Hydroponics is the process of growing plants without the use of soil. They either grow with their roots suspended in water or in an inert material such as gravel, mineral wool, coconut husk or perlite.
It is becoming more and more popular because it is far easier to grow plants in a completely controlled environment. Unpredictable weather conditions, agricultural theft and a lack of land are all making this way of growing more popular. Even amateur gardeners are turning to this form of growing as well as commercial growers.
The History of Hydroponics
Most people think of hydroponics as being a new way of growing plants. A lot of people assume it was developed by space agencies in preparation for long flights into space. However, this is actually not true.
A book published in 1627 called Sylva Sylvarum by Francis Bacon described how to grow plants without water. As early as 1699 it was understood that plants grew better in so called contaminated water, which had nutrients in it rather than in pure distilled water.
The growth of plants in nutrient solutions took a lot longer to develop. However, by 1859 Julius von Sachs and Wilhelm Knop had perfected the technique.
It was not until 1929 that William Frederick Gericke began to apply the principles of growing plants without soil to commercial farming. His biggest publicity stunt was growing 25 foot high tomato plants in his back yard. At the time it was claimed that hydroponics resulted in plants that yielded far more than plants grown in soil. However, in 1938 this was proved not to be true, at least not at that time. The problem was a lack of light, over the years this problem has been solved with grow lights.
Why Hydroponics Work So Well
There are many benefits to hydroponics. The first is that you do not need any soil, so can grow plants in places where it would not otherwise be possible. The second is that growing plants this way uses less water than traditional growing methods. Any water the plant does not use is re-circulated and reused.
My Hydroponics Shops sells everything you need to get started with hydroponics. Their website is also a great source of advice.