Wet Soil Versus Aereated Water

Kale Roots

We had some kale and strawberries growing in a 4" PVC pipe over the second half of the 2018 summer. As winter approaches, I potted the strawberries in sand and put the kale in the compost bin. The root systems of all the plants were impressive. The kale roots were at least a foot long.

The water is aerated by a pond pump. Apparently it puts enough oxygen in the water to keep the roots healthy, so even though they were submerged 100% of the time, they didn't rot or get diseased. (Another approach aquaponics systems take is to periodically flush out all the water in a system and allow air to reach the roots.)

The seasonal problem areas of our garden are the water logged areas. They're too wet for plants to grow there year 'round, so the soil stays compacted and anything that's planted there even in favorable weather conditions lags behind. Compacted wet soil eventually becomes oxygen depleted so (most) plant roots will die.