In Japan, 160 farms are producing high-yield, high-profit crops, including tomato, cucumber, melon, strawberry, capsicum, lettuce and herbs, through
soil-less technology.
Always pot on into the same type of compost -
soil-less mixtures or John Innes - to avoid problems with are looking bare, thread a few conifer clippings through for colour and texture.
This top of the line brand of coco coir brings crops a better oxygen-to-water ratio than other soil or
soil-less grow systems.
"A shift towards protected and
soil-less agriculture systems would substantially enhance the irrigation efficiency, water productivity and area productivity."
Hydroponic or
soil-less gardening has been around for thousands of years.
Which is defined as the integration of conventional aquaculture (captive rearing and production of fish and other aquatic animal) with
soil-less culture (growing agricultural crops without soil) according to the United Nations' (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
These include
soil-less techniques such as Hydroponics, Aeroponics and Aquaponics that will redefine commercial agriculture.
If you are planting in pots, use a container at least 30cm in diameter and a compost comprising equal parts John Innes No 2 and a
soil-less multi-purpose compost.
The first robot, named Smart Pot (SPOT), can plant strawberries, tomatoes, herbs, and leafy vegetables in a hydroponic garden, a
soil-less plantation method where crops are placed in enriched water and are sheathed inside a minuscule chamber.
In-ground beds tend to work best where topsoil is deep because plant roots stay cooler the deeper they reach into the soil, but raised beds make gardening possible even in
soil-less sites.
I have a mini garden on my balcony (on the 10th floor), and I research and experiment with various
soil-less gardening techniques.