Hydroponics: This farming method doesn’t need soil to grow plants! 

It’s a no-brainer that soil is an essential for growing plants or cultivating crops, isn’t it? Though technology has advanced at an amazing pace over the last few decades replacing humans with machines for farming tasks like ploughing and plucking fruits among others, the significance of soil as an essential element for cultivating crops remained unchanged. However, there has been an astonishing change in this scenario too, thanks to the hydroponics. This farming method uses only water, not soil to grow plants. Now, that is amazing. But how does water substitute soil? Let’s put on our investigative hats and learn more about hydroponics. 

How does hydroponics work?  
As the name implies, the hydroponic technique uses water to grow crops. Interestingly, the term hydroponic finds its origin in a Latin phrase meaning ‘working water’.  But who is the man behind this amazing invention? The answer is Dennis Robert of the University of California, Berkeley. After he made this invention in 1983, the technique has been further improved and modified.  

Now, let’s find out how the technology works. It is very simple. First, containers are placed on the ground or tables. Through these containers, water and nutrient-rich solutions flows continuously. Second, the water is regularly infused with oxygen to ensure that the plant’s root system functions properly. But where have the plants gone? The plants float on the surface of the water. They are placed on buoyant pads to help them float on water. If you look at a hydroponic system, you will notice that the seedlings are on one end, and the mature plants are on the other. This arrangement makes it simple to pick plants, shift the pads along the water’s surface, and establish a linear system.  

How do plants survive without soil?  
Now that you have learned how the system works, your inquisitive mind might wonder how plants survive without soil. Doesn’t a plant require nutrients that only a soil can provide? True, soil provides nourishment to plants. But, in this method, the nutrients are not delivered directly to the plant. They are first dissolved in water and then transferred to the plant’s root system. Because the water already contains nutrients from the soil, hydroponics eliminates the need for the plant to be rooted in the soil. This method not only delivers nutrients to the plant’s doorstep, but also saves the its energy and time spent searching for nutrients. With all that saved energy, plants can now concentrate on maturing and blossoming beautiful flowers and tasty fruits. 

Benefits of the technique 
As you have understood already, the operation of hydroponics is smooth and efficient compared with traditional plantation. Forget about using animals or heavy machinery to cultivate crops, farmers will now be able to save money on insecticides and fertilisers too. Also, the system is reasonably priced to install while farming automation also reduces labour costs. Moreover, the technique requires less land, and therefore, more crops can be grown. 

You will agree that all of these benefits are meaningless if the food produced is of poor quality. But fortunately, this technique has been found to produce high-quality yields. People have observed higher yields in leaf crops when compared to soil cultivation. This has led to the commercial success of hydroponic systems.  

The hydroponic system continues to assist farmers in increasing yields, and with further improvements and upgrades in the future, it can certainly take farming to a new level.