We are excited to publish another blog post as part of our newly launched campaign, “Circular Farming in Focus,” where we explore innovative approaches to sustainable food production. This time, we’re keeping the spotlight on hydroponics. After discovering how to start your hydroponic jpurney in our previous blog post, it’s time to take the next step.
In this blog post, Ingo Bläser from aquaponik manufaktur GmbH, a hydroponics expert, shares his insights. Gain valuable advice that can help you successfully implement hydroponic systems, overcome challenges, and enhance your cultivation techniques.
Could you share your background and experience in working with hydroponic systems?
We founded our company, aquaponik manufaktur GmbH, 10 years ago when we learned about hydroponics. Since then, we set up many different cultivation systems and gained a lot of experience with them. Overall, we are very satisfied with how reliable such hydroponics systems are, how productive they are and that we have a working cultivation method for each plant culture.
What are some common challenges beginners face when setting up their first hydroponic system, and what advice would you give to help them succeed?
In the beginning, people often don´t realize how important it is to keep the system running. Since there is no soil to buffer the water, a system can dry out very fast, if there might be any malfunction with a pump.
Another thing is: to make sure that there is always enough aeration in the root zone of the plants. Especially beginners forget that not only the nutrient-rich solution is mandatory but also enough oxygen is crucial for the roots.
If beginners don´t do aquaponics, where the nutrients come from fish faeces, another challenge with hydroponics might be the preparation of the correct nutrient solutions. If the solution contains too many nutrients, it can cause damage to the roots. If there are not enough nutrients in the solution, the plants might suffer from nutrient deficiency.
Have you had any surprising successes or failures while working with hydroponic systems? What did you learn from those experiences?
No, it wasn´t that surprising for us, since a system, which was set up well, works reliably, with a variety of different plants. But we also learned, that even with low amounts of nutrients in the water, the low-consuming plants are still growing well.
What specific crops have you found to be most successful in which hydroponic systems, and why do you think that is?
This depends on where we are located, but we always find suitable plants. Those are mostly the ones which have typical grow forms, like leafy greens or fruity greens. However, there are examples, which might turn out to be not that successful, if the plants build up lumps in the soil, like potatoes, sweet potatoes or arrowroots. Working without soil makes it complicated to cultivate these special plants which usually develop in the soil. But most of all other plants grow well in hydroponics systems. Another exception might be grains like wheat or rye, which need a lot of space since their fruits are so small. Although they would grow in a hydroponics system, they won´t be economically feasible.
Based on your experience, how do you see the future of hydroponics, particularly in terms of its potential to shape sustainable food production and urban agriculture?
Hydroponics helps to save water and nutrients since it’s applied in a closed loop. Since we also do IPM (Integrated Pest Management), we don´t need pesticides and herbicides either. This not only saves money but also enables us, to grow fish and plants in an organic way, without chemical additives and thus, without any harmful emissions.
Furthermore, working in a hydroponics facility is easier and less strenuous, compared with the work in a soil-based culture, since there is no tilling, no weeding and it´s less work, which is done at a comfortable height.
In Conclusion
Hydroponics stands out as a promising approach to sustainable food production, offering efficient use of resources, and the potential for significant yield improvements. With insights from Ingo Bläser, we’ve uncovered practical advice to help beginners navigate challenges and optimise their systems. As urbanisation and the need for sustainable practices grow, hydroponics is poised to play a key role in reshaping agriculture for the future.
Follow our Newsroom as we continue to explore innovative solutions in our “Circular Farming in Focus” campaign.
Add a Comment