Hydroponic Tomatoes
Hydroponics is a system for growing plants in solutions of nutrient (water and fertilizers). This can be either with or without the use of an artificial soil medium such as sand, gravel, peat, coconut husk, vermiculite, rockwool, coir or sawdust to provide basic root structure support for the plant.
DID YOU KNOW:
Liquid hydroponic systems have none of the supporting mediums used for the plant roots to grow in whereas aggregate systems have a solid or semi solid medium used for plant support.
Hydroponic systems can also be categorised as "open", where the nutrient solution is delivered to the roots and not reused or recycled through the system or "closed" where the extra nutrient solution is recovered, refilled, and re-cycled around the system such as can be seen in NFT systems.
NFT or Nutrient Film Technique is a system which basically consists of a network of 
channels or gullys which allow a film of nutrient to flow past the roots of the plants. This nutrient is tested and checked for ph and nutrient strenth levels and is filled with water and solution automatically.
Flood and Drain Hydroponic systems are nutrient fed into a tank or pot with plants set into a growing medium, the nutrient flows through the container and drains back into a holding tank. The nutrients can then be reused constantly. This system also benefits from testing for PH and nutrient strength (CF).
The beauty of Hydroponic Tomatoes is the low amount of space they need in order to grow large amounts of fruit. The productivity of these systems is far higher than even soil grown tomatoes in greenhouses. This would be a fantastic system for developing countries (and it is used) but the need for plenty of clean running water can hinder this.
We wil go through these systems in detail and outline how you can set up a great system for under $100 !
