What is Hydroponic Gardening?

Hydroponic gardening, also known as "soil-less" is the concept of growing plants without the use of soil. Hydroponic gardening is known to have many advantages over soil gardening. Plants that are grown soil-less tend to have a growth rate of 30 to 50 percent faster than plants that are grown in soil.

Hydroponic gardening has been around for many decades. In fact, the hanging garden of Babylon and the floating gardens of China are some of the earliest hydroponic plants. In 1950, scientists began their experimentation of hydroponic gardening. Since then, countries such as Australia, Holland and Germany have become involved in the concept of soil-less gardening. Experts say that hydroponic plants have less problems such as bug infestations and diseases, which make them healthier plants. It is said that they are beneficial to the environment, as they use very little water than plants that are grown in soil.

There are certain things that should be done to produce healthy hydroponic plants. Choosing the right container for planting is an important step. The best containers to use for hydroponic planting are dark colored plastics. The darker the color is, the less likely algae will grow in the water. If algae starts to grow, it will act as a parasite, sucking all the nutrients from the plants. If you do not have dark containers available, you can simply cover each container with aluminum foil or dark plastic. Before choosing the containers, you should also, consider the type of plants that will be grown.

Vegetables that are grown in a hydroponic garden are healthier and taste better. Growing them require very little effort, making it easy for even a novice gardener. When plants are grown in soil, they use a large root system to search for food and water, but those that are grown through hydroponic gardening, have smaller roots that allow food and water to be fed directly to them. This gives them an advantage over soil grown plants, as they grow much faster.