Many know of countries like Egypt and Israel as dry but they produce food for export. Many dry countries have resolved to measures and technology to aid in production of foods to feed their generations. Hydroponic gardening is a technological way of feeding plants with required nutrients for high production without using soil.
History
Researcher across the globe invented this technique that uses the essential and trace nutrients needed by the plant, mostly terrestrial, to enhance the production of good yields. Though the technology has been utilized since 1859, the 20th century has embarked on full mobilization of resources in various countries especially that lack fertile land, i.e. desert and rocky areas, to promote high production of foods. In 1930, the first successful hydroponics gardening to grow vegetables occurred in Wake Island.
Types
There are two main techniques of hydrophonic gardening: solution culture and medium culture. The solution culture is further divided into static solution culture, continuous flow solution culture and aeroponics. The solution culture purely uses nutrients in a solution form; where a section of roots are dipped into the solution. For aeration, the roots are either dipped partly or for total immersion, aeration is facilitated through underground piping.
Medium culture is divided into two; passive sub-irrigation, and ebb and flow or flood and drain sub-irrigation or top irrigation. This method involves growing the plants in an inert porous medium where they can access water and fertilizer through capillary action. The plant absorbs what it needs for growth.
Process
When a plant sinks its roots deep in the soil, it is in search of nutrients and water. By using hydroponic gardening, the plant is grown in a cell. The plant roots are dipped in a container that contains the essential nutrients for maximum production. In the cell, the culture has no soil.
Though many have associated the hydroponic gardening to soilless culture that uses gravel or sand to grow foods and plants, hydroponic is clearly defined by Gericke as a technique of rowing cops purely on mineral nutrient solutions. No solid medium is used for the roots.
Hydoponic gardening can be practiced on a plastic, clay, glass or metallic containers. The plants needs magnesium, calcium, potassium, nitrates, sulphates, phosphates and trace metals like copper, zinc, manganese, boron, chorine, nickel and iron. Air and water is essential for plant growth.
Applicability
Hydroponics has gained grounds outside scientific experimentation and laboratories to private farms. This has been necessitated by the high increase in crop production/yields and the applicability of the technique in crowded places like in urban areas where there is little available land/soil and space.
In addition, desert, rocky and sterile areas have much to benefit from hydroponic gardening. The technique can be effective in these areas to production of clean, safe and high yields at low cost. This is compounded by less maintenance costs due to less crop diseases. There is always supply of foodstuff, not like the natural way of depending on rain to plant your crops.