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History

The phenomenon of hydroponic growing itself goes back to the primordial soup. Hydroponic growing actually preceded soil-based growing based on the theory that terrestrial Terrestrial: Consisting of land, not water. Living on land. life followed water based organisms after their adaptation to an air breathing physiology. The science has developed from the findings of experiments carried out to determine plant composition and exactly which substances plants require for growth. Such work on plant constituents dates back as early as the 1600's. However, plants were being grown in soilless culture far earlier than this. The first known instance of hydroponics being used as a farming tool is the Hanging

Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics dating back to several hundred years BC depict the growing of plants along the Nile without soil.

The worlds rice crops have been grown hydroponically from time immemorial. The floating gardens of the Chinese, as described by Marco Polo in his famous journal, are another example of hydroponic culture.

The Aztecs of Central America developed an ingenious method of utilizing the concepts of hydroponics. Hostilely treated by their more powerful neighbors and denied any arable land, they were driven to the marshy shores of lake Texcoco in the Central valley of what is now Mexico, where they established a modest city called Tenochititlan. In what must have been a long process of trial and error, they learned how to build rafts of rushes and reeds they called chinampas. They lashed the stalks together with tough roots and piled up sediment from the shallow lake bottom on the surface of the chinampas. Because the sediment came from the lake bottom it was rich in a variety of organic debris wealthy in usable minerals. The chinampas supported abundant crops of vegetables, flowers, and even trees. The roots of the plants grew through the floor of the chinampas allowing a constant water source and root oxygenation. The chinampas were sometimes joined together to form floating islands as much as two hundred feet long flanked by waterways and drainage canals. Some chinampas even had a hut for a resident gardener. On market days, the gardener might pole his raft close to a marketplace, picking and handing over vegetables or flowers as shoppers purchased them. Talk about local agriculture!

The chinampas were such a success they supported a thriving civilization of over 200,000 people at the height of the Aztec rule, making it larger than any city in Europe at the time. A makeshift village invented out of creative desperation to stave off impoverishness ultimately proliferated into a system of horticulture capable of supporting the capitol city of Central Mexico- a testament to the efficiency of intensive soilless culture.

When the Spaniards arrived in the New World, the sight of these floating islands must have astonished Cortes and his gang. William Prescott, the historian who chronicled the destruction of the Aztec empire by the conquering Spaniards, described the chinampas as "Wondering Islands of Verdure, teeming with flowers and vegetables and moving like rafts over the water." Chinampas continued in use on the lake well into the 19th century. Similar systems flourished in present-day Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador well before Columbus' arrival in the New World. Functional examples of the system persist today in Xochimilco in Mexico City and southwest Tlaxcala State, Mexico.

The earliest recorded scientific approach to discover plant constituents was in 1600 when Belgian Jan Van Helmont showed in his classic experiment that plants obtain substances from water. He planted a 5-pound willow shoot in a tube containing 200 pounds of dried soil isolated to ensure accuracy. After 5 years of regular watering with rainwater he found the willow shoot increased in weight by 160 pounds, while the soil lost less than 2 ounces. His conclusion that plants obtain substances for growth from water was correct. However, he failed to realize that they also require carbon dioxide and oxygen from the air.

The modern theory of chemistry made great advances during the 17th and 18th centuries and along with the scientific method revolutionized the scope of scientific research. The improvement in the scientific communities grasp of substances and their makeup allowed for a better understanding of plant constituents and laid the foundation of the modern perception of plant growth requirements.

In 1792, the English scientist Joseph Priestly discovered that plants placed in a chamber having a high level of carbon dioxide will gradually absorb it and give off oxygen. A couple of years later, Jean Ingen-Housz carried Priestly's work a step further and demonstrated that plants set in a chamber filled with carbon dioxide could replace the gas with oxygen within several hours if the chamber was placed in sunlight. Ingen-Housz went on to establish that this process worked more quickly in conditions of bright light, and that only green parts of the plant were involved.

Through various experiments during the middle of the 19th century scientists determined the composition of plants and what substances they required for growth. It turned out that soil itself was not found to be directly beneficial to the plant for anything other than support. It was the minerals incorporated into the soil, and the corresponding spaces in between (for oxygen) that the plants thrived off of. The next step was to eliminate the growing medium and grow plants in a water solution that contained all of the necessary minerals.

