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When most people think of hydroponic gardening, they think of plants grown with their roots suspended directly into water with no growing medium. This is just one type of hydro-ponic gardening, known as N.F.T. (Nutrient Film Technique).
There are several variations of this method used in hydroponics gardening around the world. What most people don't realize is that there are literally hundreds of methods of hydroponics gardening.
- The plants are grown in an inert growing medium, the plants do not get anything from the growing medium.
- The plants receive only what you give them, nothing more, you have complete control over pH, nutrients and the nutrient strength.
- In the soil you really have no idea what the plants are getting, so gardening becomes a big guessing game. How much nutrient does the soil contain? What about the essential micro-nutrients? Should I fertilize? How much do I apply? How much of what I applied was washed away by the last watering or rain storm? The questions go on and on. Unless you have a very expensive soil analysis run, you just don't know, you have to guess.
 Researchers of plant metabolism have discovered that plants absorb nutrients as simple ions in water. In natural conditions, soil acts as a nutrient reservoir but the soil itself is not essential to plant growth.
However, when the nutrients in the soil dissolve in water, plant roots are able to absorb them. When the required nutrients are introduced into a plant's water supply artificially, soil is no longer needed for the plant to thrive. Almost any plant will grow with hydroponically, but some will do better than others.
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