If you love fresh vegetables, but live in an area where traditional gardening is just not an option, you should consider building a hydroponics system.

Hydroponics is the common term used for soil-less gardening. The technique of growing with hydroponics can be traced back to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which is still considered to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Then, in the 1890s, a group of German scientists developed nutrient formulas and brought the hydroponics technique into modern agricultural practices. The hydroponics method has now grown far beyond the simple notion of gardening with the use of water, and today's hydroponics gardeners use other forms of growing media.

The wick, water culture, ebb and flow, drip, aeroponic and N.F.T (nutrient film technique) are the six basic types of hydroponics systems. The market does offer other methods, but they are basically variations on these six fundamental hydroponics methods.

Wick Hydroponics

For most indoor gardeners, wick systems provide the simplest method to grow plants using hydroponics. This is a passive system, so there are no moving parts. All you do is place a wick into a reservoir containing nutrient solution to grow plants using the wick method. The wick draws nutrient solution into the growing medium, and moving parts are completely unnecessary.

Other components of the wick hydroponics system typically include:

* A grow tray

* Growing medium

* Hydroponics system air stone

* Hydroponics system air pump

The wick hydroponics system will incorporate a growing medium. Perlite, vermiculite, coconut fiber and Pro-Mix are common media used in hydroponics gardening. There is a major drawback to using the wick system. Large plants, and those plants that require a substantial amount of water, may use the nutrient solution faster than the wick can supply it.

Water Culture System

Water culture is among the easiest of all the active hydroponics systems. The components of the water culture system include a floating platform, an air line, an air stone and an air pump. The platform serves as a support system, keeping the plants in place as the roots dangle down to the nutrient solution. Outside of the tank, an air pump provides a source of air to the air stone, which in turn bubbles the nutrient solution and supplies oxygen to the roots of the plants.

Leaf lettuce is an ideal plant to grow using the water culture hydroponics system. It's a fast-growing plant that loves water, making it the perfect match for this type of hydroponics system. Lettuce is, in fact, one of very few plants that will actually thrive without soil in a water culture system.

Ebb and Flow

The ebb and flow system, also known as "flood and drain" hydroponics, works by temporarily flooding the grow tray with nutrient solution, and then draining the solution back into a reservoir. Growers usually use a submerged pump connected to a timer to keep the cycle continuously ebbing and flowing.

When the timer turns the pump on, the nutrient solution is pumped into the grow tray. Then, when the timer shuts the pump off, the nutrient solution flows back into the reservoir. This process is carefully timed, and repeated at several intervals throughout the day. The size and type of plants, humidity, temperature and the type of growing medium used can all affect the number of times the hydroponics system will "ebb and flow".

If you love gardening, but just don't have the space or ideal climate, building a hydroponics system can be the perfect solution.