hi hv, awhile ago you said that the major disadvantage to hydroponic gardening was the lack of soil flora. what does soil flora do, what exactly is 'soil flora', are there different kinds, and would applying beneficial bacteria strains to a hydroponic feed give the same benefits?
Many of the soil flora are the same flora found in our intestines. The acids they form help with mineral absorption and controlling plant pathogens. They also produce B vitamins that the plants can utilize as well and break down plant material for other nutrients. In fact many studies have shown greatly increased growth rates and health of plants where the soil is inoculated with these bacteria. For this reason I like to bring forest soil back when I am in the mountains then use this around my plants and I put some in the compost pile to inoculate it as well.
And yes you can use this principle with a hydroponics system. You can buy bacterial starter cultures in some hardware stores or nurseries, or make an extract with some non-chlorinated water then use this to inoculate your hydroponics "soil" medium.