The Indoor Hydroponics Blog

Well, yes, it is soilless. But, it doesn’t look at all soilless. Consider the materials used to start an indoor hydroponics garden. Everything from pottery shards, to sand, to marbles may be used in an indoor hydroponics pot. The containers may just be the common flower pot or the ordinary vase. So from the outside it may not seem so different.

The real question is, what is soil? We think of soil as dirt, earth, that stuff underneath us. One moment we may wax poetic about the earth, the next minute we complain about the dirt or mud we are tracking into our car or our house.

More precisely, soil consists of unconsolidated materials both inorganic (minderals) and organic matter, liquid, and gases. It was created by the combined actions of weather, organisms, lay of the land, micro-organisms as well as larger plants and animals acting on rock over long periods of time.

it’s because of these actions that soil has the ability to sustain plant life. Soil contains both mineral and organic nutrients, water, carbon dioxide and oxygen.. However, not all soils are created equal. Some soils are unproductive.

Hydroponics does not require soil itself because nutrients, minerals are dissolved in water. Also the micro-organisms and animals acting upon it may also be damaging plant pests.

Looking through the materials necessary to set up an indoor hydroponics garden, there is a lot of different substances which function as support material for a plant.

Plants orient themselves with the roots and part of the stem in the earth/soil and leaves above ground to receive light. Some plants can remain “upright” in water without help. Or some may need support at the beginning before their root system develops. Many plants require some method of support replacing that of the earth. This support is called an aggregate.

Aggregates for indoor hydroponics include a broad range of materials: the most commonly used are sand, gravel, rockwool, perlite, vermiculite, shards of brick, sawdust and woodchips. Each aggregate requires a different method of water irrigation.

The fundamental principle lying behind all these methods? To successfully cultivate a plant requires:

• Necessary nutrients in water
• A way of delivering water to the roots, i.e., proper irrigation.
• Proper temperature, humidity, and light.

These principles of successful plant cultivation hold whether in a commercial setting or in an indoor hydroponics garden.

One of the more interesting ways of gardening is

hydroponics. Hydroponics, also known as soilless

gardening, uses water as the source of the nutrients a

plant needs. Indoor hydroponics techniques can help

create a garden even in the least likely of places.

For the novice home gardener, hydroponics offers easy

first steps to creating a garden.

Hydroponics isn’t new. Its development started in 1860

when Professor Julius von Sachs published a nutrient

solution in which plants successfully grew. This established

that plants could directly absorb nutrients dissolved in water.

This information was used by scientists researching

plants.

In 1936 interest was rekindled when W. F. Gericke and

J. W. Travernetti at the University of California

published their technique of cultivating tomatoes. Due

to the high skill levels required to implement this

technique, it was not broadly adopted. Their success

did inspire commercial growers and agronomists to

experiment to develop easier and more efficient

hydroponics methods.

So how does hydroponics work? A plant requires light,

heat, humidity, carbon dioxide and oxygen as well as

water and nutrients. Water carries the nutrients

which any plant absorbs through its root system. With

soilless gardening, plants get all their nutrients

dissolved in the water.

Curious as it seems, removing soil from the equation

can actually increase plant productivity. Several

reasons contribute to this fact:

• Plants have to work harder to find the water in soil.  Less development of a root system means more energy for growth of other parts of the plant.
• Fertilizing plants can be made more exact.  Soil may leach important nutrients making it difficult to calculate the amount of fertilizer sufficient for proper care of the plant.  Less fertilizer is wasted.
• Plants have a better chance of avoiding diseases caused by insects and fungi.

Who might want to try out indoor hydroponics?

Apartment dwellers come first to mind of course.

However even people who own a home may not have enough

space for a garden. Not every home owner has a back

yard.

And for absolute novice gardeners, there may be fear

when they have too much space. The minute you plan a

garden, there is a question of scale and composition.

Looking in all those glossy magazines can be

intimidating. Even when you know, these gardens have

taken years to reach maturity. Instead of thinking

about it too, too, long – simply start with a simple

plant indoors using hydroponics.

Of course experienced hands may want to try this out as

well. They can start plants indoors with hydroponics

methods and then move them outside when sufficiently

mature.

Especially for the beginner gardener hobbyist, you can

start your garden in a wide range of environments.

Certainly space matters, but you can scale an indoor

hydroponics garden up or down. You can start simply

with just one plant in a pot.