Lemme inform you, if you were marooned on the space station for 6 months and had craving a Denver omelet, hydroponics would help you.

But wait, let's rewind a bit there. First off, what is this Hydrowhatchamacallit? Plants do not really need soil to grow despite the fact that we are accustomed to seeing them cultivated in soil. Hydroponics is a method of breeding plants which utilizes water and melted nutrients. "Hydro" = water and "ponos" = labor. Basically, hydroponics therefore implies "working water". There is a totally grocery aisle of positive results to hydroponics farming.

First, by growing in water the absorption of nutrients is speeded. The growth rate on a hydroponics plant is 30-50 percent faster than in a soil plant grown under similar circumstances. By using less time and utilizing less space, this makes for greater harvests (more!). The needed nutrients are pumped right to the plant by the hydroponics systems. Thus not like in soil, roots do not spread as much as they do. Because the plants do not have to hunt in the soil for the nutrients it demands and this saved energy allows them to grow quicker and produce more, scientists think that the growth velocity of hydroponically grown plants is higher. Quite impressive.

Martian omelet, anyone?

That's right. For a dear number of years NASA has been finding means for space station astronauts and eventually planetary colonizers to generate their own food. It's a necessity as there is no economic or achievable way for them to take 3 years of food provisions with them. Hydroponics proves to be the most efficient way to create one's own fresh foods especially in space where longer term life will need to be sustained as we go out further and further. It will aid minimize the weight of the supplies that have to be taken off the Earth. Colonists will need to use more efficient agricultural strategies than those on Earth because space is at a premium in outer space colonies. Plants bred hydroponically are often larger and healthier than plants grown normally, even though hydroponics doesn't need soil and requires less space than conventional means. Also a cleaner method of growing plants than soil-based systems is hydroponics. Via a plant system, it was also an idea that the dirty water made by the astronauts could be sterilized by recycling.

Enough with the nerdy stuff? What would they probably eat?

Astronauts can literally grow anything their tummies want, as long as they possess the seeds and the space to do so. Fruits. Herbs. Vegetables. Just about anything. So what we'll have are satisfied, healthy astronauts with many green, yellow and red food from Earth to keep their stomachs cheerful. All because of hydroponics.