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What is Meant by Hydroponics?
You may be wondering what is hydroponics and where does the word hydroponics come from. The word hydroponics is Greek in origin. The two root words are "hydro" and "ponic" which mean water and working or working water. Hydroponics is considered as a method for growing plants without soil. As a growing method for plants, water is used as a nutrient carrier and water, air or an inert material is used instead of soil.
Hydroponics is not New
It is believed that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the historic Seventh Wonders of the World, was actually a hydroponics garden. Other ancient civilizations besides the Babylonians that used the hydroponics growing method include Egyptians and Aztec Indians.
Many important scientists have worked with hydroponics in order to discover for themselves what it is and how they can use it. Sir Francis Bacon also had questions about what is hydroponics and after his experiments, he wrote a book in the year 1627 titled Sylva Sylvarum that was about growing terrestrial plants without soil. After his book was published, hydroponics had a surge in popularity as a research subject. John Woodward, in 1699, published his discovery that plants did better in less than pure water source.
Refining the Nutrient Solution
Discovering what is hydroponics has developed into an important branch of science and hydroponics continues to be a scientific subject. During the 1800s, plant physiology scientists discovered that plants use the inorganic ions in water for their nutritional needs and that meant that plants are able to gain essential minerals that is necessary for growth from water. The nutrient solutions that are used today are based on what was discovered during these early experiments. By the 1860s, Julius von Sachs and Wilhelm Knop developed the mineral solution culture for growing plants that continues to be used.
In 1930, Professor William Frederick Gericke of the University of California of Berkeley introduced the term hydroponics for the science of cultivating plants without soil. Plant nutritionists Dennis R. Hoagland and Daniel I. Arnon developed the Hoagland solution and its modified forms in the 1930s and their Hoagland solution is another standard formula in nutrient solutions for hydroponics.
Nutrients and Growing Mediums in Hydroponics
What hydroponics is proving is that a plant does not need soil for it to grow; what it needs are the mineral nutrients found in the soil instead. Mineral nutrients that are found in soil must be dissolved by water before the plant can absorb the minerals. If there are enough nutrients added to a water source, the plant is able to grow from the liquid instead of the soil. Further, if plants are coated with enough of a nutrient solution often enough, they can remain suspended in air and will still thrive.
Different medium besides air and water that can be used for a growing medium include perlite, gravel, packing peanuts, Rockwool, brick shards, and vermiculite. Some people use sand and a clay aggregate and although these are forms of soil, these are called hydroponic mediums.
When you discover what hydroponics is and how is remains an important study subject, you will see that it is well grounded in science and has been proven to work for many people over a long period. It adds credibility to understand what hydroponics is and how it can fit into your life. |
