BIOPONICS: A STRANGE HYBRID
B
ioponics is a strange hybrid of
hydroponics and organics—two
approaches to gardening that are
typically thought of as opposites.
Hydroponics is the practice of growing plants with a neutral substrate, or
with just the plant roots bathing in
a nutrient solution, whereas organic
farming relies on soil as the primary
source of nutrients for plants. I managed to combine these methods in
2005 when I created bioponics, which
involves the use of a certified-organic
nutrient in a hydroponic solution
along with a substrate, or even just
bare roots. With bioponics, it is possible to grow organic produce using
hydroponic technologies.
Organic vs. Mineral Nutrients
Understanding how a bioponic system
works begins with an examination of
the main differences between organic
and mineral nutrients. For this explanation, assume that the food source
absorbed by the plant is the exact same
in both cases. When a mineral salt is
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Maximum Yield USA | October 2015
dissolved in water, it dissolves in the form of an ion
(an element with an electrical charge) that is able to
be taken up by the plant
immediately. In an organic
nutrient formula, the same
mineral is enclosed inside
an organic molecule. For
the mineral to become
available to the plant, the
organic molecule needs to
be broken down by bacteria
or fungi into ions that the
plant can absorb.
Soil decomposition is
carried out by microorganisms that are
Wild strawberries grown using bioponics.
constantly present. Plants
complete their diet by
with chemicals. In a hydroponic
absorbing minerals coming from
system, when a grower wants to add
the decomposition of rocks, also
organic matter, even in liquid form,
dissolved in water in the form of ions.
to the nutrient solution as a source
To reproduce nature, a hydroponic
for plant food, they must replicate
grower has to use only two sources of
the same process that takes place
plant food: natural rock powder and
in soil to break down molecules.
organic matter that was not treated