Hydroponics
For the Soup Dragons album, see Hydrophonic. NASA researcher checking hydroponic onions with Bibb lettuce to his left and radishes to the right Hydroponics (From the Greek words hydro , water and ponos , labor) is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, in water, without soil. Terrestrial plants may be grown with their roots in the mineral nutrient solution only or in an inert medium, such as perlite , gravel , mineral wool , or coconut husk. Researchers discovered in the 19th century that plants absorb essential mineral nutrients as inorganic ions in water. In natural conditions, soil acts as a mineral nutrient reservoir but the soil itself is not essential to plant growth. When the mineral nutrients in the soil dissolve in water, plant roots are able to absorb them. When the required mineral nutrients are introduced into a plant's water supply artificially, soil is no longer required for the plant to thrive. Almost any terrestrial plant wil
