The concept of general hydroponics is a confusing one for some. By default, most people associate it with something highly scientific - what with having laboratories, the alteration of a natural process thereby turning it into something artificial. To have a firmer grasp of this concept, let us break this down into its basic components.
Hydroponics comes from a couple of Greek words meaning "working water." The importance of water to plant growth cannot be overstated, because it is actually through the water not through soil itself that nutrients are fed to the plants. Hydroponics at its most basic is simply the growing of plants without soil applying the nutrients directly to the plant roots in a water-based solution.
Let it be known that there's barely anything artificial about this process. There are no genetic controls and no chemical enhancements in hydroponics. Hydroponics just takes the natural process of plant growth and breaks it down into the basic elements. Plants need 4 elements for growth: light, water, nutrients, as well as an anchor for the roots. All of these elements (excluding light, which the sun provides) typically occur through the soil; but as we have previously mentioned, it is not actually the soil itself that feeds the plant roots, but the water in the soil, breaking down the nutrients and minerals and feeding the plant. The only real purpose soil has in plant growth is an anchor for the roots, and a medium through which water feeds them.
In general hydroponics, these four building blocks are taken over directly by the grower, rather than leaving it to the sun and the soil; but all the elements are still there. Indeed, one can say that the natural process isn't disturbed, it is just broken down into parts. The roots are anchored by a different medium other than soil (like vermiculite or coconut are used), and the roots are washed with a water-nutrient solution tailored for the optimum growth and health of the plant. Lighting can either be natural or artificial - grow lights as they are called, designed to maximize the parts of the light spectrum.
The benefits of hydroponic growing are that by breaking down the natural elements for growth into different processes, a grower has more "influence over what the plant needs to thrive, and can make adjustments to maximize plant health and growth. Yes, it is more complicated a process than just putting seeds in soil and watering them; but hydroponic growing can produce some very healthy plants and flowers and food when it is done well. General hydroponics isn't to grow things in an artificial manner, but to have more control within the natural processes. But all that's grown by a basic hydroponic process will be natural.
This article was added on Monday 28 December, 2009.
