Hydroponics refers to a branch of hydroculture that involves growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions in water without soil. Terrestrial plants may be grown with only their roots immersed in inert medium like gravel or perlite or in mineral solutions only without water. Water needs to be delivered to the root system. There are several ways of delivering nutrients to the plant. Common ways include hanging roots directly in nutrient solutions, misting roots, or enclosing root system in a container filled with a substrate.
When suspended in a substrate, the substrate acts as a replacement for soil. Substrates are of many different types these days. Some of the most common ones include wood chips, rockwool, pebbles, sand, sawdust, or perlite among others. Important characteristics that substrates need to have are good water retention capacity and porosity to allow gaseous exchange. Roots develop into the substrate to offer support. This form of agriculture has become very attractive to farmers and it is being practiced worldwide. It is common to see a hydroponics store on the streets.
The technology is old with a long history. Earliest book on the technology was written by Francis Bacon in 1627. The printing of the book was done after Bacon had long died. Upon printing the book, a lot of interest in the technology emerged among members of the public. The result of that interest was research into the method. Several publications were later made since 1699. Modifications of the original inventions and findings have been done over the years.
Today, only two major kinds of hydroponics exist, that is, solution culture and medium culture. Solution cultures do not involve use of any solid medium. Nutrient solutions are the only ones used. On the contrary, solid mediums are used in medium cultures to provide support to root systems.
Further subdivision of solution cultures produces three major subgroups. These subgroups include aeroponics, static solution culture, and continuous-flow solution culture. Names for medium cultures are derived from the type of medium in use. For instance, there are gravel culture and rockwool culture. Medium and solution cultures can be divided further according to how irrigation is done. Under that criterion are top irrigation and sub-irrigation.
Today, most hydroponic reservoirs in use are manufactured from plastic materials. However, formerly, other materials including wood, metal, concrete, glass, and vegetable solids were in wide use. In fact, there are still some reservoirs made of such materials. The reservoirs must never be exposed to sunlight to prevent growth of algae.
Nutrients that are used in hydroponics are usually in dissolved form. Mostly they are in ionic or inorganic form. There are several recipes used to make hydroponic solutions and several different chemicals are combined together to achieve required compositions. Some of the chemicals widely used to produce macronutrients include potassium phosphate, magnesium sulfate, calcium nitrate, and potassium nitrate. Over concentration of salt is likely to happen as plants deplete water and minerals.
This technology is currently used on a commercial scale in many countries. Productivity is very high due to constant nutrient supply and reduced pest problems. However, limited exposure to light and low levels of CO2 can limit growth in plants.
When suspended in a substrate, the substrate acts as a replacement for soil. Substrates are of many different types these days. Some of the most common ones include wood chips, rockwool, pebbles, sand, sawdust, or perlite among others. Important characteristics that substrates need to have are good water retention capacity and porosity to allow gaseous exchange. Roots develop into the substrate to offer support. This form of agriculture has become very attractive to farmers and it is being practiced worldwide. It is common to see a hydroponics store on the streets.
The technology is old with a long history. Earliest book on the technology was written by Francis Bacon in 1627. The printing of the book was done after Bacon had long died. Upon printing the book, a lot of interest in the technology emerged among members of the public. The result of that interest was research into the method. Several publications were later made since 1699. Modifications of the original inventions and findings have been done over the years.
Today, only two major kinds of hydroponics exist, that is, solution culture and medium culture. Solution cultures do not involve use of any solid medium. Nutrient solutions are the only ones used. On the contrary, solid mediums are used in medium cultures to provide support to root systems.
Further subdivision of solution cultures produces three major subgroups. These subgroups include aeroponics, static solution culture, and continuous-flow solution culture. Names for medium cultures are derived from the type of medium in use. For instance, there are gravel culture and rockwool culture. Medium and solution cultures can be divided further according to how irrigation is done. Under that criterion are top irrigation and sub-irrigation.
Today, most hydroponic reservoirs in use are manufactured from plastic materials. However, formerly, other materials including wood, metal, concrete, glass, and vegetable solids were in wide use. In fact, there are still some reservoirs made of such materials. The reservoirs must never be exposed to sunlight to prevent growth of algae.
Nutrients that are used in hydroponics are usually in dissolved form. Mostly they are in ionic or inorganic form. There are several recipes used to make hydroponic solutions and several different chemicals are combined together to achieve required compositions. Some of the chemicals widely used to produce macronutrients include potassium phosphate, magnesium sulfate, calcium nitrate, and potassium nitrate. Over concentration of salt is likely to happen as plants deplete water and minerals.
This technology is currently used on a commercial scale in many countries. Productivity is very high due to constant nutrient supply and reduced pest problems. However, limited exposure to light and low levels of CO2 can limit growth in plants.
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