For people looking to combine scientific interest with a stress-busting hobby, starting a homemade hydroponic garden is a great way to enjoy your spare time in your own home. Hydroponics refers to any of several methods of growing plants with a water-nutrient solution instead of soil. Homemade hydroponics is a brilliant way of growing virtually any plant, and can be employed anywhere, from greenhouses to garages.

Hydroponics, in its simplest form, was recognized in the 17th century when Sir Francis Bacon published his research about it. Elements of hydroponics might even have been used in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon thousands of years ago. Hydroponics are also used by commercial entities to grow plants, including airlines who do not always have the ability to fly in fresh vegetables for airline meals at remote stops. Anyone, from botanists to beginning amateurs, can grow delicious vegetables and beautiful flowers using homemade hydroponics.

Why Homemade Hydroponics?

With homemade hydroponics, hobbyists and professionals can grow better food and decorative plants than their traditional alternatives. Plants grown via hydroponics have constant access to oxygen and optimal nutrient mixtures that are not possible to maintain in soil. Some studies indicate that hydroponic plants grow up to 50% faster than their soil-bound colleagues, due to the fact that, using homemade hydroponics, people can optimize the balance of nutrients fed to their plants.

Hydroponic plants spend all of their energy growing and creating fruit, whereas plants grown in soil expend energy searching for and extracting nutrients from soil. Another huge advantage of homemade hydroponics is the fact that, gardeners can avoid toxins that are even found in the soil of backyard gardens.

Homemade hydroponics can be grown a variety of ways in many varied places. They can be placed in window boxes, greenhouses, garages, and closets. Hydroponic gardeners use many different methods, such as the traditional “ebb and flow” method, according to the taste and capabilities of the grower. In this day of excessive use of pesticides by commercial growers as well as the exorbitant costs of “organic” fruits and vegetables, homemade hydroponics are an excellent way to get chemical-free plants at reasonable prices.

How to Begin Your Homemade Hydroponics Project

Hydroponics can be an expensive hobby, with four-plant kits selling for anywhere between $100 and $400. A cheaper alternative is to make your own homemade hydroponics kits, which can be made for a fraction of the cost of the kits sold in specialty hydroponics and gardening stores.

Many of the items needed to create a homemade hydroponics garden include items that you can buy at stores like Wal-Mart and other department stores that sell aquarium supplies along and simple garden supplies. A host of informative websites and books detail different ideas to begin a homemade hydroponics garden, a simple hobby that is nevertheless fascinating and self-fulfilling.