A Lesson In Hydroponic History
Hydroponic gardening enjoyed a very powerful but brief stint of popularity in the 1970s. It seemed that hydroponics would soon take over the more conventional forms of farming and become our primary source of food in what we nervously referred to as "The Future."
Now that "The Future" is here, what happened to all of our hydroponic gardens? It was predicted in the 1980s that all of our food would be grown hydroponically by now, yet it's still a challenge to find even one hydroponic farm in a traditional agricultural setting. So what happened?
Stories And Examples
Hydroponic history actually extends much further back than the 1970s. In fact, hydroponic history studies tell us that the famed Hanging Gardens of Babylon (dating all the way back to 600 B.C.E.) may have been the first successful hydroponic gardening story.
There is a very interesting story in the hydroponic history books that tells about the Central American Aztecs in the 11th century. This hydroponic history story tells us that the Aztecs lived in an area where there was no land to grow crops. Rather than starve, the Aztecs improvised a hydroponic solution. They wove rafts out of reeds and other plant material, then placed soil from the bottom of a lake and placed it on the rafts. The rafts were left to float on the river, and plants were rooted in the soil. When the plants grew, their roots penetrated through to the lake below.
Many centuries later, an American scientist named William F. Gericke became the father of modern hydroponics, even inventing the term "hydroponic" itself. It was the 1930s and the first time that the general public really got excited about the possibilities of hydroponic growing. While Gericke's advancements did go down in hydroponic history, his method didn't gain a mainstream following.
During WWII, American and British armed forces took up the cause of hydroponic farming to feed soldiers who might otherwise have not had access to fresh produce. This interesting bit of hydroponic history is all but lost amid other tales of the war, but many soldiers had hydroponic farming to thank for their health during this time.
Later, the 1970s brought about a renewed interest in environmental causes and healthy foods, two things that are now associated with hydroponic farming. If hydroponic history had taught us anything by this time, it was that this growing method could be extremely successful if applied in a sensible way. Unfortunately, hydroponics again failed to gain a successful mainstream following.
Recently, worries of global warming and soil exhaustion have driven farmers, casual gardeners, and many others to examine the possibility of hydroponics again. Although we can't say what the future will bring, we can tell from these hydroponic history stories that a soil-less farming future is definitely within our grasp if we should choose to explore it.
Hydroponic gardening enjoyed a very powerful but brief stint of popularity in the 1970s. It seemed that hydroponics would soon take over the more conventional forms of farming and become our primary source of food in what we nervously referred to as "The Future."
Now that "The Future" is here, what happened to all of our hydroponic gardens? It was predicted in the 1980s that all of our food would be grown hydroponically by now, yet it's still a challenge to find even one hydroponic farm in a traditional agricultural setting. So what happened?
Stories And Examples
Hydroponic history actually extends much further back than the 1970s. In fact, hydroponic history studies tell us that the famed Hanging Gardens of Babylon (dating all the way back to 600 B.C.E.) may have been the first successful hydroponic gardening story.
There is a very interesting story in the hydroponic history books that tells about the Central American Aztecs in the 11th century. This hydroponic history story tells us that the Aztecs lived in an area where there was no land to grow crops. Rather than starve, the Aztecs improvised a hydroponic solution. They wove rafts out of reeds and other plant material, then placed soil from the bottom of a lake and placed it on the rafts. The rafts were left to float on the river, and plants were rooted in the soil. When the plants grew, their roots penetrated through to the lake below.
Many centuries later, an American scientist named William F. Gericke became the father of modern hydroponics, even inventing the term "hydroponic" itself. It was the 1930s and the first time that the general public really got excited about the possibilities of hydroponic growing. While Gericke's advancements did go down in hydroponic history, his method didn't gain a mainstream following.
During WWII, American and British armed forces took up the cause of hydroponic farming to feed soldiers who might otherwise have not had access to fresh produce. This interesting bit of hydroponic history is all but lost amid other tales of the war, but many soldiers had hydroponic farming to thank for their health during this time.
Later, the 1970s brought about a renewed interest in environmental causes and healthy foods, two things that are now associated with hydroponic farming. If hydroponic history had taught us anything by this time, it was that this growing method could be extremely successful if applied in a sensible way. Unfortunately, hydroponics again failed to gain a successful mainstream following.
Recently, worries of global warming and soil exhaustion have driven farmers, casual gardeners, and many others to examine the possibility of hydroponics again. Although we can't say what the future will bring, we can tell from these hydroponic history stories that a soil-less farming future is definitely within our grasp if we should choose to explore it.
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