Hydroponics is a technique by which plants are grown without soil, in a medium enriched with nutrient solution. In place of soil you can use a nutrient solution which is prepared by dissolving the nutrients in water. The nutrient solution gives your plants the nutrients that they would otherwise derive from soil. It is an easy and convenient method for growers and allows you to effectively increase yield.
You can choose from the various hydroponics systems available. The most basic types of hydroponic system are active and passive. Nutrient Film Technique, aeroponics, and ebb and flow are some of the prevalent techniques. Highly productive, hydroponics systems are geared towards the conservation of water and land, besides being easier on the environment. A good hydroponic system also requires a good growing medium. A growing medium mostly comprises of inert material which has the capability to retain moisture and nutrients. Apart from this the growing medium helps in supporting plants and trees. Expanded clay, rock wool, perlite, vermiculite, Styrofoam, sand, gravel etc. are some of the growing mediums used by growers.
Hydroponics, a technology which holds huge potential to become the most preferred way of food production in the days to come, will soon dominate the way we cultivate and grow crops. Hydroponic gardening, essentially a method of growing plants in nutrient solution, with no soil has innumerable advantages over conventional plant growing methods. With arable land getting scarce by the day and ever increasing population, hydroponics promises to provide a solution to agriculture shortage and feed the population. Japan, one of the pioneers in hydroponics, has paved the road map for rest of the countries to embrace this technological breakthrough and solve the problems of food production. With surging population and decreasing arable land, Japan is one of the earlier adopters to this technology. With Hydroponic, the Japanese not only succeeded in solving the issue of decreasing cultivable land, they also increased the number of harvest from one to four cycles in a year.