Fogponics or fog and ponics (labor) can be defined as working fog. It is also known as, aeroponics, is a subset of aeroponics, meaning “air” + πόνος (pónos) “labor”). In short, it is a sub-technique of aeroponics. This technique uses fog — or very fine water droplets — to grow plants, herbs, and veggies. Fogponics uses a suspension of nutrient-enriched water to deliver nutrients and oxygen to plant roots. The majority of other aeroponic sub-techniques use misters and sprayers — as opposed to foggers — to provide plant roots with nutrient solution.
Fogponics uses a suspension of nutrient-enriched water to deliver nutrients and oxygen to plant roots. This creates a constant humid and nutrient-rich fog for plant roots.
The fogponic system uses electric foggers to pump and vibrate under pressure to transform nutrient and water mix into humidity, like the humid atmosphere found in the rainforest. This creates a constant humid and nutrient-rich fog for plant roots. This is in contrast to geoponics and organogenic which use soil and organic materials as the primary source of nutrients (as well as the growth medium), and ‘traditional’ hydroponics (from Greek húdōr, meaning water), which uses a submersion of nutrient-enriched water as the primary nutrient source (using an inert, or no growth medium).
Fogponic systems are constructed similarly to most other aeroponic systems, the main difference is, of course, the nebulizer. The difference between fogponics and other forms of aeroponics is that while aeroponics typically delivers nutrient-rich water to the roots using a spray (relatively large particles in the air), fogponics uses one of a number of mechanisms (for example ultrasonic, compressed air, or heating elements) to form a suspension of much smaller particles of water (5–30 μm), or even as a vapor. With fogponics, the root system can have full coverage as the tiny droplet size of the gravity-defying fog can travel and penetrate all space around it.
Fogponics is an advanced form of aeroponics that uses water in a vaporized form to transfer nutrients and oxygen to enclosed suspended plant roots. Plants best absorb particles from the 1–25 μm range. Using the same general idea behind aeroponics except fogponics utilize a 5-30 µm mist within the rooting chamber and as use for a foliar feeding mechanism. It is assumed that the absorption rate, as well as the energy required to grow, is inversely proportional to particle size. The added benefit of using fogponic’s over traditional hydroponics systems is that the plants require less energy in root growth and mass, and are able to still sustain a large plant.
