How to Choose a Green Wall: Soil Based Vs Hydroponic

Green walls have exploded in popularity in recent years due to their ability to bring the serenity of nature into our crazy, fast-paced urban environment. They purify the air naturally and have even been proven to help reduce a building’s heating and cooling costs.

With such a wide variety of options available for you to choose from, it can be incredibly challenging to determine which types suit your needs. Still, one of the first major decisions you will have to make is whether to go ’hydroponic, i.e. use the soil or not? Hydroponic green walls use water as opposed to the soil to deliver nutrients to plant roots. As a result, it is relatively easy to maintain small-scale systems for domestic use. Larger hydroponic systems, however, tend to be rather expensive to run if professional maintenance is needed.

Which is better hydroponic system vs soil?

Both hydroponics and soil based system are good but if we are talking about few differences than hydroponics consume less water as compared to the soil based system. Also if you are worrying about space then again hydroponics is best option for you if you don’t have space. But again if you have good space near by you then go for soil based system. In Hydroponics plants grow faster vs soil based due to the nutrients and getting better environment as compared to soil based system.

• Hydroponics is costly as compared to the soil based system.
• There is less usages of power vs Hydroponics.
• Hydroponics required to monitoring most of the time and take care of these plants while soil based system you don’t need to take care about more things.
• In hydroponics plants get affect by bacteria or any germs easily vs soil based it doesn’t effect as compared to this one.

Factors You Should Consider Soil Based Vs Hydroponic System

Supporting Plant Weight

Plants naturally produce versatile root systems for anchoring themselves, whether this is in soil, on rocks, or in synthetic materials such as those that you can find in hydroponic systems. However, a problem that may arise when using a hydroponic green wall system is that plants might not create a root system that’s sturdy enough and may require weeks of ‘training’ to defy gravity.

A soil-based system that has a large root space promotes the growth of a strong and extensive root system. However, the price that you will end up paying for this bonus is that the system will most likely be heavier than the hydroponic option overall, which is why you need to check that your deck/fence/wall can actually take it.

Water utilization

The natural ability of a soil-based green wall to retain and distribute water evenly makes it more water conservative and much easier to maintain, particularly if you consider hand watering as an option.

When it comes to hydroponic systems, a constant flow of clean, aerated water and nutrients is required to ensure plant health. The irrigation methods used in massive hydroponic systems tend to be incredibly complex and demand frequent expert attention.

If the pump was to fail and you don’t have backup power, you could end up losing plants within a matter of hours, but a soil-based green wall can be more forgiving if irrigation was to stop with a winder of days for survival as opposed to hours. The other major challenge that you are likely to face with a hydroponic system is maintaining the water temperature and pH levels, which are very important, particularly outdoors in warm climates.

The ability of a plant’s survival depends on the changes in the temperature with respect to the weather of water. Most of the soil based green wall is taking or consuming less water as compared to the others ones. Also its allow significant number of proper irrigation system that help in soil moisture level maintain and keep soil temperature good for the plants.

Oxygen and Mineral

Proper nutrient balance for plants is something that even expert botanists struggle with occasionally, regardless of whether they are grown in soil or water. It is very important to maintain the balance of nutrients by making sure that nutrients are added to the water at very specific times specifically during the growth period.

Even the tiniest fluctuation at the wrong time is capable of destroying your plants within just a few days. Soil-based green wall systems tend to be more forgiving in this area as it can create a natural buffer to absorb excess nutrients and supply it to plants as required.

The other major factor for success with hydroponic systems is the proper amount of oxygen at the root level. Plants can die of suffocation caused by anaerobic activity caused by nutrient mixes, irrigation mismanagement, and microorganisms. A natural process supplies oxygen in soil-based systems. Hardworking tiny microbes aerate it by giving the roots the TLC they need.

Disease Risk Factors

An ongoing problem for gardeners is combating pests and diseases. Soil-based green wall systems tend to be more resistant to the spread of disease than hydroponic systems, which means they can be less risky.

In hydroponic systems, plant roots are more exposed to water that constantly recirculates, which means that bacteria/algae can travel quickly to all plants through the system’s irrigation superhighway.

A disease known as ‘Pythium’ that causes roots to rot is almost impossible to eradicate even after extensive disinfection. Most of the time unfertilized tools bring very fast work and that crashing down the matters most of the days, which keep away from the disease. This also makes the root perfect in shape that grow the other parts of the plants and make them strong in any environment.

Power Usage

Hydroponic systems require electric pumps that constantly recirculate water from a reservoir at the base to transport nutrients to all plants. The sensitive nature of a hydroponic system means that a power failure would be devastating.

If you have a soil-based system, you can always hand water your plants using ‘fresh’ water and allow the soil to carry the water throughout the system, reducing the risk of any water-borne diseases.

If you want to install timers in the pumps in soil based systems that required power which might be usages the power unnecessary where electricity is essential in this case, so you can use auto power cut system that maintain the level of water and also not consume more power.

Maintenance

Maintenance is an area where soil-based green wall systems really shine. They require minimal maintenance such as applying fertilizer every six months, simple irrigation plan and replacing the odd plant every now and again. This way you get to enjoy your green wall without worrying about tending to it.

Day by day the ongoing demands of the measuring nutrient mixed and cleaning the all parts of the hydroponic system that are more essential as compared to the others. Most of the massive hydroponic systems usually go for hire a expert level that take care of the green walls and its plants. It also require more costs to maintain this systems. Whereas soil based green walls require less man power and maintenance as compared to the hydroponic system. Soil-based system are very environment friendly and make your hose very greenery.

Hydroponic green walls have their advantages, particularly in large corporate settings, but many people still prefer the ‘hands-on’ nature of soil-based systems. In addition, soil-based systems are more cost-effective, enable multiple uses, are easier to maintain, and allow for a personal approach that gardeners know and love.