Hydroponics

Hydroponics is the discipline of growing plants without soil, most often in a soilless nutrient rich mix.  Many gardeners are already cultivating hydroponically. Cultivating cuttings in rockwool, peat moss, and coconut fiber is growing hydroponically. Growing mature plants in soilless Sunshine Mix or Terra-Lite, even when watered by hand, is hydroponic gardening. With hydroponics, nutrient uptake and grow medium oxygen content can be controlled easily. Manage these two factors, along with a few other requirements, to grow a superb crop all year round.  Special grow lights are often used to allow indoor hydroponic gardening.

The inert soilless hydroponic medium contains essentially no nutrients. All the hydroponic nutrients are supplied via the nutrient solution. This solution passes over the roots at regular intervals, later draining off . The extra oxygen trapped in the soilless medium and around the roots speeds nutrient uptake by tiny root hairs. Plants grow fast hydroponically because they are able to take in food as quickly as it can be used. In soil, as in hydroponics, the roots absorb nutrients and water. Even the best soil rarely has as much oxygen in it as a soilless hydroponic medium.