August 22nd, 2011 What Is Hydroponics?
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Traditional gardeners usually involve getting down and dirty. Applying fertilizers, pesticides and rooting around in the soil is just a part of the job. They plant, divide and re-plant. They do all this for the rewards of producing beautiful and nutritious plants to view and eat. There is, however, another way of growing plants that doesn’t involve coming into contact with soil at all.
That’s what hydroponics is all about.
Hydroponics is the science and practice of growing plants without using soil. Water is used in place of the soil instead. There are of course more specific and technical definitions. But for the home gardener, hobbyist and occasional teacher that’s what it comes down to.
You might wonder how hydroponics gardening is possible. Don’t plants need soil for nutrition, heat, support, water and all the other things they need to grow and reproduce? Not necessarily.
Water is an essential ingredient for plants. But they needn’t get it from the soil, even though that’s one of the most common methods. There are species of plants out there that can grow in sand, gravel or even on or in a body of water.
Plants require some heat energy which usually comes from the sun, or from other heat sources in their environment. But soil warmed by sunlight isn’t the only way to get that. Sunlight and ultraviolet light on leaves works the same way as with plants in soil. Exposing the top part of the plant to sunlight will allow the natural and critical process, photosynthesis, to happen. As with nearly anything in botany, there are exceptions. There are plants that are able to exist without light and use alternative methods to fulfill their needs.
Many plants will interest the hobbyist gardener, and most of them will require physical support. Soil is a commonly known and quite effective way to provide this support. This is partly why plants have evolved wind resistant stems, and roots that spread. Those species of plants that didn’t evolve in this way likely died off thousand or millions of years ago. But artificial aids, such as strings on supports, ice cream sticks glued to the top of a glass and dozens of other methods will work quite well.
One of the most important elements for a plant is without question proper nutrients.Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and a host of trace elements (zinc, copper, iron and others) are essential to plant growth. In nature, these ingredients are absorbed through the soil. But, here again, nutrients can be fed to plants in a number of ways.
Immersing the roots in a container of water that is periodically fed a liquid nutrient solution is one popular hydroponics technique. There are alternative methods as well. Some involve growing plants that are fed through a container that simply retains and controls moisture. The roots are then sprayed often with a mister that douses the roots with a nutrient solution. This crosses into the gray area known as aeroponics.
Hydroponics can be used to grow a wide variety of plants: strawberries, tomatoes, lettuce and many non-fruit or vegetable plants, such as orchids. The list is long. Most soil-based plants can thrive with hydroponics if they are taken care of. The hydroponic effort can be fun and instructive. It can also produce beautiful or nutritious plants without many of the drawbacks of soil-grown plants.
As far as the average hobbyist gardener is concerned though, that’s pretty much there is to it.
Related articles
- Hydroponic Grow Box Kits (juliogarden.com)
- The Basics of Hydroponics (juliogarden.com)
- All About Hydroponics Vegetable Gardening (realestatenoevalley.com)
- Your Own Vegetables (juliogarden.com)
- Using a Grow Box in Your Home (juliogarden.com)
- Plant Physiology and Hydroponics (juliogarden.com)
- A Particular Introduction To Aeroponics (bearathome.com)
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