Though often thought of as modern and experimental, hydroponics is an ancient practice. Though it wasn't known at the time, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were hydroponic. Less famous, the Aztecs' Raft Gardens also were hydroponic. In the year 1699, scientist John Woodward presented a paper before the Royal Society of England. His paper concerned an experiment that he had performed involving plants grown in polluted river water versus plants grown in rainwater. This paper attacked the problem of whether or not the health of plants was determined by the dissolved solids of the water from which they were grown. In the years 1851-1855, Jean Baptiste Boussingault, French chemist, performed an experiment of plant growth in quartz and sand cultures with no soil. He used only water and chemical nutrients. In Germany in 1860, botanist Julius von Sachs published the first noted nutrient solution formula. In 1865, Wilhelm Knop, a German agricultural chemist, formed another nutrient solution. In the years 1900-1920, scientists extended t

Not very pest resistant More pest resistant

Too much/ little sun Light controlled

One of these reasons is that hydroponically grown vegetables claim dramatic increases in vitamin and mineral content as opposed to geoponic (grown without the use of soil) vegetables.

Bad weather No storms; no bad weather

Too much/ little rain Controlled water supply

Soil can not be reused Growing mediums can be recycled

Some common words found in the essay are:
Growth Soil, Pros Cons, Drip Micro-Irrigation, Growth Suitable, Growth Limited, Gardens Babylon, Tenochtitlan Mexico, Planters/ Hydroculture, Flood Drain, Boussingault French, nutrient solution, water water, inert medium, plants grown, hydroponic growth, flood drain, controlled much/ little, controlled much/, fossil fuels, much/ little, nutrient film technique, water supply, geoponic growth hydroponic, hanging gardens babylon, growth hydroponic growth,
Approximate Word count = 1534
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)