Eat organic and healthy by cultivating it indoor

Health is equal to wealth goes the saying and quite rightly so. Considering the amount of pollution in the air and water and pesticides and GMOs in food, health is quite difficult to maintain. Anything pure is hard to come by. This is the reason why more people are becoming aware of the purity of any substance. Organic food and even clothing are demanded by people nowadays. Under such duress, people have taken up the responsibility of cultivating certain fruits and vegetables in the limited space available of their homes. Indoor farming is the newest effort to reach out to healthy food and lifestyle.

Benefits of possessing your own garden

Planting your own veggies has a number of benefits that only someone who has can understand. Here’s a quick summary of how you can actually benefit from this:

• Fresh food from your own garden is a definite kick that you will surely enjoy. You can plan your meals according to what is being grown in your garden. An extra sprig of mint or a redder tomato can only add more flavor and body to the meal.
• Gathering veggies from your own garden will reduce the shopping bill a bit. You will not have to buy stale vegetables from the market either. So, if you rotate the growth of the veggies according to your preference then you can eat almost any vegetable of your choice.
• The vegetables that you will be growing indoors will not be a part of the mass production and hence free from pesticides and insecticides of any kind. People are buying pesticide-free food at a higher rate from the market when they can easily produce the same in their homes. Fresh and organically grown produce tastes much better than the fruits and vegetables that you buy from the market.
• Kids are encouraged to love nature and growing their greens when they see parents actively cultivating vegetables in their indoor gardens. A relation with nature is very important at this stage when deforestation and global warming is creating a devastating effect on the earth.
• Gardening is often considered as a therapy that helps in beating stress and bringing inner peace. So, you are likely to feel very calm and composed once you start working on your green thumb.
• Most people are dependent on the market produce but in case of a strike or delay, you will be completely self-sufficient. Indoor plants grow much faster because they are growing in a controlled atmosphere, away from all the factors that can cause a loss in the quantity of the produce. Newer and advanced farming technologies are now available for indoor cultivation. You will have to depend on traditional conditions like soil and temperature for growing food.

How to grow your own food?

Creation has a satisfaction of its own. Women understand the concept better than men but when it comes to farming everyone can get a taste of the peace and content from watching the food grow every day and finally make its way to your plate. In the limited space of a city, you can still grow your own vegetable garden even if you don’t have a terrace. Yes, hydroponics makes this possibility a success.

Hydroponics is a new science which allows you to grow plants, fruits, and vegetables without soil or sunlight. The plants are grown in a mixture of nutrition filled water under LED lights. If you have a smaller set up of the hydroponic system then you can use sunlight by placing the unit in a place where it receives sunlight all through the day. In the night, however, the LEDs will have to be lit for the growth process to be continued. In hydroponics, plants grow at an increased rate because the process is not dependent on natural or traditional conditions.

Why hydroponics?

Hydroponics is totally dependent on conditions that can be controlled. Therefore, there is no need to depend on seasons in any way. You can practically grow any food at any time of the year and enjoy its goodness and nutrition. A constant supply of fresh greens that your family loves can be maintained all through the year. In the case of traditional farming, all the vegetables and fruits are based on the seasons. Eating frozen ones was the only way to avail off-season food items.

With hydroponics, the growth of fruits and vegetables improves to a great extent. The plants are grown in a solution that contains all the nutrients required for their proper growth. So, the plants do not have to work to get the nutrients from the depth of the soils. It is easily available to them. Also, they receive sunlight all around the day since the plants will grow even when placed in LED lights. In traditional farming methods, the growth in plants stops when there is no sunlight. So, the time required for harvesting is almost half when plants are grown using the hydroponic system.

Different types of hydroponic systems

Hydroponic systems can be of different types according to space and convenience.

Deepwater culture:

This kind of hydroponic system uses a reservoir method and is among the easiest methods available. The roots are submerged in a nutrient solution and oxygenated with the help of an air pump. The light should not be allowed to penetrate the system because it can cause the growth of algae.

Nutrient Film Technique:

In the Nutrient Film Technique, the nutrient solution flows continuously over the roots of the plants. The set up is slightly tilted so that the solution continues to flow in accordance with gravity. It lets the roots absorb oxygen directly from the air rather than the solution. Since the plants receive a lot of oxygen they tend to grow faster.

Drip system:

This is a simple hydroponic system which allows the plants to feed on the nutrient solution slowly. It uses draining mediums like peat moss, rock wool, coconut coir, etc. The system tends to clog but if that can be prevented it is a great one for growing of crops.

Take away:

Organic growing is not difficult and is fast becoming a part of city life. All you need is an effective indoor farming system like hydroponics.