Fresh vegetables are a delicious and healthy treat, but you may not have the outdoor space available for a traditional garden. A hydroponics system can be a smart solution.

Hydroponics is a term used to describe gardening without soil. The famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, is proof that hydroponics systems were in place centuries ago.

The technique received a boost when, in the 1890s, a group of German scientists developed nutrient formulas and brought the technique into modern agriculture. Today, the hydroponics method has developed beyond simply gardening using water, to a new system of using media other than soil.

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 Systems

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 may include:

* Growing tray

* Grow medium

* An air stone

* Hydroponics system air pump

A growing medium is used with the wick hydroponics system. Common growth media used with hydroponics gardening include perlite, vermiculite, coconut fiber and Pro-Mix. The major drawback to using the wick system is that large plants, and those plants that require a substantial amount of water, may use up 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

Also known as "flood and drain", the ebb and flow indoor hydroponics system works by temporarily flooding the grow tray with nutrient solution, and then draining the solution out of the tray and back into the reservoir. There is a submerged pump connected to a timer that is responsible for keeping the cycle going continuously.

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 eating fresh produce, but don't have the space or ideal climate, you can grow great tasting vegetables indoors with a hydroponics system.