In 1860 Julius von Sachs, Professor of Botany at the University of Wurzburg, published the first standard formula for a nutrient solution that could be dissolved in water and in which plants could be successfully grown. The technique was termed "nutriculture" and ended the long search for the secrets of plant vitality.

These early investigations in plant nutrition demonstrated that normal plant growth can be achieved by immersing the roots of a plant in a water solution containing salts of Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P), Sulfur (S), Potassium (K), Calcium (Ca), and Magnesium (Mg). Hydrogen (H), Oxygen (O), and Carbon (C) are all derived from the air and water. These nine elements are defined as the macronutrients.

With further refinement in laboratory techniques, scientists established seven elements required by plants in relatively small quantities- the micronutrients or trace elements. These include Iron (Fe), Chlorine (Cl), Manganese (Mn), Boron (B), Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu), and Molybdenum (Mo).

Interest in the practical application of nutriculture did not develop until around 1925, when the greenhouse industry expressed interest in its use. Greenhouse soils had to be replaced frequently to overcome problems of soil structure, fertility, and pests. All these problems were alleviated in soilless culture.

In 1929, Dr. William F. Gericke of the University of California effectively transformed his nutriculture laboratory into a commercial crop production operation. He termed his nutriculture systems "hydroponics", meaning literally "water" (hydro) "working" (ponos) in Greek. His operation was a tremendous success. Newspapers printed outlandish headlines claiming an agricultural revolution with pictures of Dr. Gericke atop his ladder harvesting his 25 ft tomato plants. According to author J.S. Douglas, "The American Press hailed it as the most colossal invention of the century, reporting…that farmlands had become relics of the past." While we are currently in the midst of an agricultural revolution the claims of this "colossal invention" were premature because the techniques and systems themselves were rudimentary and required much technical knowledge. The unfounded claims actually did more to harm the acceptance of hydroponics than it did to help. People feeding off the fervor created by the press banked on selling useless equipment to unknowing consumers hoping to take advantage of the new "colossal invention". The disdain created by this farce lingered for many years and left the science of hydroponics dormant until our global endeavors deemed it undeniable.

Scientific curiosity in hydroponics was revived and government sponsored experiments began when World War II started in 1939. The United States and British Army's established hydroponic units at military bases on several islands in the Pacific to provide fresh produce to troops during wartime. After WW II the military continued to use hydroponics as its sole method of overseas food production. The US Army's hydroponic branch grew over 8,000,000 pounds of fresh produce in 1952, a peak year for military demand. Some of the most successful operations have been those at isolated bases, notably in Guyana, Iwo Jima, and Ascention Island. During the middle of the 20th century many setbacks were overcome, including crude environmental controls, poor rooting mediums, and the use of unsuitable materials. Concrete used for growing beds leached lime into reservoirs and galvanized and iron pipes corroded quickly, also releasing harmful or toxic substances into nutrient solutions.

With the development of plastics, hydroponics had finally arrived as a viable way of cultivation. Plastics freed growers from the costly construction and destructive properties of the early system components. With the development of suitable pumps, timers, plastic plumbing, and effective growing media hydroponic systems could now be automated, computerized, and streamlined reducing both capital and operational costs. Hydroponics could now be available for personal and commercial uses in a cost-effective manner. It turns out Benjamin Braddock was on to something other than Mrs. Robinson after all! back to top

Present

An article in Forbes magazine entitled, "Food Supply- Will Help from Science Come in Time?" calls hydroponics the "most spectacular current breakthrough" yet for solving the world's food problems. An article in the Los Angeles Times entitled, "Hydroponics: A New Chapter in Food Technology", states, "…for the past several years, hydroponics has been refined to the point where it is now a commercially viable way to grow food." Reading the accounts in the media leads one to believe that hydroponics is a recent development in scientific technology that will save the world from starvation. Yes, it may very well help save the world from a food shortage, but it is hardly a new scientific development as we have seen.

