Hydroponic Ideas

Growing On Hydroponic Ideas

Growing plants in any other medium other than soil seems rather odd, but the fact is the trend of hydroponic growth is a popular one. Hydroponics is a system by which you grow plants in a nutrient rich solution rather than in the soil. Some forms of this system may use the liquid nutritional solution within a lifeless medium (meaning no nutritional value) such as gravel or perlite.

A Brief History

Hydroponic plant growth is nothing new and in fact got its start back in ancient times, specifically the Aztecs and even residents of Babylonia. The plants likely grew in water which obtained its mineral and nutritional content from various sources. It was not until the 19th century that the addition of nutrients and minerals were purposely added to liquid solutions for feeding the plants.

Published work on growing plants without the benefit of soil extends backwards several hundred years with Sir Francis Bacon in 1626. Other scientists and researchers published findings compared plants grown in distilled water to those grown in a nutritional solution with mineral content. Of course, this "solution culture" became the new standard for experimenting with hydroponic plant growth and is still used today.

Physiology Of A Plant

The 1800's brought many revelations to the world of hydroponic gardening such as a plant's ability to absorb nutrients. Essentially, researchers discovered that it is not the soil itself that is conducive to plant growth but rather the nutrients it holds. When a solution culture is used, the plant roots are able to absorb the minerals and nutrients just as they would in the soil. Most plants that are normally land-based can also be grown using hydroponic methods and as expected some will thrive more than others.

Several Aspects Of The Method

There are several types of hydroponic methods, with the above mentioned solution culture being one and a "medium culture" being another. With the medium culture, this involves the use of a solid type of conduit such as pea gravel, perlite or sand, which has no nutritional value and allows the roots to travel through it. With the solution culture, it is a nutritional liquid format which may require different types of containers, based on what is being grown.

With hydroponic plant growth, one of the most important things that have to be monitored beside the nutrition is the amount of light the plants are exposed to. These plants will not thrive unless some type of artificial or natural sunlight is used, spurring on the natural photosynthesis and other cellular changes that plants go through. Hydroponic practices are used widely in certain areas of the world where plentiful land is not available. In addition, there are quite a few gardening enthusiasts who are becoming more knowledgeable about this type of plant growth too.

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