics is was easier to learn than and practice than trying to learn conventional farming. One of the reasons may be because of access to land for soil farming. Most people who would like to grow a garden may not have space or land for this use for this purpose. This can affect the ability to learn effectively if you cannot put your knowledge to practice.

One the other hand, hydroponics farming or gardening can be learned and practiced easily since you don’t need soil or land to do so. You can easily setup a hydroponic grow box in a corner of your house or on your patio and you can be able to learn, practice what you have learnt and teach others or scale up your efforts relatively easily.

Reduced Likelihood of Crop Contamination

Food contamination is often linked to organic or animal manure. There are instances where animal manures may not have been applied on the farm but animal pest may have contaminated the crops with their droppings before or after harvesting them.

This is very unlikely to happen with hydroponic farming or gardening since there is no organic manure involved in hydroponic growing systems. The likelihood of other sources of food contamination is also significantly reduce since most hydroponic farms or gardens are grown in an environment that can be easily secured and protected to shield animal pests away from the plants or crops.

Conclusion

There you have it.These are some of the advantages of hydroponics over conventional farming and I hope this will you to make your decision on which method to use in growing your garden or farm.