Growing Plants Without Soil

Plants do, however, need those things that soil would provide them. Simple necessities of life such as oxygen for the roots, extreme temperature protection, nutrients, and a supply of water are still needed for the plant's survival. Luckily, these are all things that can be provided even without a dirt-based medium.

While most of us would probably believe that this process of growing plants without dirt is new, it actually goes way back to 1627. That is the year that Francis Bacon published a book titled Sylva Syvarum. (Actually Bacon had died in the previous year and so never truly saw his book gain publication.) This book's subject was raising plants in a soil-less environment. After the publication of this book, the field of water culture gained in popularity.

In 1929 hydroponics was born--or at least given a name. William Frederick Gericke (then working for the University of California at Berkeley) at first named his process aquaculture. Sadly, however, that name was already in use.

With hydroponics, the roots of a plant can simply rest in water. Plant food and other necessities are then added to the water. This gives the roots ready access to all they need, exactly when they need it. The hydroponic process can actually speed up the time it takes a plant to mature and bear fruit, as the plant is not fighting to wring what it needs from the soil surrounding it.

An excellent case study for the use of hydroponics is that of Wake Island. This island is truly nothing more than a rocky atoll. It has no soil. This atoll, or island, was used by Pan American Airlines as a refueling stop in the 1930s. The problem was that there was no way to grow produce to feed the passengers, and the cost of airlifting in food was high. So they began using hydroponics on the island to grow vegetables. It worked well. This was considered a huge success for the study of hydroponics.

Aquaponics could be considered an advanced form of hydroponics. One that puts a little more nature into the process. The basis of aquaponics is simply adding fish to the equation of hydroponics.

Why fish? If you have ever had a fish aquarium, you will know that it requires constant water filtering and cleaning. That is because fish, in their simple process of living, give off some pretty nasty by-products. Some example of these by-products include algae and ammonia.

The fact is that the by-products of fish are exactly what plants need to thrive. The fish therefore feed the plants, and the plants filter the water for the fish. The circle of life in perfect union.

So bottom line, yes, growing plants without soil is quite possible. As long as the nutrients and necessities of life are given to them through another medium, either by man-made plant supplements or the more natural form of fish.

If you are interested in growing your own plants without soil by way of aquaponics, visit my page on Aquaponic Plans for Gardening. It can be a fun and worthwhile hobby. The fish do most of the work!

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