Starting Small - What Hydroponic Beginners Typically Grow First

Hydroponics is the concept of soil less gardening.  The word hydroponics comes from two Greek words, "hydro" meaning water and "ponics" meaning labor.  This concept has been around for thousands of years and many countries, including China, Holland, Germany, and Australia have used hydroponics for crop production with results that are quite amazing. 

Hydroponics is proven to have several advantages over regular soil gardening.  The growth rate on a hydroponic plant is 30 to 50% faster than a soil plant that was grown under the same conditions.  The yield of the plant is also greater.  There are many reasons for the drastic differences between hydroponic and soil plants.  Root growth is stimulated in the hydroponic plants due to the extra oxygen.  Plants with plenty of oxygen in the root system will also absorb nutrients faster.  The nutrients in a hydroponic system are mixed with water and sent directly to the root system.  The plant will not have to search the soil for the nutrients it requires as the nutrients are being delivered to the plant several times per day. 

Hydroponic systems use apparatus that are varied.  There are two basic divisions between systems: water culture and media based.  Systems may also be active or passive. Active systems use pumps and usually timers and other electronic gadgets to monitor the operation.  Passive systems may also incorporate any number of gadgets.  These systems try not to use pumps and may rely on the use of a wicking agent to draw nutrients to the roots.  Media based systems use some form of growing medium.  Some of the more popular media based systems include ebb and flow system; run to waste system, drip feed system, and bottom feed system.  Water culture systems do not use medium.  Some of the more popular water culture systems include raft systems, nutrient film techniques, and aeroponics. 

Hydroponic gardening requires an energy source in order to grow.  Usually, natural sunlight is used, but during the shorter and darker days of winter, many hydroponic gardeners use artificial lights to increase the intensity of light or to expand the daylight length.  Different types of artificial lighting are selected for specific plant varieties and optimum plant growth characteristics.  Different groups of plants will respond in different ways to various wavelengths of radiation.  Light also plays an extremely important role in the production of plant material.  The lack of light is the most inhibiting factor in plant growth.  Crop performance will be reduced as the light is reduced. 

In hydroponics, nutrient solutions are used to feed plants instead of using plain water.  This is due to the fact that the plants are not grown in soil.  When growing hydroponically, the gardener will need to add all of the nutrients the plant needs to the water.  Distilled water will work best for making the nutrients.  Hydroponic supply stores sell a variety of nutrient mixes for specific crops and growth cycles.  Plants can be propagated by a number of methods.  The grower can let a plant go to seed, collect the seed, and start the cycle all over again, which is called germination.  Another method is to take stem cuttings, also known as cloning.  This process does not work with all plants, but it is considered a highly effective technique.  The gardener should also prune the hydroponic plants regularly.  The plant might need to be pruned to focus its energy on the remaining shoots.  However, pruning is an art and should be performed with care.  Damaged or dying roots may also need to be pruned from time to time.  Different plants also have different germination and growing temperatures.  The gardener should check each plant's growing requirements on a regular basis.