Hydroponics the Beginnings

Hydroponics is defined as "the cultivation of plants in nutrient solution rather than in soil," or simply as "the science of gardening without soil."

As early as 600 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar II built the "hanging gardens" in the dry, arid and rain-starved area of Babylonia. These famous gardens, tagged as one of the Seven Wonders of the World, blossomed with plants grown, not in soil, but in a steady stream of water from converted from the Euphrates River. The practice of hydroponics can be traced back to Ancient China, Egypt and India.

Clearly it was a well-known fact but the recording of the idea that "Plants need certain mineral elements in order to grow," is first attributed to Leonardo De Vinci in 1492. One hundred years later the experiments of a Belgian man, Jan van Helmont, demonstrated that plants obtain substances from water. In the sixteen hundreds, Robert Boyle of Ireland further documented the growth of plants in glass vials of water. At the end of the sixteenth century, Englishman John Woodward experimented to learn how plants were obtaining food and made an important discovery that it was both substances from both soil and water that allowed plants to grow.

Later French chemist Nicolas de Saussure conducted crop nutrition experiments and found that plants are composed of chemical elements obtained from water, soil and air. In the 1850s, Jean Boussingault experimented further with growing plants in a variety of mediums such as sand, quartz and charcoal. Boussingault proved that water was essential because it provided hydrogen and that plant materials were made up of hydrogen and carbon dioxide, which they pull from the air.

These scientific discoveries and confirmations led to the idea of skipping the growing medium and growing plants only in water with a solution of necessary minerals. German scientist Sachs and Knop began growing plants in a water and solution culture and named the process "nutriculture." It took until around 1925 for the greenhouse industry to become interested in the idea of hydroponics. In 1925 Dr. William F. Gericke from the University of California Davis converted the smaller lab scale nutriculture methods to commercial crop production with impressive results.

He grew vegetables, fruits, cereals crops, ornamentals and flowers using the hydroponics method. His tomato plants were recorded to be twenty-five feet high and required a ladder for harvesting. It was Gericke who dropped the name nutriculture and began calling the method "hydroponics," from hydro, which means water, and ponics, which means labor, in other words, waterworks. Gericke wrote "Soiless Gardening" and a new phenomenon in gardening began.

When World War II began in 1939, the United States Army and Royal Air Force began using hydroponics at their military bases. Hydroponics proved to be a viable way to grow food for the troops serving on rocky islands. By the 1950s the commercial use of hydroponics spread around the world and became popular in countries including Spain, France, Sweden, Germany, the USSR and Israel. Ultimately hydroponics allows smaller countries to grow food without diverting valuable land. In South West Africa, Diamond Mines Limited produces tons of fresh tomatoes and lettuce in the gravel and sand remaining after mining.

What are the advantages of Hydroponics Gardening?

-The growth rate of a hydroponics plant is 30-50 percent faster than a plant grown in soil.

-The yield of the plants is also higher.

-Extra oxygen stimulates root growth.

-Hydroponics plants use very little energy to find and use food and use the stored energy for producing fruit.

-Hydroponics plants are generally healthier with less bug infestation, fungus and disease.

Why is Hydroponics Gardening Greener?

Hydroponics gardening is preferable for the environment for several reasons.

-Hydroponics plants use much less water than soil grown plants.

-Fewer pesticides are needed for hydroponics crops.

-Topsoil erosion isn't an issue with hydroponics gardening because no soil is required.

Hydroponics gardening is old idea that deserves a new look as a greener growing option with many advantages and successful outcomes. It may look mysterious but hydroponics gardening is an old idea that deserves a new look as a greener growing option with many resource saving advantages and highly successful returns.

Find out about Omega Hydroponic Garden System where they make this old idea work the modern way.

Sources:
Book: The Hydroponic Garden

http://www.hydroponicsonline.com/lessons/History/lesson2-1history.htm

http://classes.hortla.wsu.edu/hort425/1999/paper2/hshydroponics/allhist.html

http://home.howstuffworks.com/hydroponics1.htm

http://www.hydroponics.net/learn/hydroponic_gardening_for_beginners.asp