No More Fertilizer! eSoil Unleashes 50% Growth Surge in Plants

eSoil

We may have figured out what grew Jacks beanstalk so big.

Scientists at the Linköping University in Sweden have recently discovered that electricity can increase crop production by a whopping 50%!

They have invented what they call electronic soil, or eSoil. This soil is an electric elixir! It is not really “soil”, it is more like a process that stimulates seedlings. These seedlings then grow up to be massive in comparison to regular plants.

Here’s everything you need to know.

What is eSoil?

eSoil is a bioelectronic process that uses electric fields to stimulate plant growth. It is used in hydroponic farming, a method of farming that uses water to deliver nutrients to plants instead of soil. Research has shown that using eSoil for hydroponics increases the width, length, and even the roots of plants. This results in a dry weight increase of up to 50% within 15 days. Scientists plan on researching the process further, and they are hopeful that it can become a large part of hydroponic farming in the future.

What is Hydroponic Farming?

Hydroponics farming is a method that is used to grow plants without using soil. The plants grow in dense indoor spaces, making it easy for farmers to monitor and control. Hydroponics requires a lot of monitoring. Plants need 17 essential nutrients for them to be functional. If any one of these nutrients is missing, then plant growth suffers.

How do Hydroponic Plants Get Nutrients?

Plants get carbon and oxygen from air, and hydrogen from water. The 14 other nutrients needed for plants come from soil. Hydroponic plants are not grown in soil, so there needs to be an alternative method to deliver nutrients to the plant. With hydroponic farming, nutrients are mixed with slightly acidic water. This water then delivers nutrients to the roots of plants.

How Nutritious are Hydroponic Plants?

The nutritional profile of food grown using hydroponic systems is very similar to soil-based farming and may even be better. Research comparing soil and hydroponic systems show that some hydroponic grown plants have higher levels of lycopene and Beta-Carotene. Lycopene is an antioxidant that gives fruits and vegetables their red and pink color. Beta-Carotene is related to Lycopene, and is a converted into vitamin A by the body.

How Does eSoil Work?

In the scientific article published on PNAS, electrically stimulating the roots of plants using eSoil led to progressive signs of growth. Scientists guess that this is because the positive effect of stimulation causes roots to take up nutrients more efficiently. Interestingly enough, increased growth did not happen right after stimulation, but between 10 and 15 days after.

Why is eSoil Important?

Hydroponics replaces the use of chemical fertilizers. Chemical fertilizers release GHGs (greenhouse gasses) into the air. Nearly 18,000 deaths happen every year from agriculture pollution in the U.S. alone. Since eSoil is part of a hydroponic farming system, no fertilizer is required because hydroponics does not require soil.

Moreover, one of the GHGs released by fertilizers is nitrous oxide, or “laughing gas”. This gas is bad for the environment and could pose risks to human health. Plants grown with eSoil have been shown to be more efficient at nitrogen assimilation. This is a process where plant roots use nitrogen to create amino acids so that they can grow. This is call for good news because nitrous oxide is partly composed of nitrogen.

What is the Future of eSoil?

It is unknown whether eSoil effects the plant itself, or the environment of the plant. Moreover, the study done at Linköping University only stimulated seedlings with electricity, not plants that had already grown roots. Now that there is proof that electric fields can stimulate bigger plants, electronic soil will likely have a future that involves more use and study.