The History of Hydroponics

History reveals that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon is a big evidence of a hydroponic garden. Moreover, the Aztec Indians in the now Mexico had a system of growing crops on rafts. These rafts are in shallow lakes that you can still see in floating gardens near Mexico City. Therefore, history shows the great significance of hydroponic system of growing plants even in ancient times.

Developments with hydroponics did not however take place in Europe until 1699 when Woodward discovered it. He found out that he can grow plants in a solution of water to which soil had been added.

On the other hand, Liebig, a German scientist, originated using nutrient solutions to study the nutritional requirements of plants in the 1850's. It was then followed by Sachs in 1860. Knop also did some studies of nutrient elements in water solutions in 1861. They grew plants in nutrients-rich solutions with mineral salts. This does away with the soil as a main requirement for growing crops.

Many researches on the nutritional requirements of plants extended through even until the 1870's. By 1925, practical applications of hydroponics were being introduced for the vast development in the greenhouse industry.

The next decade followed with the wide growth as scientists grown mindful of the prospective development of producing hydroponically to sustain the food supply with rapid growth in population. Developments remained and the commercial use of hydroponics opened worldwide gradually. But it was the N.F.T. method by Dr Alan Cooper in the 1970's, along with improved nutritional formulations, that successfully made the hydroponic growing of a wide range of plants commercially possible.

Hydroponics has grown rapidly since the Aztecs and it has become an important method of producing crops in areas of the World where water is precious and land futile for growing plants. With conscious, well maintained hydroponic crops, we can be assured that farming high quality crops can be environment-friendly for tomorrow.

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