Circuito productivo en el Establecimiento Hidroponía del Bosque.

Abstract

Hydroponics is a so-called "soilless" or "landless" cultivation system, in which plants obtain the nutrients they need for growth directly from the nutrient solution and mineral salts with which they are irrigated. Its origin dates back to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and it was also used by the people who lived on the shores of Lake Titicaca in Bolivia or Peru, who grew their vegetables on straw with their roots in water. In 1930, Dr. W.E. Gericke of the Department of Plant Nutrition at the University of Berkeley, California, USA, researched and developed nutrition for a commercial system. The subsequent use of plastics—due to their mechanical, photometric, durability, strength, and optical properties, as well as their ability to replace concrete and metal in buildings and tanks—brought significant progress to the systems. As soil cultivation became more difficult, new formulations were developed. Research is being conducted on the relationship between nutrients and crops, and these formulas will later be applied to hydroponic cultivation. Starting in 1982, the hydroponic cultivation system emerged with further research on micronutrients, root oxygenation, cultivation structures, and inert substrates. With technological advances, computerized controls, the use of alternative energy sources (solar and wind), desalination of seawater or hard water, and more are being applied to this system.