Hydroponic cultivation is a great way to grow plants and vegetables without soil because it is efficient, flexible, simple, affordable and fun.

Hydroponic gardening is a healthy way to start eating right and maintaining a healthy diet. It allows you to grow the plants, fruits and vegetables of your choice in limited space without using soil. It's an amazing way to produce perfect plants and vegetables and offers many of advantages that traditional gardening can't come close to touching!

I didn't have a green thumb. To be honest with you, I had a reputation of being a plant-killer. I could buy the best potting soil, follow instructions from a book perfectly, and still end up with a puny, malnourished plant almost every time.

That always disappointed me, too. Like everyone else, I love plants. I appreciate their natural beauty and I am a big fan of tasty, fresh vegetables. Unfortunately, my "black thumb" was holding me back.

That's before I really learned about hydroponics.

You may be asking yourself what is Hydroponics?

Hydroponics (from the Greek words hydro, water and ponos, labor) is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, in water, without soil. Terrestrial plants may be grown with their roots in the mineral nutrient solution only or in an inert medium, such as perlite, gravel, mineral wool, or coconut husk.

Researchers discovered in the 19th century that plants absorb essential mineral nutrients as inorganic ions in water. In natural conditions, soil acts as a mineral nutrient reservoir but the soil itself is not essential to plant growth. When the mineral nutrients in the soil dissolve in water, plant roots are able to absorb them.

When the required mineral nutrients are introduced into a plant's water supply artificially, soil is no longer required for the plant to thrive. Almost any terrestrial plant will grow with hydroponics. Hydroponics is also a standard technique in biology research and teaching.

Here are a few tips to help you grow your nutritious garden:

-Tip #1 Choose the right containers to plant crops for your hydroponic garden. For example, use plastic containers, if you wish to use a hydroponic system with plants in water only.

-Tip #2 Select appropriate plants according to the size of your containers. You can choose from almost any of the vegetable or fruits such as lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers to grow.

-Tip #3 Find a sunny location for your hydroponic crops. Crops grown hydroponically need the same amount of sun light as plants grown in soil.

-Tip #4 To construct your hydroponics garden, you need to order hydroponic kits from any garden suppliers. You need a simple hydroponic system, a plastic mesh tray, an air pump, and a soil less growing medium to support the roots of the plant. You can choose from sand, gravel, or coconut husks as your growing medium.

-Tip #5 To prepare the container for planting the crop, add one to two inches of sand or coconut husks at the bottom of the container.

-Tip #6 Place the air pump and add plant nutrient solution in sufficient quantity to fill the container to a reasonable level and then place the mesh tray to cover the container top.

-Tip #7 Place your plants in the tray, allowing the roots to hang down from the top.

-Tip #8 Start the air pump when you have finished inserting the plants on the tray. The air pump will provide the required oxygen to the plant from its roots.

-Tip #9 Monitor the level of nutrient solution in your container.