| The word "hydroponics" is derived from two Greek | | | | and introduced pasta to Italy, commented on what he |
| words: cidra, meaning water, and punikos, meaning | | | | called the "Floating Gardens." Around the same time |
| labor; thus, literally "waterworks." Contrary to popular | | | | on the other side of the world, the Mexica - one of the |
| belief, hydroponic gardening is an ancient form of | | | | native peoples who later formed the Aztec Empire of |
| agriculture, going back 3,000 years. There are | | | | Mexico - built a city called Tenochtitlan on the shores |
| references to the cultivation of plants directly in water | | | | of Lake Texcoco. Where Mexico City stands today, |
| in Egyptian records dating back to the time of the New | | | | the Mexica constructed an extensive urban center |
| Kingdom and the "Woman-King," Pharoah Hatshepsut | | | | that included a type of early hydroponic system upon |
| around 1460 BCE. | | | | which plants were cultivated on the surface of the |
| The best-known hydroponic gardens of the ancient | | | | water. These early Mexican "floating gardens" were |
| world were the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Also | | | | developed out of necessity, because arable land was |
| known as the Gardens of Semiramis, the Hanging | | | | at a premium in the area. Called chinampas, they were |
| Gardens are reputed to have been located near | | | | actually small, artificial islands that were created by |
| Al-Hillah in present-day Iraq, and were regarded as one | | | | scooping up mud from the marshy areas bordering the |
| of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. | | | | lakes. This mud was ultimately held together by tree |
| The Hanging Gardens were built by King | | | | roots; food plants were cultivated on these "islands," |
| Nebuchadnezzar around 600 BCE. His wife, Amytis, | | | | and were amazingly productive. |
| was from Media, whose people were the ancestors | | | | The modern history of hydroponics actually begins in |
| of the modern Kurds. The country of Medea was a | | | | 1627, when Sir Francis Bacon's Sylva Sylvarum was |
| mountainous one, roughly corresponding to | | | | published posthumously. In this treatise, Bacon - an |
| present-day Kurdistan, northern Iran and Azerbaijan. | | | | English philosopher and contemporary of Shakespeare |
| Legend says Amytis became homesick for the | | | | - wrote about the cultivation of terrestrial plants without |
| mountains and the flora of her homeland; | | | | soil. Although Bacon died before his theories could be |
| Nebuchadnezzar had the Gardens constructed for her. | | | | explored, the idea of water culture caught on as an |
| According to Greek historians of the time, the Hanging | | | | area of scientific study throughout the remainder of |
| Gardens, a water pipe led into a well tower, which | | | | the 17th Century. By the 1860s, German botanists Julius |
| supplied water via a number of vaults for fruit trees | | | | von Sachs and Wilhelm Knop had perfected the first |
| growing in a layer of asphalt. | | | | nutrient solutions for soilless agriculture, and modern |
| Centuries later, Italian traveler Marco Polo, who | | | | hydroponic gardening was born. |
| reportedly visited China during the late 13th Century CE | | | | |