Aeroponics for the Indoor Home Garden

Aeroponics is the process of growing plants without soil in an environment of air and mist. It differs from hydroponics in which water is the growing medium. Aeroponics has been used to grow plants in space in NASA experiments. And now, with the advent of home aeroponics systems, it is also an option for the home indoor garden.

A number of companies produce small aeroponics units suitable for home indoor use. The most commercially available will grow from 3 to 7 plants and are complete with grow lights and a water pumping system. Seed units available for the system include salad greens, culinary herbs, tomatoes, strawberries and flowers. In addition, they can be used to grow other seeds of the gardener's choice.

The aeroponic garden is not just for ornamental and hobby purposes, but can have a practical aspect. In areas with harsh winters and limited outdoor growing seasons, an aeroponics unit can provide a family with fresh salad greens, vegetables and strawberries throughout the winter. It is also useful for those living in rural or isolated areas where the selection of fresh greens and vegetables in the grocery stores is quite limited.

The plants in the aeroponic garden are grown using water in which nutrient chemicals are mixed. The chemicals provided with the AeroGarden, a commonly used aeroponics unit, qualify as organic, so that the plants grown using it are also organic, if not quite natural. For the person who prefers organic salads but cannot buy them locally, the aeroponics garden is a livesaver.

For the more ornamental-oriented gardener, flowers also can be grown aeroponically. Plants can also be started aeroponically for later transplant into an outdoor garden.

A more unusual use for aeroponics is to grow some green plants for the family milk goat during winter. Salad plants will do fine, and also the herb thyme, in small quantities, is a good healthy supplement to a goat diet. Housepets may also benefit from a bit of greens in their diet, but do beware of feeding herbs unless you are sure that the herb in question is edible by the pet-species involved.

The downside of aeroponics is that drug criminals have discovered it and are using it to grow illegal drug plants. If you end up having a quite large array of aeroponics units, you may unfortunately draw the attention of police looking for drug criminals. This is why it's best not to buy too many aeroponics units or grow-bulbs at one shot.

Aeroponics gardening is a high-tech space age method that is now within reach of the average person. It may not replace the outdoor garden, but it is a wonderful wintertime substitute and will provide you with fresh salads and lovely flowers even when the ground is covered with snow and ice.

References

Aeroponics - Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroponics

NASA - Progressive Plant Growing is a Blooming Business - http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/technologies/aeroponic_plants.html

Home of the AeroGarden from AeroGrow - http://www.aerogrow.com/