What Is Hydroponics?

 

So what is hydroponics? The previous two articles should have furnished you with the answer to this question and you should now be on your way to understanding the basics of this fascinating technique of growing plants. We have shown you that western hydroponics can be dated back several hundred years but in a later article (The Ideal Hydroponics System) we take a look at the origins in more detail and trace it back thousands of years. So we do know what it is not - it is not a new technique as so many people seem to think!

So why do people assume it to be a recent technology? Although the method of growing plants can be traced back hundreds, and even thousands of years, many people assume it to be one of the technological marvels of the twentieth century. One of the main reasons for this is that hydroponics relies upon the solution containing the correct balance of nutriments (nutrients and minerals) and getting the balance right was not always possible to the levels of accuracy required.

The twentieth century brought us many of the technological items we use in this century. In gardening we have benefited in many ways with many manual tools being replaced with electrical powered models. Hydroponics benefited with the invention of simple electronic gadgets that are able to measure the levels of chemicals, nutrients and minerals. With the ability to measure levels incredibly accurately it became possible for virtually anybody to be able to grow plants using hydroponics and the technique quickly became more widely known.

With continued experimentation, in the laboratory, the techniques and methods were improved and new strains of plants, more suitable for hydroponics, were developed. This helped increase the popularity still further but also associated the technique with the laboratory - hence the confusion. So, in truth, the technique is ancient but benefits from fairly recent technological advances.

So what is hydroponics? The simple answer is simply growing plants without soil using a water. The real question should really be whether or not this is the system for you and in the next article we shall examine this very question. If you want to learn more about hydroponics just click the link below to take a look at the many articles we have on the topic.

 

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