Hydroponics and Happiness - What's the Relation?

Does hydroponics make people happier? I guess in some ways that's the million-dollar question, and if you're not in it for the money, you're looking at whether this hobby is going to enrich your life, or not. It's a question that we've rarely been asked, but in these days of ceaseless analytics and all kinds of digging into the neuroscience of how people feel, it's one that might come up in some conversations.

What’s This Measuring Happiness Thing About Anyway?

You may have seen some of the interesting articles and surveys on the Internet talking about parenting and levels of happiness. Some of them come out with a shocker angle that proposes that having kids really makes people less happy, not more. These studies point to things like not being able to go out and do the activities that you may be used to, and the additional stress of dealing with all of an infant’s needs (not to mention a toddler or an adolescent!)

But what the studies don't really measure is the sense of well-being that comes with being a parent, that's fairly well established as part of our general psychological makeup. So the question becomes a little bit complicated -- does having kids really make people happier, or not? And what about other activities that also involve responsibility and work?

If Everybody Liked Chevys, They Wouldn’t Make No Fords

In hydroponics, you might make the same kinds of psychological trade-offs. Is the neat feeling that you get from harvesting your own fruits and vegetables worth the elaborate planting, pruning, ventilating, irrigating, etc. that you do from seed to harvest?

The short answer to this is that it depends what kind of person you are. For those who don't like the idea of doing daily maintenance on a garden, it might be best to find some other kind of hobby. But for those who take pride in the same kinds of repetitive processes that facilitate good harvests, hydroponics might be the way to go.

Some of the biggest reasons that hydroponics make people happy have to do with the actual “fruits” of the process -- the plants and plant foods you can use for the dinner table. But there's also the sense of self-sustainability and self-initiative that comes with successfully setting up and completing plant cycles. There's a sense that you're getting closer to nature and understanding more about plant biology and other sciences. And all of that can have a great impact on a person’s self-worth and self-esteem. In addition, if you have extra time that you want to use do something productive, hydroponics can be an excellent choice.

For more on how to get started, check out what modern retailers and manufacturers offer hydroponics beginners around the world.