A basic premise to keep in mind about hydroponics is its simplicity. Think of growing a plant in terms of a multitude of building blocks needing to be put together in certain configurations and concentrations. The beauty of this analogy is that the plant puts the puzzle pieces together; all you have to do is present the materials to it. Humans have a knack of getting stuck in a rut when it comes to progressive ideas. Paradigm shifts do not come a dime a dozen. How much more sense would it make to implement agriculture on a predominantly local level? Taking advantage of rooftops, garages, vacant warehouses, etc. Every city could operate it's own agricultural operation, in turn maximizing the freshness of the product and the overall

As an example of the need for hydroponics, in 1950 there was a total of 3.7 million acres of land under cultivation in the United States. At the time the population in the United States was 150,718,000 people. In 1970 the total acreage in cultivation had dropped to 3.2 million and the population had grown to 204,000,000 people. In the immediate present much of this can be accounted for through better cultivation practices, but the overall trend cannot go on forever. In other words, you can only grow so many ears of corn on a corn plant. As of December 19, 2002 at 4:11.35 pm EST the population of the United States was estimated to be 288,730,416 people. As of October 4th, 2004 at 7:00.34 pm EST the population of the US was 294,438,718 or relatively a net gain of a

Most of the loss comes from urban development. According to the American Farm Trust (www.farmland.org), America loses two acres of farmland every minute. More startling is the fact that we lost arable land 51% faster in the 90's than we did in the 80's. Further, we are losing our most fertile and productive land 30% faster. As these trends continue with intrinsic population growth and development we will have to find a more efficient way to produce food.

A perfect example of the above statistics comes from an essay by Gary Deutschmann Sr. about the Salt River Valley Project. The growth pattern of the Salt River Valley, which surrounds Phoenix, AZ, is characteristic of many areas not only in the United States, but around the world. Settlers who relocated to the area were looking for good land and water, both of which existed in the Salt River Valley. After World War II the excellent climate caused a massive population boom.

In 1950, within the borders of the Salt River Project, there were 239,802 acres of land, of which 225,152 acres were assessed as agricultural lands. Between 1950 and 1960, these agricultural lands decreased by 37,795 acres. There was a further decrease of 35,411 acres between 1960 and 1970. Between 1971 and 1973 there was an additional loss of 19,172 acres. In 23 years a total of 92,378 acres have been taken out of crop production forever. This phenomenon is happening all over the place. Think to yourself how many new housing developments you have witnessed erected in the last several years.

With hydroponics there is no need for soil, and up to only 1/20th of the water is needed compared to conventional farming. Mainstream utilization of hydroponic techniques and advantages are slowly taking hold. For example, 44% of Vancouver and 40% of Toronto households grow food, many hydroponically, according to City Farmer (www.cityfarmer.org), Canada's Office of Urban Agriculture. It helps feed millions of people across the globe, from the deserts of Israel, Lebanon, and Kuwait to the rooftops of Calcutta, to the entirely unarable landscapes of Antarctica, and even space!

Dr. Wade Berry of UCLA once described the challenge of farming as "removing barriers to plant growth." The objective is not to push the crop but rather to eliminate its detriments. Hydroponics eliminates the barriers of inadequate water and mineral nutrition. Used in conjunction with greenhouses, plants are spared the barriers of extremes in temperature and humidity. By using artificial lighting to extend day length it is possible to over come the barrier of inadequate light, achieving eternal spring.

Almost every state in the United States has a substantial hydroponic greenhouse industry. Canada also uses hydroponics extensively in the growing of vegetables. About 90% of the greenhouse industry in British Columbia uses sawdust culture to overcome soil structures and soil pest problems. One-half of Vancouver Islands tomato crop and 1/5th of Moscow's are hydroponically produced. There are full-fledged hydroponic systems in American Nuclear Submarines, Russian Space Stations, and offshore drilling rigs. Large zoos keep their animals healthy with hydroponic

In arid regions of the world, such as Mexico and the Middle East, where the supply of fresh water is limited, hydroponic complexes combined with desalinizationation units and reverse osmosis technology are being developed and utilized to convert salt water into a source of fresh water. The practicality of hydroponics is practically screaming at us.

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Future

Hydroponics is a very young and versatile science with a world of opportunity in front of it. While being utilized on an agricultural basis for only 40 years it has been adapted to myriad situations from personal use to international space stations to profitable produce operations- and its only scratching the surface. One of the most promising impacts hydroponics presents is its implementation in poor and

To illustrate the potential use of hydroponics, tomatoes grown using soilless culture can yield 150 tons per acre annually. The average yield of tomatoes per acre is eighteen times greater than in conventional soil methods. A 10-acre site could produce 3 million pounds annually. In Canada, the average per capita consumption of tomatoes is 20 pounds. Thus, with a population of 20 million, the total annual consumption of tomatoes is 400 million pounds (200, 000 tons). Enough tomatoes for the entire population of Canada for a whole year could be grown hydroponically on just 1,300 acres of land!

