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