Aeroponic cultivation is an indoor cultivation method that offers significant benefits. Let’s find out what it is and how it can be useful for cannabis cultivation.
The cultivation methods used in both the industrial and DIY sectors have always been in constant progress, and the search for even more advanced techniques is in constant progress.
In the past, we often dealt with different types of indoor and outdoor cultivations in the JustBob blog, both for professionals and amateurs. Today, we are going to introduce you to a method that represents a revolution for the world of agriculture: aeroponic cultivation.
We will find out what it is, and how this technique can be used to achieve positive and satisfactory results for CBD cannabis cultivation.
What is aeroponic cultivation?
Aeroponic is a cultivation system developed in the last century by several botanists, mainly for research purposes, but it wasn’t developed on marijuana plants.
The unique characteristic of aeroponic cultivation is that it takes place vertically, with the plants floating in the air.
Greenhouses are the ideal environment for aeroponic cultivation.
Besides, it is often associated with another cultivation method: the hydroponic one. It’s not entirely wrong to include these two techniques in the same circle, but there is a significant difference between hydroculture and aeroponics.
In the first technique, hydroponics, the nutrition and care of the plants are created by immersion or drops, while in the second one, aeroponics, there is no type of substrate, and it acts directly on the roots by spraying.
To continue with this type of cultivation, it’s necessary to set up particular plants in a closed place to ensure a healthy and controlled environment; so that the nutrients that are administered comply with specific parameters.
Whether you want to start aeroponic cultivation at home or in a greenhouse, it is essential to acquire the proper knowledge to create the right conditions that ensure the maximum precision of several parameters, such as temperature, light, humidity and pH nutritional solutions, etc.
Knowledge and the provision of precise equipment are therefore a prerequisite for using a technique that can grow healthy and robust plants with very little water and energy waste.
But let’s see precisely how an aeroponic cultivation system works.
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How aeroponic cultivation works?
This technique, which can be perfectly adapted to CBD cannabis, consists, as already mentioned, of creating a closed environment in which a tank can be set up for the storage of the nutrient solution over which a culture bed is placed.
The plants are placed on the bed with or without a mesh pot so that the roots hang over the tank without coming into direct contact with the solution contained therein.
Another component of the « Aeroponic Growing Kit » is a pump that delivers the nutrient mixture as a mist form through a piping system and a nebulizer directly to the roots.
In the first phase, just as in hydroculture, the seedlings are bred in stone wool cubes and placed in pot-shaped net baskets, which serve as a support to allow the growth of the roots downwards.
Only at a later stage does the growth of the plants begin upwards, while the development of the roots happens downwards. During this growth, it is essential to ensure that the roots do not get in contact with the liquid solution present in the tank, so that the nutrient supply is always constant and balanced.
The significant advantages in CBD cannabis aeroponic cultivation
Let’s find out the multiple benefits of using this technique applied to legal cannabis, and let’s understand how aeroponic cultivation works.
Although this method requires a high initial financial effort to create an appropriate environment and system, as well as specific skills, the main benefits in cultivating legal weeds with this technique are:
- control over nutrients and the environment;
- increased oxygen supply;
- less water waste;
- little space needed;
- fewer parasites.
With this method, it is possible to fully control the nutrient concentration based on specific parameters and environmental factors such as pH, temperature, light, and humidity, which vary depending on the properties of the cannabis grown.
The oxygen supply of the plants is favoured by the fact that the roots are not immersed in water or in soil. The fact that they float in the air means that the oxygen supply is always constant and direct.
Unlike other techniques, aeroponics means less water consumption, as, after vaporization, all excess water falls back into the tank, which significantly limits the waste. This characteristic really is an important one when growing a plant such as cannabis, which requires a significant water supply in other methods.
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Another practical aspect concerns space. Aeroponic cultivation allows plants to be positioned closer together without disturbing each other’s roots, as would be the case with the presence of a substrate such as earth. This unique feature also benefits the harvesting phase.
The absence of a substrate is also a strength for the parasite factor. The fact that the roots have no contact with the earth (and the parasites that can develop there) allows the producer to detect anomalies in the plants quickly.
Conclusions
As you should have understand it, aeroponic cultivation can be a very good alternative to conventional cultivation methods of the cannabis plant.
If you are interested in keeping up to date with the world of cannabis and its cultivation methods, you will find various information and curiosities in the JustBob’s blog section