Controversies
In an a recent article post on The Healthy Home Economist, Sarah said that hydroponics is not the way to go for planting crops. She believes that hydroponic produce is just a big waste of money. Hydroponics produces big, watery fruit that does not have a lot of nutrients. No artificial light source or low quality solution could ever take the place of worm filled, black, organic soil that has been reused over the years. She even talks about a refractometer and how this instrument is used to prove the low nutrient quality in hydroponic produce. This works by squeezing a few drops of liquid from the food you want to test. The results show that hydroponic produce contain very low levels of brix. Brix is the level of carbohydrates in the plant. Both humans and animals prefer food with higher brix levels because it tastes better. A high brix content also makes the plant resistant to disease, insect, and rot.
There are other people who believe that hydroponics is in a state of uncertainty. One person who believes this is the author of the book The World's Healthiest Food. Many people don't believe that hydroponic produce can be classified as organic. They say hydroponics doesn't use accepted and approved fertilizers as used in organic horticulture. Soil fertilizers used are not ideal for growing in hydroponics because of the absence of bacteria which helps make nutrients rich fertilizer.
Another consideration is that there are only a few growers that use hydroponics that are actually organic. Therefore hydroponic produces isn't certified as organic. The author still encourages people to eat hydroponic produce if it comes from a farmer who still provides certified organic produce or from a grower you trust who has expertise in hydroponics.
In an a recent article post on The Healthy Home Economist, Sarah said that hydroponics is not the way to go for planting crops. She believes that hydroponic produce is just a big waste of money. Hydroponics produces big, watery fruit that does not have a lot of nutrients. No artificial light source or low quality solution could ever take the place of worm filled, black, organic soil that has been reused over the years. She even talks about a refractometer and how this instrument is used to prove the low nutrient quality in hydroponic produce. This works by squeezing a few drops of liquid from the food you want to test. The results show that hydroponic produce contain very low levels of brix. Brix is the level of carbohydrates in the plant. Both humans and animals prefer food with higher brix levels because it tastes better. A high brix content also makes the plant resistant to disease, insect, and rot.
There are other people who believe that hydroponics is in a state of uncertainty. One person who believes this is the author of the book The World's Healthiest Food. Many people don't believe that hydroponic produce can be classified as organic. They say hydroponics doesn't use accepted and approved fertilizers as used in organic horticulture. Soil fertilizers used are not ideal for growing in hydroponics because of the absence of bacteria which helps make nutrients rich fertilizer.
Another consideration is that there are only a few growers that use hydroponics that are actually organic. Therefore hydroponic produces isn't certified as organic. The author still encourages people to eat hydroponic produce if it comes from a farmer who still provides certified organic produce or from a grower you trust who has expertise in hydroponics.