How does hydroponics work?

Answer 1

Hydroponics is basically growing plants withoutsoil.

Hydroponics offers an innovative solution. Hydroponics, is a technique for growing plants in nutrient solutions with or without an inert medium (as soil) to provide mechanical support. To put in simple words, hydroponics is the science of growing plants in mineral and nutrient enriched water without soil. Sounds strange? Soil isn't what a growing plant feeds on. Instead, it has some select nutrients that plants require to synthesize their food.

The most important factor in hydroponics however, is the nutrient solution that must be mixed with water. Standard fertilizers are inadequate, because they lack some of the elements necessary that the plants would otherwise derive from the soil. Specially-formulated hydroponic fertilizer mixtures are required.

Terrestrial plants may be grown with their roots in the mineral nutrient solution only or in an inert medium, such as perlite, gravel, mineral wood, or coconut husk.

Researchers discovered in the 19th century that plants absorb essential mineral nutrients as inorganic ions in water.

In natural conditions, soil acts as a mineral nutrient reservoir but the soil itself is not essential to plant growth. When the mineral nutrients in the soil dissolve in water, plant roots are able to absorb them.

When the required mineral nutrients are introduced into a plant's water supply artificially, soil is no longer required for the plant to thrive. Almost any terrestrial plant will grow with hydroponics. Hydroponics is also a standard technique in Biology research and teaching.

Answer 2

In growing plants in an aeroponics grow room, the water and nutrient system is placed inside the semi-closed container and the plant and the root system is placed above it. The plants will have their roots hanging down from the elevated platform.