Hydroponics is an ancient technique that dates back approximately 2,600 years. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon built by King Nebuchadnezzar, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, are considered to be the first application of hydroponics in recorded history.
Some of the gardens in Egypt and China, as well as the floating gardens of the Aztecs known as chinampas1, are other examples of hydroponic agriculture. The chinampas were the most efficient system of water culture known at
the time.
However, it was Dr. William Frederick Gericke, of the University of California, who coined the term hydroponics from the Greek hydro (water) and ponos (work), or “working
with water”. Moreover, he was the first person to carry out large-scale commercial experiments in which he successfully grew tomatoes, lettuce and other vegetables, as well as
roots and tubers such as beetroot, horseradish, carrots and potatoes. He later expanded into flowers, fruit, and
ornamental plants.
the need to provide vegetables to the troops in places where the arid soil, excessive heat (such as in Guadalupe) or excessive cold (such as in Greenland) prevented normal cultivation using soil. After the end of the War, the American troops occupying Japan largely resolved the problem of obtaining fresh vegetables by resorting to this technique.
In the 1960s and 1970s, in response to various problems associated with soil (water supply, plant nutrition, lack of
certain components that are essential for some crops, the increase in pests and diseases), horticultural research in the developed countries focused on the search for other mediums or alternatives (substrates) that could replace soil.
In Latin America, the possibilities of adapting this technique to meet the population’s various needs are
increasing day by day, and its application stimulates the creativity of people of all ages as they try to achieve greater
and better results.
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