Hydroponics is a gardening method that allows you to grow plants without having to use soil. Hydroponics systems deliver all of the nutrition and fertilizers that plants need through a nutrient-rich solution that can be supplied to plants in a number of different ways. The nutrient solution is made up of plant nutrients, supplements, and fertilizers dissolved in water. Since no soil is needed when growing with hydroponics, much less space is required, and it can easily be done indoors.

Soil has two main purposes in soil-based gardening – the first thing is it holds and stabilizes the plant and its roots, and the second is that soil acts as a buffer for fertilizers and nutrients which protects the plants from over-fertilizing and over-feeding. In hydroponics systems, soil is replaced with a grow medium like hydroton or coconut coir which serves as support for the plant and its roots. Some hydroponics systems, like aeroponics, do not even use grow medium as the nutrient solution is sprayed directly on the roots.

The most common hydroponics growing methods are deep water culture (DWC), drip watering systems, and ebb and flow. Some more advanced hydroponics systems like aeroponics are used as well. Each of these hydroponics systems has different pros and cons, and are preferred by different growers. With ebb and flow hydroponics systems, plants are placed in net pots in a flood table where nutrient solution flows in and out. This provides nutrition to plants at regular intervals. In deep water culture hydroponics systems the plants’ roots are placed directly into the nutrient solution which is oxygenated by air stones. If the nutrient solution is not aerated, the plants will quickly develop root rot and die. Drip watering systems are some of the most simple systems as the nutrient solution is measured and supplied to the plants at regular intervals through tubing. The nutrient solution then flows back through the roots and grow medium and back to the reservoir to be re-used.

The most important aspect of gardening with hydroponics is not which system you use. All of the hydroponics gardening systems mentioned above can produce great results. The key to any successful hydroponics system is proper care and maintenance which means having proper lighting cycles, nutrient solution concentrations, ventilation systems, and other atmospheric controls. The bottom line with hydroponics is the more factors you can control (light, ventilation, nutrition, etc.) the better your harvests will be.