What Is Aeroponics? How Aeroponic Growing Works
Ever wondered what aeroponics actually means? If you've heard Tower Garden described as both hydroponic and aeroponic, you're definitely not alone. The terms are closely related, but they aren't exactly the same thing.
🌱 Quick answer: Aeroponics is a method of growing plants without soil. The roots hang in an enclosed air space while water and mineral nutrients are delivered directly to them.
Instead of roots spreading through soil, they grow inside a protected root chamber where they have access to moisture, nutrients and plenty of oxygen.
And despite how futuristic that sounds, aeroponics has been around for decades.
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What Does Aeroponics Mean?
The word aeroponics comes from aero, referring to air, and the Greek word ponos, meaning work or labor.
In practical terms, though, the easiest way to think about aeroponics is simply growing plants with their roots exposed to air rather than buried in soil or submerged in water.
The plants still need the same basics they would need in a traditional garden: water, nutrients, light and oxygen. Aeroponics simply delivers those things differently.
How Does Aeroponics Work?
In an aeroponic growing system, plants are supported above a reservoir while their roots grow inside an enclosed chamber.
A nutrient solution containing water and the minerals plants need is pumped from the reservoir and delivered to the roots. The unused solution can then return to the reservoir and circulate through the system again.
That gives the roots access to three important things:
- Water for hydration
- Mineral nutrients needed for plant growth
- Oxygen around the exposed root system
Above the root chamber, the plant grows just as you'd expect. Leaves reach for the light, flowers form, and fruiting crops can produce tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, strawberries and much more.
Aeroponics vs. Hydroponics: What's the Difference?
This is where the terminology can get confusing.
Hydroponics is the broader idea of growing plants without soil using water to deliver nutrients to the roots. There are several different ways to do that.
Aeroponics is a soilless growing method in which the roots are suspended in air while water and nutrients are delivered to them.
So you'll often see aeroponic growing discussed alongside hydroponics because the two methods share many of the same principles. The biggest difference is what is happening around the roots.
In some hydroponic systems, roots may sit in nutrient solution or another growing medium. In an aeroponic system, much of the root system hangs freely inside an air-filled chamber.
💧 The simple difference: Hydroponics is a broad category of growing without soil using nutrient-rich water. Aeroponics keeps the roots suspended in air while delivering water and nutrients to them.
Is Tower Garden Hydroponic or Aeroponic?
Tower Garden uses aeroponic technology.
Plants sit in growing ports around the tower while their roots grow inside. A pump moves the water and mineral nutrient solution from the reservoir up through the Tower Garden, where it is delivered to the roots before returning to the reservoir to be used again.
This vertical design allows a large number of plants to grow in a relatively small footprint while keeping the root system contained inside the tower.
What Can You Grow Aeroponically?
A lot more than lettuce!
Leafy greens and herbs are excellent choices, but we've also grown tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, strawberries, beans, squash, zucchini, melons and many other crops aeroponically.
The better question is often not “Will this plant grow aeroponically?” but “Is this plant a good fit for my growing space and conditions?”
A full-size tomato or sprawling cucumber, for example, needs considerably more room and support than lettuce or basil. Indoor growers also need to think about mature plant size, lighting and pollination.
We've covered that in much more detail in our Best Plants for Hydroponics: What Can You Grow? guide, including leafy greens, herbs, fruiting crops and compact plants for indoor growing.
What Are the Benefits of Aeroponic Growing?
There are several reasons we love growing this way.
No Soil Required
Aeroponics lets you grow where traditional gardening may be difficult or impractical. There's no digging, no garden bed to prepare and no need to improve poor soil.
Efficient Use of Water and Nutrients
Recirculating systems reuse the nutrient solution rather than continually applying water to the ground. That can make soilless growing very water-efficient compared with conventional gardening, although actual water use varies by system, crop and growing conditions.
Lots of Plants in a Small Footprint
Vertical aeroponic systems make it possible to grow upward rather than spreading every plant across a traditional garden bed. That's particularly useful on patios, lanais and other spaces where square footage is limited.
Easy Access to Your Plants
Because plants grow above ground level, there's less bending and kneeling than you'd typically have with an in-ground garden. Harvesting lettuce, herbs and other crops is conveniently within reach.
Control Over the Growing Environment
Instead of relying on whatever happens to be in your soil, you control the water and mineral nutrients your plants receive. You can also monitor factors such as pH and nutrient strength as your plants grow.
Does NASA Use Aeroponics?
NASA has researched aeroponic growing as part of its work on growing plants efficiently in space and other challenging environments.
That's one reason aeroponics sometimes sounds like something from science fiction. When water, weight and growing space are limited, researchers have good reason to investigate ways of producing plants while using resources efficiently.
If you'd like to dive into some of that history, you can read NASA's article about aeroponic growing on Earth and in space.
Is Aeroponics Difficult?
It doesn't have to be.
If you're new to growing without soil, there are a few things you'll need to learn that you may never have thought about in a traditional garden. You'll need to monitor your water, add the correct amount of nutrients, keep the pH within the appropriate range and make sure your plants receive enough light.
But once you understand those basics, routine maintenance becomes just that: routine.
Your choice of plants matters too. Lettuce and herbs are generally easier starting points than large fruiting crops, although there's no reason a beginner can't grow tomatoes, peppers or cucumbers if they're willing to learn what those plants need.
🌱 New to aeroponics? Start simple. Lettuce, herbs and leafy greens are a great way to learn how your system works before adding larger fruiting crops.
Do Aeroponic Plants Need Special Seedlings?
The plant itself isn't a special type of plant, but how it is started matters.
For Tower Garden and many other hydroponic and aeroponic systems, seedlings can be started in rockwool rather than potting soil. The seedling and its rockwool cube can then be placed into the growing system without bringing soil around the roots.
You can start your own plants from seed, or you can begin with seedlings that have already been started for hydroponic and aeroponic growing.
Our Seeds & Seedlings Guide explains both options and can help you decide which is right for you.
Aeroponics Isn't Just for Space
You definitely don't need a spaceship to grow aeroponically. 🚀
Systems such as Tower Garden have made the technology practical for home growers, schools and larger growing operations. Whether you want a few herbs outside your kitchen, vegetables growing indoors or a tower packed with produce on the patio, the basic idea is the same: give the roots water, nutrients and oxygen without needing soil.
And if you're wondering what to plant first, head over to our guide to the best plants for hydroponic and aeroponic growing and start planning what you'd actually like to harvest.
