submit urlsubmit rss feedadd directory

article

Hydroponics is crop production with mineral nutrient solutions instead of soil containing silt and clay. Terrestrial plants may be grown with their roots in the mineral nutrient solution only or in an inert medium, such as sand, gravel or rockwool. A variety of techniques exist.

Plant physiology researchers discovered in the 1800s that plants absorb essential mineral nutrients as inorganic ions in water. In natural conditions, soil acts as a mineral nutrient reservoir but the soil itself is not essential to plant growth. When the mineral nutrients in the soil dissolve in water, plant roots are able to absorb them. When the required mineral nutrients are introduced into a plant's water supply artificially, soil is no longer required for the plant to thrive. Almost any terrestrial plant will grow with hydroponics, but some will do better than others. It is also very easy to do; the activity is often undertaken by very young children with such plants as watercress. Hydroponics is also a standard technique in biology research and teaching and a popular hobby. There is little commercial hydroponic crop production because it is a more expensive method than traditional agriculture.

History


Contrary to some modern sources, ancient peoples such as the Babylonians and Aztecs did not use hydroponics. The mineral nutrient solutions required for hydroponics were not developed until the 1800s. The so-called Floating Gardens of the Aztecs (chinampas) used soil. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were supposedly irrigated roof gardens but there is no evidence they used hydroponics.

More on [ Hydroponics ]


directory of related categories

 
 
directory of related topics

Hydroponics :: Materials and Supplies
Hydroponics :: Horticulture

 
Hydroponic RSS feed
L.A. Times - Home & Garden

Hot Property: Julianna Margulies' Santa Monica home for sale at $4.5 million
Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Hot Property Whenever I walk into a hospital emergency room, I still look for Nurse Hathaway -- the one who goes the extra mile for her patients, even when someone who looks like George Clooney is distracting her at the moment.
Windsor Square-Hancock Park Historical Society house tour spotlights a 1908 survivor brought back from the brink.
Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Architectural photographer Mary E. Nichols and Keith Wood saw good bones beneath the Wilton Place property's shabby facade. AS an architectural photographer and confirmed "house-aholic," Mary E. Nichols has seen many a residential wreck. But the 1908 specimen at 212 S. Wilton Place -- part of an L.A. street listed on the National Register of Historic Places -- was a house of horrors.
Only in Malibu: the $2-million mobile home
Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Bluff-side Paradise Cove and Point Dume Club take manufactured-home living to new heights. If you want to live among gas-guzzling, tax-evading, hippie-gypsies running from the law, then Malibu's mobile-home parks are not the places to look (as the Who might otherwise suggest in its hit song "Going Mobile"). Here you will find no country-trekking trailers, but double-wides and manufactured homes placed permanently atop sweeping ocean-side bluffs. In fact, the term "mobile-home park" is rather misleading in this mansion- and estate-packed section of the globe.

 
Subscribe to Gardening RSS feed

directory of related sites

Do-It-Yourself Hydroponics - Pictoral demonstration of and hints about how to build various simple home hydroponic systems.

Gardenweb Hydroponics Forum - Forum for hydroponic discussions catering to home hobbyists.
Meta Description: [ This forum is for the discussion of hydroponics--the process of growing plants in water-based solutions. It is meant to cover techniques, equipment and appropriate plants. ]

Grow Your Own Vegetables Without Soil - An overview of hydroponics with background information, explanations of different hydroponic techniques, and instructions on how to make a hydroponic system work. Includes information on nutrient management.

500 HydroJoe's Hydroponics Page - Discussion and pictures of drip, flood and drain, wick, and combo systems along with a message board.

Hydroponic Gardening - Maximum Yield - Web version of a how-to hydroponic gardening and indoor gardening bi-monthly magazine. Offers articles, special features, contests, contact information, availability and archives.
Meta Description: [ Hydroponics gardening resources by Maximum Yield, a free how-to hydroponics gardening and indoor gardening bi-monthly magazine that is distributed internationally through stores that retail hydroponics gardening products. ]

Hydroponics as a Hobby - A circular from the Extension at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, offers a basic history and guide to hobby hydroponics.

Hydroponics Online - Hydroponics tutorials, forum, free garden designs and descriptions plus photos and grower bulletin boards.

Jack's hydroponic info pages - Jack's Hydroponic Info Pages provide extensive info on gardening indoors with Hydroponics for the newbie and for the expert gardener.

Paul's Hydroponic and NFT Growing Page - Practical information and experiences from a hobby grower. Including introductions on the various growing methods available.
Meta Description: [ Hydroponic and NFT soiless practical growing information for the home grower including NFT (Nutrient film technology) and water culture systems ]

Practical Hydroponics Magazine - An Australian bi-monthly hydroponics magazine with a handful of free articles for online reference.
Meta Description: [ Hydroponics Australia - Practical Hydroponics and Greenhouses Magazine. Hydroponics, aquaponics and greenhouse magazine for commercial and hobby growers, irrigators, horticulturists, researchers, educators and merchants!. ]

Ray Schneider's Weedless Garden - Pictures and descriptions of indoor and outdoor systems devised by a hobbyist.

S.H.A.R.P. The Super Hydroponic Awesome Radish Project - Introductory and advanced home hydroponic concepts including lesson plans for teachers. Includes links and an FAQ.

Simple Sand Hydroponics - Explains how to build a home hydroponics system, covering hardware supplies, media, nutrients, and tips for success.
Meta Description: [ All you need to know to grow vegetables hydroponically for the kitchen table or for a school project. ]

Simply Hydroponics - Hydroponic University - A series of basic tutorials, FAQ's, free system plans, and contact information for detailed questions.
Meta Description: [ Supplying the best hydroponic , organic gardening and container gardening equipment and how to information about hydroponic and organic gardening we sell quality organic & hydroponic gardening supplies ]

The World of Hydroponics - Large collection of related articles and FAQs
Meta Description: [ A Hidroponia pode ser Inorgânica, Organo-Inorgânica ou Orgânica / Hydroponics can be Inorganic, Organic-Inorganic or Organic ]

Virginia Cooperative Extension - Home Hydroponics - An introduction describing plant requirements, types of systems and media plus some nutrient basics and descriptions of common deficiencies.

Hydroponic related videos
The methods of growing comercial hydroponic lettuce. ...
Next Video

 

HOMEADVERTISINGABOUT US

articlesartsbusinesscomputersgameshealthhospitalshomekids & teensnewsmobilephysiciansrecreationreferenceregionalscienceshoppingsocietysportsworld


Submit a Site About Become an Editor