History of Hydroponics

Modern-Day Chinampas

Ancient Aztecs probably never thought they were creating a technology that could be used thousands of years later; they were just looking for a way to grow food with the resources that were available to them.  Chinampas are rafts of food crops that float on the surface of a body of water.  Aztec gardeners dug […]

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Aztec chinampas of Central America

An example of hydroponic principles that were being used successfully is that of the Aztecs of Central America.  A nomadic tribe, they were driven onto the marshy shore of Lake Tenochtitlan,   located in the great central valley of what is now Mexico.  Roughly treated by their more powerful neighbors, denied any arable land, the Aztecs […]

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The Gardens of Babylon

Many new devices, ideas and civilizations have emerged because, “Necessity is the mother of invention”. The shortage of water and available arable land for planting crops is not a new issue. Throughout history, archaeological evidence shows us that thousands of cities have been built on land that was safe from invasion, but not necessarily ideal […]

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Hydroponics First Recorded Scientific Experiments

Some three centuries ago, john Woodward, an English scientist and a fellow of the Royal Society, undertook the first recorded scientific experiments on the subject of plant nutrition.  He wanted to know whether plants drew nourishment from the soil or from water.  Woodward discovered that adding small amounts of soil to the water in which […]

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The History of Hydroponics

Hydroponics basically means working water (“hydro” means “water” and “ponos” means “labor”). Many different civilizations have utilized hydroponic growing techniques throughout history. As noted in Hydroponic Food Production (Fifth Edition, Woodbridge Press, 1997, page 23) by Howard M. Resh: “The hanging gardens of Babylon, the floating gardens of the Aztecs of Mexico and those of […]

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