Aeroponics

aeroponics

[‚er·ə′pän·iks]

(agriculture)

The practice of growing plants without soil while suspended in air; a nutrient and water solution is sprayed on the roots and allowed to drain off to be discarded or recycled.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Aeroponics

 

air culture, raising plants without soil or soil substitutes. The plants are supplied with nutrients by periodically (every 10–20 minutes) spraying the roots with an atomized nutrient solution. the aeroponic method was proposed in 1910 by the russian scholar v. m. artsikhovskii for purposes of research. Subsequently aeroponics was applied to industrial vegetable and flower production. The aeroponic method of cultivation has been applied not only to plants •whose aboveground parts are used, but also to root crops. The advantage of aeroponics is that it expends a minimum quantity of nutrient solution, and the absence of substratum decreases the size of the installation needed for raising plants. This is particularly important for raising plants in greenhouses, space stations, and ships, among other places.

REFERENCES

Artsikhovskii, V. “O ‘vozdushnykh kul’turakh’ rastenii.” Zhurnal opytnoi agronomii, 1911, vol. 12, no. 1.
Murash, I. G. “O vozdushnoi kul’ture rastenii ν zakrytom grunte.” Fiziologiia rastenii, 1963, vol. 10, issue 5.
Shaidarov, Iu. I. “Ustanovka dlia vyrashchivaniia rastenii metodom vozdushnoi kul’tury.” Fiziologiia rastenii, 1964, issue 2.

V. P. DADYKIN

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.