Floating Plant Hydroponics

Hydroponic culture has been around for centuries. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Floating Gardens of China are two of the earliest hydroponics systems. Another example is the floating gardens of the Aztecs. When the Europeans came to the Americas, they were shocked to see trees floating in the middle of a lake. The Aztecs had found a way to create floating beds that could support the trees and suspend the roots in the water. The famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon are thought to have used no soil, only channels of water to support the plants. The Floating Gardens of China were similar to the Floating Gardens of the Aztecs. Civilizations through time have contributed to our modern understanding of Hydroponics. In World War II, the United States military used hydroponics systems to feed their soldiers while at war with Japan. When they were stationed on the infertile Pacific islands, they grew food with hydroponics to have a continual fresh food supply. The word is derived from two Greek words, “Hydro” meaning water, and “ponics” meaning work. Hydroponics has several advantages over conventional soil gardening. The first advantage is that a hydroponics system is more manageable than a soil garden, because hydroponics systems have a more controlled growing environment than an average garden. Most of these systems will be indoors, especially in cold climates, to continue producing plants all year long. In a hydroponics system, you can easily control the temperature of the garden, and protect the garden from harsh conditions such as high winds, hail, snow, sleet, and other potentially destructive forces. Furthermore, the pH of the hydroponics system is much easier to check and regulate than soil. Water pH testing kits are found in many stores for very cheap. Water pH levels are easy to change too. To raise the pH level, you just add soluble Potash. To lower the pH level, you just add Phosphoric acid. Another reason it is more manageable is that you can use a nutrient solution to provide any and all nutrients your plants may need. With soil, it is harder to know what nutrients your plants are really receiving on a regular basis. There are two main varieties of nutrient solutions; powder and liquid. Powder solutions are cheaper but require more work to stir them in and have to be checked more frequently. Liquid solutions are more expensive but are more reliable in the long run, with less maintenance required other than pouring in the liquid and letting it flow through the system. Another advantage of hydroponics over soil gardening, is that it promotes higher quality plant growth. Plants that are grown hydroponically have been known to have greater density and yield than conventionally grown plants. The reason why this is the case is that the plants do not have to search the soil for the nutrients they need. Instead, the …show more content…
The process of growing plants hydroponically has far less maintenance required of the gardener, for many reasons. The first reason is that it reuses the water several times before replacing the reservoir. Once the system is operating with the nutrient solution mixed with the water, it only needs to be checked every 1-2 weeks. The water continuously cycles through the system, using far less water than watering soil frequently. Also, less evaporation occurs in the tube system, so that leaves even more water than can be reused. Another reason that it is more efficient is that it takes up less space. Many hydroponic systems are grown vertically, taking up significantly less land space than a horizontal garden, with exponentially higher yield. Hydroponics systems are especially useful in areas that have a high population density with not much room to grow crops for this reason. This also makes hydroponics a more environmentally friendly solution for feeding the growing population. Another reason that hydroponics is more efficient is because it requires much less day-to-day maintenance to run effectively. Since there is no soil, no digging or weeding is necessary, saving a lot of time and energy for the gardener and the plants themselves. Fertilizer and pesticides are not necessary, due to the stable environment and conditions of the system. This makes the plants more healthy and chemical-free, so it makes them safer to eat as