Hydroponics - How it works.

Hydroponics in the art of gardening without soil. In Latin the word hydroponic means ‘working water’.

The earliest form go hydroponics go back to 600BC, when floating gardens were invented as a way to feed a struggling Aztecan people. Making rafts and place a small layer of soil onto while allowing roots to penetrate the raft and feed from the lies they were floated on.

Plant roots are held in an inert media such as clay pebbles or coco in a “net pot” from which the roots grow into a water solution. This oxygen & nutrient rich solution is then in contact with these roots, increasing nutrient uptake and speeding up growth.

Hydroponics heavily utilises oxygen, so oxygen pumps connected to airs stones are a necessity to keep solutions oxygen rich.

The nutrient solution is the most important part of hydroponics, giving the roots not just food, but also a home. The root system of plants are very sensitive to pH levels so regular monitoring and adjusting is needed. 

Water chillers and heaters keep the solution at optimal temperatures to ensure peak nutrient uptake is achieved. 

There is a many different forms of hydroponic gardening, such as:

• Hand Watering Coco Coir
• Deep Water Culture (DWC)
• Nutrient Film Technique (NFT)
• Aeroponics 
• Flood & Drain/Ebb & Flow
• Drip Feed Systems
• Wick Systems