Often when one thinks about planting, the necessary elements to accomplish this process include the use of a plant seed, soil, water and light. Once these items have been gathered the seed is generally planted into the ground and grows through the nutrients found in the soil. Coupled with water, this allows the process to continue, resulting in the seed becoming the fully grown plant as reflected in what type of seed was planted.

However, there is one additional way in which seeds can be grown which does not involve the use of these three elements. This particular way is known as hydroponics.

Therefore, in order to grow a hydroponic garden, it is important to know what hydroponics is, the techniques of growing hydroponic gardens and the media that can be used other than soil.

When it comes to discussing hydroponics it is important to know what the definition of this word is. First of all hydroponics is a combination of two Greek words. The first Greek word is hydro which in Greek terminology means water. The second word that composes hydroponics is ponics. This Greek word literally means labor. Therefore, the combination of the two Greek words gives significant insight into the process of growing a hydroponic garden.

Specifically, rather than the nutrients being obtained through the soil by the fertilized seed the plant in process absorbs the needed nutritional elements through the inorganic ions found in the water. The advantage of this process is that soil is not necessarily needed and because the nutrients are obtained through the water supply, the process of the plant growth and its ability to absorb the water is facilitated. This is because is it is easier to absorb the water through the root system of the plant rather than absorbing the nutrients from the soil.

There are a variety of techniques associated with hydroponic gardening. Specifically, the two types of hydroponic gardening are through the cultures known as either a solution culture or a medium culture.

When discussing solution cultures there are basically three types. Those three types of solution cultures include the use of the continuous flow process, static or non continuous flow process and aeroponics.

Aeroponics is a system in which the roots of the hydroponic garden are constantly being immersed with the solution that is replete with the nutrients. In essence this aeroponics process is a mist type saturation of the roots.

In addition to the solution medium utilized for the hydroponic garden is the medium culture. This is a culture made up of a specific substance. When it comes to hydroponic gardening some of those medium cultures can include the use of rock wool, sand, and gravel. Generally, with this type of medium culture the hydroponic garden food is obtained from the ionized water. These nutrients include calcium, magnesium, potassium, and nitrate.