Hydroponics Historyhistory of hydroponics While Hydroponics history or hydroponics farming may seem like a relatively new way to grow plants, there are records of growing plants in water from ancient Egypt, in Babylon and from the Aztecs. The Chinese also record growing plants in water instead of soil. In 1804, Nicolas de Saussure of France concluded that plants need minerals to grow properly. In 1850, Jean Boussingault did experiments with plants using different soils. By the 1860s, it fell to two German scientists, Sachs and Knop, to try growing plants in water with minerals added in a form the plants could assimilate. They called this nutriculture. There was no further interest in the topic until around 1925, when greenhouse growers began to see advantages to growing in this manner. In 1929, Dr. William F. Gericke of the University of California worked to transform the lab-based nutriculture to a method of producing crops. He called it hydroponics, which is Greek for "waterworking."bringing hydroponics history almost to life. Gericke was so successful, his tomatoes grew 25 feet tall. He grew many different fruits, vegetables, cereal crops, flowers and ornamentals without a problem. His book, "Soilless Gardening" had everyone trying to grow better plants by adding mineral solutions to their gardens. During the 1930s, many scientists experimented with hydroponics. The goal was to produce a viable method of growing fresh produce in areas of the world that were not suitable for traditional farming. During World War II, troops on Pacific Islands with non-arable land were fed fresh produce grown hydroponically. Hydroponic systems were later added to the space program. NASA is still working on this concept for use in space and on other planets. In the 1950s, hydroponics spread to Israel, France, Spain, Italy, Germany and Sweden. By the 1970s, farmers and hobbyists were eager to try growing plants hydroponically. Many were interested in it as a way to protect our environment from excessive pesticide and herbicide chemicals. The ability to grow more per acre than traditional farming was appealing as well. Today, most states in the U. S. support a large greenhouse industry based on hydroponics. These systems work well in small countries where agricultural land is at a premium. Even in areas where fresh water is not readily available, desalination units can be set up to process sea water. Plastic is used primarily today instead of the concrete that was used in the past. With other technological advances like timers and pumps, hydroponics systems are easier to set up and run than ever. This helps to reduce the costs of operation and makes the method more profitable. New innovations are being developed all the time. Today, there are shops specializing in hydroponics where anyone can come in and purchase everything needed to set up their own system. Experts are available to give advice and guide those new to the method so they grow their plants successfully. Hydroponics can be set up virtually anywhere now.
Custom Search
Return to home page of gardening tips idea from Hydroponics History
|
