WHAT IS HYDROPONICS?

The term hydroponics comes from two Greek words, "Hydros," which means water, and "Ponos," which means work. This term is closely related to agriculture and scientific research, rather than gardening or fishing. Hydroponic agriculture can be a great way to overcome food shortages and increase food demand around the world because the population continues to grow and resources don't. The land available for agriculture is decreasing because agricultural land continues to be used to develop other sectors and industries throughout the world. Hydroponics in particular can benefit third world countries where land is scarce and overpopulated.

What is Hydroponic Agriculture?
Hydroponics is part of agriculture where plants are grown in solution or liquid with nutrients. This is usually done in water with fertilizer in it to grow plants, and does not require other media such as soil, sand, stones, gravel, etc. This agricultural process can be further classified into processes based on how nutrients are used and provided, they are :

1. Open hydroponic hydroponics
In open hydroponics, once nutrients are supplied to the roots or after plants are fed through water, nutrients are not recycled or reused.
2. Closed hydroponics
In closed hydroponics, nutrients are collected, taken back and reused or recycled.

How does it work?
In a traditional land-based garden, a factory spends most of its energy developing a very large root system. Therefore, you have to search far and wide on the ground for food and water. In hydroponics, everything is sent directly to the roots of plants. This allows the plant to cut the soil completely, which is slower and more unpredictable in providing food.

Because they no longer have to look for food, plant growth and energy are diverted to the production of leaves, flowers, fruits or vegetables. The root system of hydroponic plants is much smaller than those planted in the soil, so they can be planted closer together and a much larger harvest will result from a smaller space.

Why does Hydroponics work well?

It's simple. If you give the plant exactly what it needs, when needed, in the amount needed, the plant will be healthy as genetically possible. With hydroponics this is an easy task; on the ground is much harder.

With hydroponics the plants grown in the media grow inert and are perfectly balanced pH, nutrients that are channeled to the roots in a very soluble form. This allows the plant to take its food with little effort compared to the soil where the root must look for nutrients and extract it. This is true even when using rich organic soil and upper nutrients. The energy released by the roots in this process is energy that is better spent on vegetative growth and fruit and flower production.

If you plant two plants that are genetically identical using one for soil and hydroponics for other plants, you will immediately see the difference that this factor produces. Faster, better growth and far greater results are just a few of the many reasons that hydroponics is being adapted worldwide for commercial food production and more and more homes, hobby gardeners.