What Is Hydroponic Gardening?

Hydroponic gardening is growing plants in water without soil. Many people with a love for gardening are trying their hand in this area.

No Soil

In the normal context of nature, plants require soil to grow. The soil in this case serves different purposes.

The soil provides the plant with stability from the wind for example, or heavy rain. It also provides the plant with all the nutrients and energy that it needs to keep growing.

In the case of hydroponics, the above-mentioned uses of soil are not required anymore, and soil is essentially replaced by water, a liquid fertiliser, and inert media.

In hydroponic gardening, you can use what we call a net pot, which serves as a container for the plant and its roots to grow. The net pot is structured in such a way that roots can pass through to reach a nutrient-rich solution found below the plant.

This process enables a vast variety of fruit and vegetables that can be grown in hydroponics.

Technology

Hydroponics is not necessarily a new technology and has been used around the world for thousands of years.

The earliest instances of hydroponics date back to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Floating Gardens of China. Whilst the basics of hydroponics have not changed, we now have better knowledge and technology, that enable us to grow plants better, in terms of speed and nutritional value.

The theory behind it is that plants being grown in hydroponic gardening can absorb nutrients better and more efficiently than those being grown in soil.

However, you need to make sure that the plants have the right level of nutrients and PH balance required.

Lighting, usually artificially, is provided by LED lights. Pollination also happens manually, as traditional pollinators such as bees are not present. For this reason, a manual tool, such as a toothbrush, is used to gently create non-natural pollination.

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