Hydroponics has recently become a popular buzzword in trendy gardening circles, but it often raises questions for the average gardener. So what on earth is it?
This three-part series, Hydroponics 101, will answer all your questions and provide you with the tools to begin your own hydroponics journey. But first, it is important to consider why people choose hydroponics and whether it is the right option for you.
What is hydroponics?
Although it has received a recent bump in the ratings, hydroponics is definitely not a new gardening method. The first evidence of hydroponic cultivation dates back over two thousand years, but it has advanced in leaps and bounds through scientific research in the last century. NASA has even investigated hydroponics as a potential food source for astronauts on Mars.
Hydroponics is essentially growing plants without soil and providing their nutrients directly through the water. From Greek, it literally translates to ‘working water’; ‘hydro’ meaning water and ‘ponos’ meaning labor. Plants typically get their nutrients from the soil, but the idea behind hydroponics is that plants can grow just as well, often even better, when the nutrients are delivered to the roots through their water.
How does it work?
Esta historia es de la edición October 209 de The Gardener.
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Esta historia es de la edición October 209 de The Gardener.
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FIRE AND Feathers!
On a dreary winter's day, a screen of fiery and feathery leaves puts up a fight against dullness!
GET THE ladies in!
At this time of year, early-flowering shrubs vie with each other to get the most attention. We say: Trust those with female names for frills and butterflies. They go the extra mile to flower their hearts out.
Vegetable Soups and dumplings
Vegetables make the most delicious soups and classic combinations are always a winner.
Yummy sweet potatoes for your good health
Boiled, baked or braaied, sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are a delicious and healthy winter comfort food. Just a dollop of butter, a little seasoning and you are good to go.
Pretty and functional
If cooking is your main thing, you would probably be more interested in the culinary value of the three herbs and some of their varieties we are describing.
Dried Seedheads & Pods
Autumn and winter are the best times to see what flowers produce the best seedheads that can be left on the plants to feed the birds and bugs and for harvesting for dried arrangements.
SO MANY FACES and so many choices...
Whoever associated a Cotyledon orbiculata (pig's ear) with the ear of a pig obviously did not know about all the varieties and cultivars this species in the genus Cotyledon has.
COLOURFUL Cold Weather WINNERS!
If it comes to a vote, these dependable shrubs will be the top candidates for prime performance in winter and in other seasons...
What makes a garden sustainable?
It is interesting to note that the United Nations defines sustainable development as: “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.
Nurturing NATURE-The Story of Kraal Garden's Transformation
Nestled within Prince Albert's rustic embrace lies a gem that is a testament to the transformative power of human vision and nature's bounty.
