History of Hydroponics:Hydroponics basically means working water (“hydro” mean water and “ponos” means labor). Many different civilizations have utilized hydroponics growing techniques throughout history. The hanging gardens of Babylon, the floating gardens of the Aztecs of Mexico, and those of the Chinese are all examples of ancient hydroponics cultures. Egyptian hieroglyphic records dating back several hundred years B.C. describe the growing of plants in water as well. It was not until the 1600’s that two classical experiments were conducted, setting the stage for the science of hydroponics.
Belgian Jan van Helmont conducted an experiment in the late 1600’s to better understand the origin of plant constituents. van Helmont planted a small willow tree in a container filled with soil. After 5 years of watering it, he found that the tree gained 160 pounds while the soil lost only two ounces. Thus van Helmont concluded that plants are made up of constituents in the water derived from soil and not water alone.
More than a hundred years later, Jean Boussingault irrigated plants grown in sand, quartz, and charcoal with various nutrients and concluded that plants are composed of oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon obtained from the soil water and the atmosphere. Boussingault also suggested that plants are made up of nitrogen and other minerals.
Just prior to the Civil War, German plant physiologists Sachs and Knop, documented the first true hydroponics studies. They were able to grow plants in water containing nutrients without any soil. They proved that normal plant growth could be achieved without soil for the plants to grow in and that the entire life cycle of the plant could be achieved and the plant could produce viable seed as well.
More recently, the application of hydroponics was even used during World War II. The U.S. Military used hydroponics to grow food for troops on islands in the Pacific Rim, where traditional methods were impossible. Even as NASA considers the practicalities of locating a society on another plant or the moon, hydroponics easily fits into their sustainability plans.
Although the idea and use of hydroponics system goes far back into human history, its modern forms and usage date back just a few hundred years.
Hydroponics History courtesy of Dr. Stephen R. Grattan
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