Hydroponic gardening is the scientific approach to growing plants without soil. The plants are grown in trays with a constant supply of nutrient rich water fed to their roots and the plants are given support by strings and wires to help them remain as vertical hydroponic plants though it is possible to grow them horizontally if there is good reason to do so.

Hydroponic pots are of two types. The most obvious is the pot you place your hydroponic plants into and it provides the nutrient bath for the roots of the plant. The pot needs to be waterproof and of a suitable size to maintain healthy plant growth. It is important that you do not allow the water and nutrient solution to become stagnant which could encourage pests and diseases in the plant.

The other type of hydroponic pots are moulded plastic mesh pots that are designed to contain the roots and the whole pot is immersed into the nutrient rich solution. These do not need to be very strong and are usually made of thin black plastic looking like a normal shaped pot but with vertical slits cut out to allow free access of the roots to the nutrient rich hydroponic solution.

The natural way of growing plants is in open ground where the plants are susceptible to attack fro wind, weather animals and diseases with the result that plant growing the natural way is liable to suffer from periods of very poor results when the conditions are not at their best to suit the plants being grown.

The benefits of growing plants in hydroponic pots and hydroponic conditions is that you, as the gardener, are totally in control of the plant growing conditions. You control the temperature, the amount of light and the nutrients contained in the liquid feed given to the plant roots in the hydroponic pots or trays.

The downside to all this is that any failure n your part to maintain the optimum conditions for your plants may lead to disappointing results or even total devastation of the crop. Hydroponic gardening gives you a wonderful opportunity to control the environment for your plants but you must never neglect them or they may die.

For anyone keen on starting hydroponic gardening the simplest way to go would be by purchasing hydroponic gardening kits which come complete with everything you need to begin plant growing hydroponically.

These kits will often be aimed at beginners and include a guide to growing hydroponically together with the seeds and nutrient rich minerals to be added to the liquid feed for your plants.

Alternatively you could start with a hydroponic gardening book to help you understand what is involved with this type of plant growing and production. There are some excellent books to choose from which go from simple guides which explain the basics to comprehensive manuals on how to run a hydroponic greenhouse system commercially.