Experimental Hydroponics

 

There is something about hydroponics that fascinates me, even though the origins of the methods can be traced back to the Aztecs and Babylonians. it seems that it has always been in the "experimental" bracket of things. Whether or not the hanging gardens of Babylon were an experiment or not is debatable but the truth is that even today we can not understand how they managed to create them. In the following article we take a look at experimental hydroponics.

The very nature of growing plants without soil is extremely experimental but to get the plants growing at their very best requires a somewhat scientific understanding of the plants themselves and all of the elements of the system. At first the growing medium was sand or gravel of various grades but through experimentation other mediums were made available which produced better results. Today sand, gravel and rocks remain popular mediums to use but other substances such as coco fiber, rockwool and various mixtures of each can often produce results which are impossible to recreate in soil.

Modern Research

Many people experiment with their own hydroponic systems attempting to achieve even minute improvements. Thankfully there are plenty of universities and organizations investing in research and development of this bountiful method of growing crops. There are some places renowned for their involvement in this field well worth noting.

As I have said in previous articles the science fiction writers have often included various forms of growing pods in numerous space stations and it will not come as a great surprise that NASA is very much concerned with experimental hydroponics as a means to growing food in space. There is actually a very important NASA research program, Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS), which has Administration sponsorship and, if you ever get the chance to visit Epcot you should make a point of visiting NASA's superb Space Agricultural expo.

The Epcot Center near Orlando has a couple of other facilities of note, "Tomorrow's Harvest" and "Listen to The Land", which are also well worth investigating. Further demonstrating Walt Disney Productions involvement in hydroponics is their support of the University of Arizona's Environmental Research Laboratory (ERL) where Dr. Merle Jensen & Dr. Carl Hodges are developing new ways of presenting hydroponic technologies to the public.

In many ways gardeners have already greatly benefited from various advances made by such organizations and this is likely to continue indefinitely, or as long as they are sufficiently financially supported.

 

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