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What does the term hydroponics mean?

Hydroponics is the practice of growing plants in a solution of liquid nutrients (such as potassium, sulphur, magnesium, and nitrogen), rather than in soil. William Gericke, a scientist at the University of California, coined the term "hydroponics" in 1937.

Hydroponics is useful in places where soil is either scarce or unsuitable for growing plants. Since the mid-1800s, hydroponics has also been used to grow plants for research. National Areonautics Space Administration (NASA) also plans to use hydroponics in the international space station (which is due to be completed in the year 2002) to produce crops and to recycle carbon dioxide into oxygen.

Sources: Giscard d'Estaing, Valerie-Anne. The World Almanac Book of Inventions, p. 67; Hershey, David R. Plant Biology Science Projects, pp. 107-8; Resh, Howard M. Hydroponic Food Production, pp....

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