What is Hydroponic gardening? Hydroponic horticulture is the cultivation of plants (flowers, vegetables, herbs or marijuana) in a nutrient based water system instead of soil. Everyone is familiar with soil gardening as that has been the fabric of United States history since the beginning of time. Tilling the soil, planting seeds, watering, pulling weeds and harvesting the crop at the end of the growing season.

Here are many differences between hydroponic horticulture and soil gardening:

1. Control over your crop by simply adding nutrients in the proper amounts to the water. The system put into place will circulate and recirculate the water, in turn using much less water than a soil garden, while continually feeding your crop as well as nourishing it with the proper amounts of plant food and vitamins. This is equivalent to fertilizer in a soil garden, however, the amount of extra attention that growing plants in soil requires is substantial. The proper amount of watering and care as well as fertilizer, pulling weeds and watching for the pests and insects that might take over your garden in the outdoors could be all consuming.

2. Premixed store bought nutrients assure that your plants are obtaining the right amount of nutrients from the water to grow properly. The premixed hydroponic nutrients contain the necessary elements that your plants need to grow healthy and strong. Rarely will your plants become deficient in nutrients and start to get yellow leaves, but if this were to occur, all that would be necessary is to dump the water and start with fresh water and nutrients. The nutrients in fertilizer for a soil garden is much more difficult to diagnose. Many times directing you to a reference or resource book or possibly visiting a greenhouse or nursery to look for assistance on how to treat and nurse your plants back to health.

3. The speed at which your plants grow and be up to 10 times faster in the hydroponic grow system as opposed to a soil garden. The hydroponic grow system helps your plants grow with a small root system, but holds the same amount of nutrients as soil plants. The root system is smaller, but the plant is larger. Your plants will not be wasting energy looking for the nutrients needed to flourish in a hydroponic "water bath." Whereas, the plants that are growing in soil are constantly striving for a nutrient source and their roots are growing deeper and wider, while the growth of the plant above the ground is stunted and much smaller than the hydroponic plants.

4. Hydroponic gardening is easy, no matter what type of climate you live in; people living in very dry climates or very cold climates have the capability of growing their plants indoors. This allows you to regulate the temperature for your plants at the optimum temperature to stimulate quick and healthy growth. Timing your crop from beginning to end outdoors can be a huge challenge. Mother Nature is not always as welcoming and friendly as we hope. Battling the elements of Nature, such as; wind, rain, snow, tornadoes, hurricanes and fire are such unforeseen catastrophes, that gardening outside can have a devastating outcome.

5. Hydroponics is a much cleaner and healthier method of gardening compared to soil. Soil gardens are prone to pests, insects and weeds, whereas, hydroponic gardening eliminates the issues with pests, insects and weeds.

The overwhelming benefits of hydroponic gardening these days can only be witnessed with experience. Products on the market are widely available at all price points as well as a wide variety of sizes and shapes to fit the indoor space you have available. Picking the right products for your gardening needs is key.