Fogponics, or atmoponics (from Ancient Greek ἀτμός (atmós), meaning ''"vapour"'' or ''"steam"''), is a subset of

aeroponics Aeroponics is the process of growing plants in the air or mist environment without soil or an aggregate medium. The word "aeroponic" is derived from the Greek meanings of ''aer'' ("air") and ''ponos'' ("labour"). It is a subset of hydroponics, ...

. Fogponics uses a suspension of nutrient enriched water to deliver

nutrients A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow, and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi, and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excret ...

and

oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...

plant roots In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...

. This is in contrast to geoponics and organoponics which use soil and organic materials as the primary source of nutrients (as well as the growth medium), and 'traditional'

hydroponics Hydroponics is a type of horticulture and a subset of hydroculture which involves growing plants, usually crops or medicinal plants, without soil, by using water-based mineral nutrient solutions in aqueous solvents. Terrestrial or aquatic plan ...

, which uses a submersion of nutrient enriched water as the primary nutrient source (using an inert, or no growth medium). 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 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 vapour. Plants best absorb particles from the 1–50 μm range. It is assumed that the absorption rate, as well as the energy required to grow are inversely proportional to particle size.

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See also