Hydroponic gardening is the cultivation of plants without use of soil, instead using nutrient solutions dissolved in water. Hydroponics are used in some areas of agriculture today (such as the cultivation of certain vegetables like lettuce) and are believed to be a necessary technology for long-term space development.
Hydroponics in Science Fiction
- Babylon 5 has hydroponic gardens for the cultivation of staples and processing carbon dioxide into oxygen.
- The USS Voyager had an "airponic" garden in one of its cargo bays at one point. Airponics is the growth of plants in open air, much as hydroponics is the growth of plants in water. However, the plants in Voyager's "airponic" bay were growing in pots of soil, making their use of the term absurd.