Start Your Own Hydroponic Garden

Not only is hydroponic farming the healthier option, but it also uses fewer resources and produces higher yields. But what is hydroponic gardening? It is a way of growing plants without soil where the crops grow directly in nutrient-rich water. It allows producers to provide food anyplace in the world, at any season of the year, and to net higher output with fewer resources, and it requires less space than conventional farming.

- Gary Wiid

This method has a futuristic quality about it, but you might be surprised to learn the practice stretches back centuries. Some theorise that around 600 BC, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were established with hydroponic methods. Historians can conclude with more certainty that the Aztecs used a style of hydroponic farming in the 10th and 11th centuries when they began to farm on Lake Tenochtitlan.

Today, hydroponic cultivation has given rise to some of the world’s best cannabis. The increasing popularity of cannabis cultivation has massively contributed to advancements in hydroponic systems and nutrient formulation, and it continues to help write the modern history of hydroponics. But what more is there to know about this age-old technique embraced by farmers worldwide?

Hydroponics is a loosely defined term; there are many different unique systems that can be classified as hydroponics. The common denominator all hydroponic systems share is that they are soilless systems that provide three main ingredients: nutrients, oxygen, and water.

Deep water culture (DWC) is the most basic of all hydroponic systems. This system is good for beginners as it is very cost effective and easy to run. The idea is simple. Plants are put in separate containers and each is placed in a grow tray that is suspended in water. Alternatively, companies such as Pioneer Plastics have created ready-to-use kits.

In the DWC setup, the water tank has an air pump to keep the water oxygenated, and nutrients are then added to the water to feed the plant via the roots. The roots can stay submerged and still receive oxygen thanks to oxygenating air pumps.