Organic VS
NON ORGANIC
In Hydroponics there are two ways for the plants to get their nutrients. Organically or ‘Non Organically’.
METHOD ONE
“NON ORGANIC”
Pure salt powder or liquids containing the nutrients required for plant growth and development are dissolved into the water reservoir, which are:
Nitrogen
Potassium
Phosphorus
We can think of this a little bit like the way we consume dietary supplements.
Plants also need a wide range of Micro nutrients such as Iron, Magnesium, Copper, Zinc etc, Just like us.
This way of feeding is very effective but these feeds are generally industrially produced and require intense energy and fossil fuel inputs.
METHOD TWO
ORGANIC
In organic systems the plant derives its nutrients in exactly the same way which it does in the soil in companionship with bacteria in a process called Nitrification.
In this senario Ammonia needs to be introduced into the system and the bacteria needs a home.
At UpPlant we use a system called Zipgrow, which has a material that provides the perfect home for these incredibly useful bacteria. This material we call matrix media and has an extremely high surface area which the bacteria can colonise.
AQUAPONICS
At UpPlant our main source of Ammonia is fish waste (Urine and Poo). This Ammonia (and other compounds) are needed to feed the bacteria, which then covert this into Nitrate and Nitrite, which the plants feed on.
