(Green) Thumbnail History

Water, Water Did you know that most plants are composed of about 90 percent water? It's an essential component of photosynthesis, necessary for normal cell function, and is the medium in which nutrients are transported throughout the plant. Plants need water in different amounts during different growth stages. A large cucumber plant, when fruiting, can use up to a gallon of water a day! (Transpiration uses up the majority of a plant's water intake.) In hydroponics, water with dissolved nutrients is applied as a bath, periodically irrigated through the growing medium, or sometimes sprayed directly on the roots.

Records show that plants have been grown without soil for many thousands of years. The hanging gardens of Babylon used hydroponic techniques. Marco Polo observed these systems in China. To escape enemies, the ancient Aztecs reportedly took to the lakes and maintained large floating rafts woven of rushes and reeds on which they raised food crops. In 1699 the British scientist John Woodward grew plants in water to which he added varying amounts of soil. He concluded that while there are substances found in soil that promote plant growth, the bulk of the soil is used for support. By the late 1800s, horticultural scientists were successfully raising plants in solutions of water and minerals. The modern science of hydroponics began in the 1930s when Dr. W. E. Gericke at the University of California raised tomatoes and other crops on floating rafts, applying the earlier principles in a commercially successful way. He coined the name hydroponics as he worked with water. What more can your students discover about the history of soilless growing?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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