What is Hydroponics, Why Bother and some History...

You probably don’t need to be told the answer to this question but just in case (and without relying on the Greek derivation[1] of the word) hydroponics is a method of growing plants in a water-based plant food (nutrient) solution without soil. In place of soil, a free draining material (media or substrate) is used to hold onto the food and trap air, two of the main things a plant needs for healthy growth (the sun being the third). The plant is tended just as in conventional growing and this care is extended to the condition of the food mix to make sure it contains a balance of nutrients to match the plants needs.

Hydroponics isn’t a magic wand that turns plants into super-plants; it’s simply a means of providing them with what they need to reach their maximum potential. If we get this right it means that the plants don’t have to work that hard to find what they need, promoting maximal growth and crop yield.

There are significant benefits in a hydroponics approach: 

• Planting density is often much higher than in traditional techniques as the roots don’t have to compete for nutrients, even vertical growing is possible.
• Yields are typically higher as the plant has all it needs to maximize growth and fruit production.
• It makes better use of available resources in that the water and fertiliser mix don’t disappear into the ground becoming unavailable to the plant. When used at commercial scale pollution is also reduced, as crop run-off doesn’t end up in the environment.
• Soil-borne disease is non-existent - there’s no soil!
•  There’s less work once set up - no continuous potting-on and no individual monitoring, watering or fertilisation.
• You can grow plants where it would not normally be possible - you don’t need a garden, indoors works too.
• Chilli plants are highly suited to it.
• It’s fun to try something different!

Hydroponics leads to a better understanding of how plants work which in turn leads to producing better crops, more reliably.

The principles involved are nothing new, the Aztecs channelled water to their growing terraces 7000 years ago (probably to grow chillies!) and ancient Egyptians relied on nutrient rich flood-water from the Nile to grow their crops 5000 years ago.

More recently in the 1920’s Professor Gericke of the University of California showed that it was possible to successfully grow tomatoes using a water and nutrient mix alone. He is believed to have called the technique by the name we all know it today, Hydroponics. Since then hydroponics use has steadily increased to the point where a large percentage of our food is grown using it.