Alright, gather ‘round and let Mama give you the real tea on another space age growing technique called aeroponics—the fierce, high-fashion cousin of hydroponics that’s serving looks and leafy greens in the most fabulous way possible.
Picture this: sexy plants dangling their roots in the air like they own the runway. Rather than submerging their bottom halves like a gaggle of mermaids, these divas get misted with a nutrient-rich spa treatment, like the plant version of a skincare routine. We’re talking maximum glam, minimum mess—it’s futuristic farming that slays, sprays and saves the day.
It’s a soilless cultivation method that suspends plants in the air and feeds them nutrients through a mist of nutrient-rich solutions. So, the roots just dingle-dangle in a chamber, taking what they need, when they need. It promotes faster growth and is proven to have higher yields than terrestrial farming methods and it uses less water than hydroponics.
Orange County Convention Center Goes Green With Center-to-Table Gardens. Photo sourced from orlandomeeting.com
Created in partnership with Centerplate and designed in conjunction with Urban Smart Farms, the 2,000-square-foot OCCC Center-to-Table Gardens are inside the convention center’s Westwood Lobby. Photo sourced from orlandomeeting.com
The Orange County Convention Center has a whole installation of multiple aeroponic tubes set up, as a way to tout its sustainability goals. The 2,000-square-foot Center-to-Table Gardens can be found in the Westwood Lobby, featuring 81 futuristic-looking towers, each with about 44 planting spots in them, like giant plastic strawberry jugs.
According to the Convention Center, staff harvests about 780 plants each week, for a total of 40,000 each year, directly from the towers, including basil, celery, herbs, kale, lettuce, peppers, rainbow chard and spinach.
While aeroponics grow faster yields and healthier produce, hydroponics are easier and cheaper to set up.
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