SOILLESS CULTIVATION

For years, hydroponics and its perception have gone through several stages of understanding and acceptance within the traditional agricultural culture. This is no exception for the cannabis industry, as today, most, if not all, of the cilantro and lettuce harvested on our island are grown using NFT hydroponics. But what are the differences between the various soilless cultivation techniques?

As far as I know, at least in basic terms, there are three main types of techniques for soilless cultivation: hydroponics, aeroponics, and aquaponics.

Hydroponics consists of growing plants without soil, where the roots are constantly submerged in a nutrient solution that is recirculated periodically by a pump.

Aquaponics is the least familiar to me, and I've never practiced it myself. But in general, it consists of creating a system where the life of fish and the life of plants complement each other, so that the nutrient-rich fish waste feeds the plants, while the plant roots purify the water by removing nutrients.

In hydroponics, generally speaking, it consists of recirculating a nutrient solution for the plants through the roots of the plants, where the plants will be submerged at all times in the nutrient solution. But since it is constantly recirculated and aerated, the roots receive much more oxygen than in soil, and this helps a faster development of the plants.

Within hydroponics, the most widely used method today is known as NFT, short for Nutrient Film Technique. This method involves the constant and uninterrupted recirculation of the nutrient solution, unlike traditional hydroponics which uses timers to turn pumps on and off at different times.

Enrique Dominguez

Head Grower

@earthgiftkike