Nowadays rooftop farming is a popular trend in our country. Do you know how it is so popular? Let’s see why it’s so popular!

Urbanization has become a common problem.We are losing our agricultural land every hour and the population is growing by leaps and bounds simultaneously. It means we will have less land to grow food on and more mouths to feed which is alarming and poses a greater challenge for our future generations. Rooftop farming is a viable option to tackle this situation in the near future.

Rooftop farming is a type farming of vegetables, herbs, fruits on the top of our building. Rooftop farming helps to supply organic foods such as vegetables, herbs, fruits. We can get  fresh, chemical free foods from rooftop farming. Rooftop farming is also known as urban agriculture.Rooftop farming:

• Producing healthy food.
• Giving food security.
• Increasing bio diversity of insects and birds.
• Decreasing the global warming by decreasing temperature.
• Supplying oxygen and fresh air for breathing.
• Hydrological benefits.
• Architectural enhancement.
• Habitats or corridors for wildlife.
• Recreational opportunities.

Vegetables like Fendrill, parbal, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, eggplant, tomato, lemon, cucumber, calery, spinach, carrot, chilli even potato etc can be supplied.

Herbs like lettuce, coriander, basil, mint etc can be supplied.

Fruits like-Watermelon, strawberry, mango, passion fruit, pomegranate, avocado, guava, raspberry, orange etc can be supplied.

How can you get organic foods? There are some methods using for cultivating fruits and vegetables on rooftop garden Methods are-

• Green roof.
• Container or pot.
• Hydroponics.
• Aeroponics.

Green roof

Roof will be partially or completely wrapped with plants and medium which helps to grow plants. Each living plant wrap on a structure. There will be a waterproofing membrane. It has also root barrier, drainage and irrigation system. Mint plant farming can be possible by this method.

Green Roof

Container gardening

It is most popular and easiest method of farming I have ever seen! Simply using a medium or big size container or pot. Adding soil and fertilizer in a proper mixing ratio. Now, it is ready for your plant! The container can be pot, box, tub, basket, barrel etc.

Container Gardening

Hydroponics

The earlier modern reference to hydroponics (last 100 years) was by a man named William Frederick Gericke. While working at the University of California, Berkeley, he began to popularize the idea that plants could be grown in a solution of nutrients and water instead of soil.

Hydroponics

Nowadays, beside container gardening hydroponics is  a popular method for rooftop farming. In this method, you can easily avoid hassle of using soil. Feeling surprised, nah? But it is possible in this method! The root system gets support by using a inert medium, rookwool, clay pellets, peat moss, vermiculate and perlite instead of soil. The nutrient that plants uptake from soil will come from water. A solution is mixed in the water. There are six types of hydroponics system:

• Wick Systems.
• Deep Water Culture (DWC)
• Nutrient Film Technique (NFT).
• Ebb and Flow (Flood and Drain)
• Aeroponics
• Drip Systems.

Watermelon cultivation can be possible by this method. Vegetables that grow beneath the soil, such as onions, leeks, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, yams and radishes will also grow hydroponically, but may require extra care.They can be grown in a hydroponic garden, but they are not space efficient, and just not practical.

Aeroponics

In 2004, Founder of AeroFarms Ed Harwood, invented an aeroponic system that grows lettuces on micro fleece cloth. Aeroponics is the method of farming plant without use of soil or any medium. Plants grow in air or mist environment.A nutrient rich water solution is sprayed or mixed on the suspended root.This method needs considerably less water and energy. Here air works as medium to grow plants so you don’t have to take care more of your plants.

Aeroponics System

Plant root uptake oxygen from air. Promoting quick and disease free plant  growth.It’s 100 percent safe method.Plant grow faster in this method than any other method.You can easily clean the system. There are two main types of aeroponic systems:

• High pressure aeroponics and
• Low pressure aeroponics.

The main difference being the droplet size of the mist used in each case. Low-pressure aeroponics uses low-pressure, high-flow pumps, whereas high-pressure aeroponics uses high-pressure, low-flow pumps.

Sometimes we have confusion between hydroponics and aeroponics. Some people thinks that both are same method. But it is not.There are differences between this methods.

Hydroponic system needs sand, gravel and nutrient. It doesn’t need soil. On the other hand, Aeroponics, a farm of hydroponics, using no growing medium, nutrient directly comes from air or a mist that is sprayed onto their their roots several times an hour.

WHICH METHOD IS BETTER FOR YOU?

There are some pros and cons of hydroponics and aeroponics which helps decide the best method according to your budget as a beginner.

Pros and cons of hydroponics

Pros

• More nutritional control. Hydroponics makes it possible to control the amount of nutrients that your plants get and when. Hence, you will have more control over the growth process and you can easily influence factors like the speed of growth and size of the plants.
• Relatively affordable. Although hydroponics is still quite an expensive method of farming it is relatively less costly than aeroponics. The initial investment that you need to make to set up hydroponics will be less than what you need for the same size aeroponics as it is a more complicated cultivation system.
• Water efficient. Almost all modern types of hydroponics will recycle water to minimize waste which makes this a highly water-efficient method of farming.

Cons

• Quick spread of disease. The greatest shortcoming of hydroponics is the fact that diseases can spread quickly. Since the plants share the same solution and reservoir it is easy for water-borne diseases to spread.
• Poor root aeration. Since the roots are submerged in hydroponics there is no proper aeration. In aeroponics, the roots are suspended in the air and so the plant is able to absorb more oxygen.

Pros and cons of aeroponics

Pros

• Higher yields. Unlike in hydroponics, plants will not have to compete for nutrients in aeroponics, and this translates to faster growths and higher yields. Also, availability of the nutrients throughout and the efficient absorption also contributes to the higher aeroponics yields.
• Easy plant transplantation. In the event that you have to move the plants, there will be no risk of transplant shock when using the aeroponics system. Unlike in hydroponics, there will not be a growth medium for your plants to move to or from and so it will be like they did not move at all. Also, it is possible and easy to move the plants from one aeroponics system to another.
• Maximum nutrient absorption. The absence of a planting medium and the fact that the roots are suspended means that there will be maximum nutrient absorption. There is no wastage of nutrients and fertilizer with this system as the plants will absorb almost everything.

Cons

• High initial cost. Although an aeroponic system might look simple it will require a significantly higher initial spending than hydroponics. And this is because the system requires various accessories to function optimally. From automation tools to pumps, fine spray nozzles and timers there are many things that you need to pay for. Also, all these things will require setup which also means that this cultivation system will be pretty difficult for beginners to understand.
• More sensitive system. Aeroponics is a highly sensitive method of cultivation that will require a lot of attention. Everything has to be working at all times to ensure the survival of the plants. In case of a power outage or a failure of the mist spraying nozzles, the plants can die out in just a few hours. In hydroponics, the plants will survive for longer in case the same happens since the growing medium continues to supply water and nutrients.

So for beginners and low budget gardeners Hydroponic system is better than aeroponics.

You can get different types of vegetables, fruits and herbs all year round which are 100 percent fresh and free of cost. So, if you want to grab this opportunity, start rooftop farming today!