May 15, 2006 (Vol. 26, No. 10)
URL:
http://www.np.edu.sg/~dept-bio/sssc/hydro_h.html
Rating:
Strong Points: Informative
Weak Points: Very poorly organized
Summary:
From the Ngee Ann Polytechnic in Singapore comes this interesting page on a topic that surprisingly has never been covered previously in this column. Hydroponics is, of course, as the site’s opening page tells us, a soil-free way of growing plants. Plants need but 16 elements to grow, and these can easily be provided in a nutrient solution. Moreover, the solutions used have an ionic strength, high enough that mosquito infestation isn’t a problem. Practiced commercially since the 1940s, hydroponics has many practitioners today, including hobbyists, airline food makers, and the cut flower industry. At the Hydroponics Page, you can access everything from instructions for setting up beginners to more advanced considerations for practitioners. In additioin, there is an informative, but apparently unlinked lecture at www.np.edu.sg/~dept-bio/sssc/lecture/content.html.
