Hydroponic Lettuce

My friend Kathy and I recently visited Showalter’s Orchard and Greenhouse. We were curious about the Hydroponic Lettuce they had growing and they gave us both some to take home.

Hydroponics is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, in water, without soil. I’d read about this only briefly but found it intriguing so I did some further research.

The Benefits of Hydroponics

Hydroponics is proved to have several advantages over soil gardening. The growth rate on a hydroponic plant is 30-50 percent faster than a soil plant, grown under the same conditions. The yield of the plant is also greater. Scientists believe that there are several reasons for the drastic differences between hydroponic and soil plants. The extra oxygen in the hydroponic growing mediums helps to stimulate root growth. Plants with ample oxygen in the root system also absorb nutrients faster.

The nutrients in a hydroponic system are mixed with the water and sent directly to the root system. The plant does not have to search in the soil for the nutrients that it requires. Those nutrients are being delivered to the plant several times per day. The hydroponic plant requires very little energy to find and break down food. The plant then uses this saved energy to grow faster and to produce more fruit. Hydroponic plants also have fewer problems with bug infestations, fungus and disease. In general, plants grown hydroponically are healthier and happier plants.

Hydroponic gardening also offers several benefits to our environment. Hydroponic gardening uses considerably less water than soil gardening, because of the constant reuse the nutrient solutions. Due to lack of necessity, fewer pesticides are used on hydroponic crops. Since hydroponic gardening systems use no topsoil, topsoil erosion isn’t even an issue. Although, if agricultural trends continue to erode topsoil and waste water, hydroponics may soon be our only solution. Source: Greentrees Hydropnics

We had some in our salad this evening I can report that it tastes like lettuce.