What is hydroponics?

Hydroponics is a method of growing crops without the presence of soil. A plant receives fertiliser from a special solution that contains all the necessary nutrients (a complex of macro and micro elements).

 The definition of hydroponics as a method of growing plants was given by the famous American scientist William Gericke, who experimented with vegetables by planting them in containers with various nutrient solutions (without using soil).  In 1936, after a number of successful trials, Gericke published his scientific work, where he first used the new term.

 Modern scientists-agronomists for decades, have been trying to determine the optimal composition of mineral salts and elements that crops need for normal growth and development.  The result of their long-term work has shown that elements like iron, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, nitrogen, sulphur and others are extremely important for good nutrition.  In total, in addition to carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, plants need about sixteen essential trace elements.

 Scientists managed to find out that in the absence of, for example, potassium in the diet, plant growth stops, and with a lack of calcium, the root system stops developing.  For the formation of chlorophyll, plants need such important elements as magnesium and iron, but it turns out that without phosphorus and sulphur, proteins vital for plant cells for the formation of protoplasm and nucleus are not formed.

 Hydroponics allow you to artificially regulate the growing conditions of plants.  Applying it, you can create a special diet for different crops, which will provide their needs with all the necessary elements to the maximum, so that you can get the maximum yield, and of excellent quality.

 In greenhouses and greenhouses of a closed type, the hydroponic method allows you to grow plants in several tiers, which saves a significant amount of space.  At the same time, the equipment allows you to adjust the concentration of carbon dioxide, which has a beneficial effect on the process of photosynthesis, makes it possible to set the humidity and air temperature that are optimal for plants, and also to change the intensity and duration of indoor lighting.

 And since nutrition with this method of cultivation is supplied to the root system of plants in a metered and easily accessible form for plants, this significantly saves resources and reduces labour costs.  For this reason, hydroponics is especially relevant for areas with difficult climatic conditions, where there is a lack of natural humidity.