What is Hydroponics? Definition and Origin
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In case you are be questioning what is Hydroponics and where the word Hydroponics comes from, the term originated in Greece. The two root words “hydro” and “ponic” mean water and working or working water. Hydroponics is defined as a method for cultivating Plants without soil. As a method for growing Plants, water is used as a nutrient carrier and water, air or an inert material is used in place of soil.
Hydroponics is not New
It is believed that one of the historic Seventh Wonders of the World, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, was actually a hydroponics garden. Other ancient civilizations besides the Babylonians that made use of the hydroponics growing method included Egyptians and Aztec Indians.
Many important scientists have worked with hydroponics in order to discover for themselves what is hydroponics and how they can exploit it. Sir Francis Bacon also had questions about what is hydroponics; and, subsequent to his experiments, he wrote a book in the year 1627 entitled Sylva Sylvarum that was about growing soil-needy 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 as a source.
Refining the Nutrient Solution
Discovering what hydroponics is has developed into an important branch of science, and hydroponics continues to reign as a scientific subject. During the 1800s, plant physiology scientists discovered that plants use the inorganic ions in water for their nutritional needs. That meant that plants are able to gain from essential minerals necessary for growth. The nutrient solutions being used today are derived from what was discovered during those early experiments. By the 1860s, Julius von Sachs and Wilhelm Knop developed the mineral solution culture still in use for growing plants.
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 current nutrient solutions for hydroponics.
Nutrients and Growing Mediums in Hydroponics
Hydroponics is proving is that a plant does not need soil for it to grow; what it needs, instead, are the mineral nutrients found in the soil. Before the plant can absorb the minerals, these nutrients must be dissolved in water. If there are enough nutrients added to a water source, the plant is able to grow from the liquid instead of the soil. Also, if plants are coated with enough of a nutrient solution often enough, they can remain suspended in air and will still thrive.
Besides air and water, different items 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, they are called hydroponic mediums.
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Once you have answered for yourself what is hydroponics and it becomes obvious that it persists as a significant subject for study, you will recognize that it is well grounded in science and has been proven to work for all types of people over a long period. It adds credibility to understand what hydroponics is and how it can benefit your life.
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June 26th, 2008 at 11:59 am
hi,
Literally Hydroponics is an alternate way of growing Plants in water instead in soil.
I like Hydroponics Plants which already proven that produce higher in nutritional value than field grown crops.