What are the advantages of soil-less gardening?
In addition to water and carbon dioxide in the air, plants need nutrients, trace elements, and oxygen to be supplied to their roots for photosynthesis to occur. This is true whether the plants are grown in an inert medium or in soil. Plants essentially “don’t care” where the nutrients are coming from as long as they are available in sufficient levels and in proper form for uptake by the roots. If the nutrient solution contains the right proportion of inorganic compounds and trace minerals to optimally support photosynthesis and plant growth, the plants will be afforded what they need for growth and at the same time their roots will be maintained in a moist or wet root environment. In short, soilless gardening lets the gardener control plant nutrition, oxygen delivery and root moisture – difficult to obtain when growing plants in soil.
