05/05/2020 | Agriculture and Farming | 8 MINUTE READ

7 Effective Features to Save Money with a Hydroponic Greenhouse

hydroponics pulling plant

When you want to grow plants in an efficient and cost-effective manner, it’s recommended that you do so with the help of a hydroponics greenhouse. A hydroponics greenhouse is a kind of structure that provides you with the ability to grow plants in a controlled environment. These greenhouses consist of systems and technology that are needed for hydroponics growing, which include a growth method that avoids the use of soil and focuses primarily on nutrient-rich water.

There are numerous benefits that come with using a hydroponics greenhouse to grow plants, which extend to maximizing energy use, improving the use of water, being able to avoid using soil, and solving issues created by soil depletion. The exact setup that you use in a hydroponics greenhouse depends on the hydroponics technique you would like to employ. All systems involve suspending crops in a nutrient-rich solution, which ensures better yields while also reducing the amount of pests and diseases that affect the plants. Better yields should help you increase profits and reduce your long-term operating costs.

The many different features of a hydroponics greenhouse that can save you money include:

1. Improved Water Efficiency

woman holding water sprayer

Among the primary benefits of using a hydroponics greenhouse for your plant-growing needs is that doing so will help you obtain improved water efficiency. If you decide to go with a soil-based growing method, you’ll lose a substantial amount of the water that you use because of runoff. Before hydroponics systems were popular, water runoff was considered to be an unavoidable issue with traditional growing techniques. However, the use of hydroponics means that you no longer need to use as much water in order to effectively grow your plants, which should help you keep operating profits high.

When you use hydroponics, you don’t need to plant your crops in the ground or in soil and can instead use water as the primary growing medium. By implementing this system, you should be able to significantly reduce the amount of runoff that occurs. It’s important to understand that the water in a hydroponics system circulates in a wholly closed loop, which makes for a much more efficient growing process that will save you money by reducing your water usage.

2. No Soil or Weeding Needed

green metal garden shovel filled with brown soil

Many people who use hydroponics greenhouse systems to grow their plants enjoy the fact that they don’t need to use any soil to grow crops, which also eliminates the need for weeding. When you plant crops in soil, it’s typical for weeds to grow at a rapid pace, which means that a substantial amount of your gardening time will be spent pulling the weeds out.

By avoiding the use of soil, you will be able to save time and energy that would have otherwise been spent weeding. Since hydroponics systems are closed off and don’t use soil, there isn’t any chance for weeds to get settled in. The time that you save by eliminating the need for weeding can be better spent on making sure that your plants continue to grow and provide good yields.

3. Automate and Reduce Labor

man planting plant labor.jpg

A significant factor in your total costs related to growing plants involves the labor that’s require for a traditional soil-based option. In order to grow a plant from the initial seed to the eventual harvest, a lot of work must go into this process to produce good yields. Whether you need to monitor environmental controls or fight off pests, growing plants of any kind requires a substantial amount of labor.

Likely the best aspect of a hydroponics greenhouse is that it’s possible to automate these tasks, which will allow you to effectively reduce labor while achieving the same or better results. Hydroponics systems provide you with the opportunity to automate room temperatures, humidity levels, and nutrient levels, which ensures that your plants will continue to grow even when you are far away from the greenhouse. Automated systems will note any changes in your greenhouse before making immediate corrections.

4. Fewer Pests & Diseases

brown ants pests diseases

While hydroponics greenhouses are known to be beneficial for getting rid of weeding requirements, they are also great for lessening the amount of pests and diseases that you’ll need to contend with while growing your plants. When using a traditional growing method, likely the most immediate concern is dealing with diseases, pests, and pathogens that can reach and damage the plants. Even something as minor as water runoff can increase the amount of pests and diseases that affect your plants.

A hydroponics greenhouse is considered to be a closed system, which helps to minimize the harmful pathogens that could reach your plants. Since this is a closed system, the exit and entry points for pathogens, diseases, mold, and pests should be difficult to get into. Keep in mind that it’s important that you maintain the right sanitation and cleaning practices between all of your plantings, which should mitigate pest concerns. Overall, you should see serious savings for pest prevention, which will allow you to keep costs down.

5. Grow More Profitable and Reliable Harvests

cash dollar hands

Growing plants in a hydroponics greenhouse can also be much more profitable when compared to growing plants in soil. When you decide to grow plants in soil, you will be limited to plants that grow well in the area you live in. For instance, people who live in cold climates will have many more limitations for what they can grow, which isn’t an issue when using a hydroponics system.

Hydroponics systems don’t depend on exterior conditions, which means that you can grow any kind of plant no matter the current weather conditions in your area. As such, you should be able to grow more profitable and reliable plants that will provide you with high yields. To determine which plants are right for your hydroponics greenhouse, simply choose ones that appeal to you or would provide you with the highest profits.

6. Increased Growth Rate

It’s been proven that plants that are grown in hydroponics systems are able to grow at a faster rate when compared to traditional soil-based methods. In a hydroponics greenhouse, you can directly control the temperature, moisture levels, light levels, and nutrients that your plants receive, which should allow for optimal growth with each plant. While outdoor plants may be in ideal conditions on an occasional basis, hydroponics plants are always kept in ideal conditions.

Growers who focus on using hydroponics systems benefit from the plants no longer needing to waste energy looking for nutrients within the soil that they’re planted in. These plants are able to focus entirely on growing and eventually producing fruits. Ideal conditions invariably cause plants to grow at a quicker rate. When growth rates are effectively increased, you should be able to boost profits as well.

7. Maximize Profitable Space

effective space of hydrponic system plant

Likely the most common difficulty that comes with growing plants is determining how to properly space the plants. If the plants are too close together, they may not have enough room to grow and thrive. On the other hand, placing them further apart heightens the risk that you waste some of the ground space available to you. Hydroponics systems make it easier to maximize profitable space in your greenhouse.

When you use a greenhouse, you’ll find that the space available to you is relatively compact, which means that you will need to make efficient use of the horizontal space in the greenhouse. By getting rid of the wasted space that would typically occur in an outdoor growing area, you should be able to produce bigger harvests with better yields, which will allow you to make more money in the long run.

Start Growing In Hydroponics Today!

greenhouse plant

The benefits of using a hydroponics greenhouse are numerous and should help you save money when compared to the expenses of managing a traditional growing method. The increased growth rates and reduced labor help to ensure that you lower your expenses while also bringing in higher profits. Since you’re able to choose the types of plants you would like to use in your greenhouse, you can select the most profitable plants on the market. By lessening the amount of weeding and pest prevention that needs to be done, you’ll save both time and money that would otherwise be wasted with traditional growing methods.

If you want to get started with a hydroponics greenhouse, the first step you should take is to determine which hydroponics system is right for you, which could be anything from the ebb and flow system to the wick system. Once you identify the best system for your greenhouse, setting the system up should make for a relatively easy process.

Keep in mind that the roots of the plants will need to be supported by some kind of inert medium, which can include clay pellets and perlite. Make sure that you change your nutrient solution every 2-3 weeks. After each growing cycle, your entire hydroponics system should be flushed, cleaned out, and sterilized. As long as you pair your plants with the ideal nutrient-rich solution, you should be well on your way to growing profitable crops.

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Posted by Sensorex on May 5, 2020

Sensorex is a global leader in the design and manufacture of quality sensors for water quality and process applications. The company offers more than 2000 sensor packages for pH, ORP, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, free chlorine, chlorine dioxide, UV transmittance and other specialty measurements, as well as a full line of sensor accessories and transmitters. Its expert technical support engineers solve analytical sensor challenges with custom designs and off the shelf products.

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