Hydroponic systems are gardening mechanisms designed to bring a regular or continuous flow of water and nutrients to the roots of a plant without the use of soil. Normally, soil is the source for both water and nutrients, but the soil itself is not required by any plant. Hydroponic systems basically work without use of the ‘middleman’.
The term ‘hydroponics’ was coined by the UC Davis professor, Gericke, in 1929. Though hydroponic systems had been experimented with for many years prior, Professor Gericke was the first to demonstrate that plants could be grown to full size without using any soil. He came up with the word hydroponics as a variation of the ancient Greek word for agriculture, ‘geoponics’.
Although there are hundreds of different hydroponic systems used today, they all fall under seven basic categories; passive, water culture, flood and drain, drip, wick, nutrient film technique, and aeroponic.
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