Citizen Extra: Hydroponic Gardening

Hydroponics is a radical method of farming where plants grow suspended in nutrient solutions, without soil, and the name basically means working with water.

With hydroponics, you can grow various types of crops, including those for animals like fodder and for humans such as vegetables like tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, and collard greens.

Yes, hydroponic systems are at least ten times more efficient in water usage compared to conventional farming methods.

With hydroponics, crops like barley can grow to about 30 centimeters in 5 to 7 days, whereas it would take several weeks using conventional farming.

No, you don't need chemical fertilizers for hydroponics as it is as organic as it comes, and natural alternatives like organic pesticides are used instead.

Yes, hydroponic farming can be done indoors, and it is practiced in places such as Singapore where food is produced inside multi-storey buildings using this method.

One of the main challenges of hydroponic farming is the initial setup cost, which can be relatively expensive, but this is offset by the reduction in production costs as you won't use chemicals like pesticides, and you'll save on water usage.