3R Lighting/ Tutorial: What is Hydroponics?

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Hydroponics

Hydroponics is a word coined by Dr. William F. Gericke of the University of California at Davis. It comes from two Greek root words "hydro" meaning "water" and "ponics" meaning "work" or "put, place"; in other words, water does the work of carrying the fertilizer, i.e. water puts things somewhere else.

Before Dr. Gericke coined the word "Hydroponics", these early methods and techniques were often called "Chemical Gardening". This reflected the current theories of the time--that everything mankind needs can be synthesized artificially and combined it with a minimalist sensibilty.

Shortly afterwards, the theories labelled "Organic Gardening" by Jerome Rodale arose as a response. Organic Gardening emphasizes the health of the soil and a philosophy that anything that is "Natural" and complex must be good. It was a counterpoint to the sterile and strict Chemical Gardening school.

Yet later on, but still in the 20th century, Dr. Luther Thomas coined the term "Bioponics" which combines the best aspects from each school of thought. Bioponics builds on the strong chemical nutrient base while adding biological activity in the root zone for enhanced growth.

Today, most hydroponic growing is simply a form of specialized container gardening. The main advantages to gardening hydroponically are speed, control, and the flexibilty to grow indoors, outdoors or in a protected environment. Using Hydroponics techniques for growing plants can increase the speed of growth significantly.

Just like us humans, plants are mostly made of water. Every single thing a plant consumes is either water soluable or else it is dissolved in the air. The fertilizers the plant uses to grow and produce leaves, fruit or seeds or just plant cells at all, are usually called "nutrients" in hydroponics.

Please allow one note here--do not be scared off by the vocabulary used in hydroponics: there are a whole lot of 65 cent words used in this field. Sometimes the big words are good because they are precise; sometimes the big words are only used just to justify the cost of a college education.

Here is the first concept to get a handle on:

There is no ONE, single way to grow plants hydroponically--there are many, many ways to grow plants right.

You can even combine hydroponic nutrients with plants grown in soil, or organic gardening techniques combined with hydroponically grown plants.

Indeed, in our experience, most people develop their own techniques and preferences. We find this freedom and diversity totally cool since we live in America. There are some guidelines and "best practices" some of which are presented here, but have fun: plants are live and life can either be fun or a drag--it is up to you.