Many published histories of hydroponics state that hydroponics was
practiced in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (about 600 BC), one of the
seven wonders of the ancient world, and by the pre- Columbian Aztecs of
Mexico. However, there is no evidence that the Aztecs or Babylonians used
hydroponics, which is defined as the growth of terrestrial plants with
their roots in a mineral nutrient solution rather than in soil. The key
words are "terrestrial" and "mineral nutrient solution". Thus, growing
aquatic plants is not hydroponics, nor is plant growth without the use of
a mineral nutrient solution.
The ancient writings describing the Hanging Gardens say they were
similar to multilevel roof gardens with the plants growing in
deep layers of soil. The so-called floating gardens of the Aztecs
did not use nutrient solutions so could not be considered
hydroponics.
John Woodward, a British physician, is usually given
credit for the first scientific article, published in 1699,
dealing with terrestrial plants in water culture. He used various
water sources with or without soil added, rather than mineral
nutrient solutions, so it is debatable whether he had true
hydroponics. The Germans, Knop and Sachs, are usually given
credit for developing plant nutrient solution techniques in the
mid-1800s. However, the word "hydroponics" was not introduced
until 1937 by William Frederick Gericke, a University of
California at Berkeley professor, who started the hydroponics
furor of the 1930s and lost his tenured position because of it.
One the early successes of hydroponics occurred on Wake Island, a
soilless atoll that was a refueling site for the Pan American
Airways famous clipper. Hydroponics was used to grow fresh
vegetables for the airline passengers and employees. In the hit
movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones' flight on the Pan
Am clipper indicates a stopover at Wake Island. Possibly he
enjoyed a salad of hydroponic vegetables!
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David R. Hershey
Snail mail: Adjunct Professor
Biology/Horticulture Department
6700 Belcrest Road #112 Prince George's Community College
Hyattsville, MD 20782-1398 Largo, MD 20772-2199
Email: dh321 at pgstumail.pg.cc.md.us
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On Fri, 8 Dec 1995 raiar at inlink.com wrote:
> Just wanted you to know that I finally got the History of Hydroponics
> back on-line. Sorry it took so long!
>>http://www.inlink.com/~raiar>> Gary
>>>>
