Home Hydroponics: The Basics

Interested in growing your own organic produce? Are you living in an apartment or urban city? Home hydroponics is an easy way to get the farm to table experience right in your own home. In this article, we will go through the benefits of home hydroponics and introduce the Urban Farm Tower for easy home gardening and growing.

What is home hydroponics?

The word hydroponics means ‘working water’. It is a form of gardening that uses no soil, but grows plants in a solution of water and nutrients. A hydroponic system can grow plants and vegetables faster than growing outdoors in soil. Plants grown in hydroponic systems often yield more, require less space, and use less water than when with conventional gardening. Additionally, a hydroponic system is also an ideal solution for apartment dwellers and urbanites with in urban farming, but do not have an outdoor plot and want home-grown organic produce. 

Hydroponic farm towers are able to optimize plant growth. Providing fresh, organic produce while minimizing water usage, space, transport and pesticides. 

What are the advantages of home hydroponics? 

No soil 

Access to soil can be difficult, especially in an urban city like Singapore. Additionally, there is also a finite availability of soil on which we can grow crops. Climate change and destructive farming practices can cause soil erosion, one of the biggest threats to food security. In short, hydroponics provides an alternative, being a soilless solution that is suitable for use anywhere, particularly in big cities.   

Reduced water usage 

Hydroponic systems can use up to 10x less water than traditional soil-based systems due to the recirculation of water. To illustrate, this offers a huge advantage as you do not need to worry about the large amounts of water needed for irrigation in soil-based farming. 

Less space 

Uniquely suited for vertical farming, hydroponic systems allow maximum usage of space, making it an option for growing crops in city homes, apartments, or balconies. Furthermore, in hydroponic systems plant roots do not need to spread out in search of nutrients like they do in soil-based farming. The roots are suspended directly in a nutrient-rich solution. Therefore, this leads to being able to grow more crops closer together, saving space. 

Reduced need for herbicides and pesticides 

Due the control that comes with home hydroponics, and the soilless environment, there is minimization insects and disease. Therefore, there is a reduced need for chemical herbicides and pesticides. This way you can ensure that your produce is as safe, clean and as healthy as it can be. 

What is an aeroponic system? 

An aeroponic system is a more complex hydroponic method in which plant roots are suspended in air and misted regularly with water and nutrient solution. 

Traditional farming, by definition, is hard labor. The Solar-Alga Urban Farm Tower makes things easy by eliminating weeding, digging and making watering easier as it is includes an internal reservoir catchment that holds sufficient water for your plants for 12 hours. Furthermore, it also eliminates the need for chemical pesticide and herbicide, ensuring clean and healthy produce. The first certified organic system, the Solar-Alga nutrient system uses seaweed, containing biological activators that act directly on plant roots. Using vertical farm towers, anyone can grow organic produce from the comfort of their own homes, without needing previous agricultural experience.

Home Hydroponics System Singapore

The Urban Farm Tower is high-yield and low effort, combining both hydroponic and aeroponic systems. It is designed for the urban home- combining minimalist aesthetic with modern Agrotechnology. The roots are drip irrigated and oxygenated via the aeroponic technique, ensuring optimal root oxygenation. With the ability to grow 45 crops in just 0.14 square metres, with built-in wheels for easy movement. The result? A guaranteed organic harvest – a Farm to Table experience right in your own home. 

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