Soil Vs. Hydroponics (Water Edition)

This is a series of alternative and traditional gardening.

Here in the Pacific Northwest we have challenging soil, which should be periodically amended and limed. The easy ways of gardening simply don’t work here. However, without spending too much money, you could build soil out of cellulose found in the house (junk mail, newspapers, phonebooks, etc.) which adds a significant amount of C in the form of hydrocarbons. Also, kitchen scraps, either composted orvermi-composted, which adds N, and some K (potassium)—especially banana peels. Therefore what are left are the vital minerals of plant growth, and you simply need to lime the soil at the end of the year.

However, if you think about the water required in traditional gardens, you’re spending a lot of money, not to mention the environmental impact after a bad snow-pack. So, what is there to remedy this situation? Well, a few things.

1. A true rain garden. A true rain garden is one that does not require watering, and depending on the plant, it could either succeed or fail based on some weather patterns is summer. This is doable, but you’ll need to get rid of your tomatoes, basil plants, greens (until the fall), any water sensitive plant, etc. The benefits of such a garden are the use and knowledge of local plants and local strains. “We” here at “blackberries are for picking” talk about local plants often—most of them “we” like to eat. Our favorite plants can be found in nature. Some of “our” favorite greens come from local places, like the invasive dandelion green, or the local “miners lettuce”. Anyways, you can always alter the topography of the land you have (urban gardening will be discussed later) to better suit some non-native plant’s needs.

2. Amend the soil with compost and other water retaining material. Compost can hold water effectively, although it’s not the best at it. Other water retainers include, peat moss, perlite, vermiculite, hydroton (as a soil cover), coconut coir, and other materials. This is a quick fix and should be integrated with a true rain garden if given the chance. This is a bit more expensive than not dealing with water intensive plants altogether, but more satisfying.

3. Add a bog. This may sound a bit on the strange side, but having runoff go to help water intensive plants is a good idea. The major downside is if mosquitos decide to make it a breeding ground. So, I’d encourage this away from the home, if possible. A trench may suffice in certain conditions.

4. Stop using soil. What if I told you that you could have a system that used 70% less water ⁽¹⁾ than you were using before? Would you believe me? Well, hydroponics does just that, due to the reusing of water. You may know hydroponics through the local news channels, which I might add, are not afraid to smear, or make up, something for ratings. This should not be news, or a good pun. The local news stations actually go out of their way to equate cannabis growing with hydroponics. Hydroponics is not for cannabis. Hydroponics has been around since 1699, when some introverted rich guy* named John Woodward invented it to find what plants needed to survive. Hydroponics is simply: the culture of plants, with added nutrients, in a soilless medium. Since hydroponics is in a contained system, the water can stick around or be recycled. This allows for more efficient use of water. The only loss of water is rare evaporation and transpiration. Therefore, the need to water every day is not present. The only time water is egregiously lost is when you dump out the nutrients, when they get out of balance. (See aquaponics/organic hydroponics for a better solution.) Furthermore, all the plants you enjoy, you can also enjoy in hydroponics.

All sorts of reasons exist for using hydroponics, from higher yield ⁽¹⁾ to a smaller footprint. In the case of water usage, hydroponics wins.

*If you think about it, this is where most scientific progress happens—some introverted person exploring what they think is cool.