Hydroponics is no longer a subject in mysterious form only known in the confines of a science laboratory. It is an established way of commercial agriculture feeding the world today. 
photo credit: joaoa
Research on the nutritional requirements of plants and the hydroponics system were conducted since 1699 until today. By 1925, there were already practical applications of hydroponics established in the greenhouse industry. By the 1930s, there was a huge development in the industry as scientists grown mindful of the bright future of producing crops hydroponically.
In 1930, Gericke developed the first commercial hydroponic unit in the USA. With such model, the American forces even employed this system in the Pacific to produce vegetables during World War II.
Developments continued for the commercial use of hydroponics leading to the spread of the technology worldwide. The momentum finally exploded with the development of a system known as NFT by Dr Alan Cooper in the 1970’s. This improved the nutritional formulations that caused the hydroponic farming of several plants commercially possible. The NFT system is a system of covered plastic channels with the plants growing through holes in the covers while the roots of the plants are based in the nutrient solution.
Since then, the development of automatic control systems with hydroponics system has become accessible as well as digital testing equipment. This has unfolded the field of hydroponics to even the ordinary home gardener.
Nevertheless, hydroponics is still in a developing stage. There are still plenty of range for experimenting with plants and trees. As a home gardener, hydroponics gardening will change your lifestyle by providing you with fresh fruit, vegetables and flowers all year round. Even the banana plants, only found in the tropics, can be cultivated the hydroponics way.
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