Tag: mineral nutrition in plants

Hydroponics requires 10 times less water than normal agricultural plants that require proper methods of watering. A lot of water gets evaporated from the soil or seeps deep inside the layers. But in hydroponics water requirement is just 1/10 of water requirements of traditional agriculture.

Growing medium is an important component of hydroponics.

Hydroponics was pioneered by Julius Von Sach. It is a technique of growing plants in aqueous solution of nutrients. It can be used to find out the essential nutrients for plants. This technique is also called soilless cultivation.

Hydroponics is the science of growing plants in a medium other than soil, using mixtures of the essential plant nutrient elements dissolved in water.
The first experiments was performed by Sachs in the year 1860. Later, Knop from 1861-5 performed experiments related to hydroponics. Both of them made synthetic solutions of essential plant nutrients in water. Included in these solutions were salts such as, potassium phosphate, calcium sulphate etc. giving the necessary elements N, P, S, Ca, Mg P and Fe. Mn were also included. 
Thus, the correct answer is option (A). 

Minerals are very important for plants because:

Ebb and Flow, or Flood and Drain is a system involves the periodic flooding and draining of the nutrient solutions. Basically, there are two phases of its operation. The Flood is when the water and nutrients flow the growing areas, flowing over the plants' roots. The drain is when the water drains back to the reservoir. These two actions take turn continuously, and hence their name.

So, the correct option is ‘it floods and drains periodically’.

Hydroponics is part of hydroculture and within this, the plant is growing in a soilless medium or in an aquatic-based environment, it uses only the mineral nutrient solution to feed the plants.

Hydroponics is a sub set of hydroculture. In this method plants are grown without soil by using nutrient solutions.