Several obstacles must be overcome for soilless culture to become a mainstream form of cultivation. The future growth of the industry is greatly dependent on the development of systems of production that are cost competitive with those of open-field agriculture. There is no doubt yields are higher using hydroponic techniques, but it is more difficult to maintain a profitable enterprise using soilless culture due to increasingly higher energy and equipment costs. With the development of more efficient artificial lighting systems and energy utilization this will become a reality. Solar and wind energy provide bright spots on the horizon for hydroponics and are being implemented as you read this. Cogeneration projects, where hydroponic greenhouses utilize waste heat from industry and power plants, are already a reality and will be expanded in the coming years. Waste = Food!

The economic prospects for controlled environmental agriculture and hydroponics may improve if governmental bodies determined that there are politically desirable effects of hydroponics that merit subsidy for the public good. This has been realized in Canada (www.cityfarmer.com) and is a major reason that they provide most of the commercial hydroponic tomatoes in US markets. The Canadian government subsidizes energy costs for operations using supplemental lighting making it easier for the farmers to operate their business. In contrast, the US Government gives billions of dollars a year to farmers in the form of subsidies so they won't grow food. The government does this so as not to interrupt the apparent balance between supply and demand. They also give subsidies to account for unpredictable weather and its repercussions. In order to qualify for these subsidies, farmers must go through the motions of a banner crop. They must fertilize, spread pesticides, and even harvest a crop they knew from the beginning would not be harvestable or marketable. This is the definition and epitome of waste. Why not create our own environments in an enclosed weather protected environment? Such beneficial effects and potential for tax breaks may include the conservation of water in regions of scarcity, the appeasement of nutrient runoff in sensitive ecological areas, or food production in hostile environments. Is it just too good to be true? No.

A truly out of the box, but highly feasible option would be to take food production into the third dimension utilizing skyscrapers and underwater cultivation techniques. Instead of growing out, we can grow up and down. It is not out of the realm of possibility to create some sort of portal system capable of transporting materials and farmers under the waters surface creating endless possibilities for cultivation. All we need is a little imagination.

This situation is similar to our use of fossil fuels in the face of technologies such as fuel cells or hydrogen engines. There is no doubt that other forms of energy are more efficient and better for the environment than fossil fuels, yet we continue to rely on traditional methods for our transportation and fuel needs because it is cheaper and more relatively available. The funny thing is the more people that utilize these technologies the cheaper they become. Certainly there is big money and major restructuring involved in this equation, but the bottom line should be is it better for our world, not only us humans. Use your Buying Power to express your ideals! Besides, fossil fuels are a finite resource. In fact we have used an estimated more than half of the existing resource in less than one-hundred years! We'll have to find another way to get around eventually, why not be prepared. As well, why not implement imaginative soilless gardening before our ability to produce sufficient foodstuffs is overwhelmed by our intrinsic population growth. We humans have a tendency to hold tenaciously to traditional practices in the face of progressive ideas. Sure it is much easier, but is it better for us?

The other aspect hindering mainstream acceptance of hydroponic principles is the stigma associated with them. Continually, local news coverage portrays people busted growing illegal materials as having some "hydroponic apparatus" as if there is something intrinsic about hydro that caters to illegal activity. Nothing could be further from the truth. John Doe could grow cannabis in the dirt under your feet, so what are you going to do? The fact is, a plant is a plant; we can only enhance the growing environment and what the plant has available to use. Anytime you see hydroponics misrepresented on your local news give them a call and tell them to do their research. They are only making it harder for us to feed ourselves! In fact, this gross misrepresentation is actually a testament to how well hydroponics works. All plants require the same 16 elements to grow. So the fact that hydro is deemed "more potent" than other methods of cultivation is a resounding testament to its effectiveness. Imagine what it can do for your tomatoes!

Another common misrepresentation is that you need a lab coat to do it. People use the word "chemical" as if they should be cautious about these materials. The fact is, water is a chemical. Everything has chemical properties. The materials used for hydroponics are no different from that you have used traditionally in your outdoor garden just in a different original form and separated from the ground. Be sure our knowledgeable before you knock it. You could be missing out on a rewarding hobby or a potentially relevant means of food production. back to top