modernday families are increasingly becoming an environmentally conscious and health conscious lot it is therefore no surprise that organically grown vegetables are fast replacing the flower pots in balconies and terrace gardens taking a step forward city dwellers are now adopting hydroponics the method of growing plants without soil although clean eating caught the fancy of people a few years ago this subset of hydroculture is a relatively new practice thats finding prominence in neighbourhoods across indiawhat is hydroponicshydroponics is a subset of hydroculture which is a method of growing plants without soil by using mineral nutrient solutions in a water solvent instead only certain plants can naturally grow in water we dissolve nutrients in water and then attach a pump that allows this water to rotate throughout the system says vinod chakravarti cofounder of a company that deals with hydroponicsits easy to set up also saves waterwith water scarcity and a lack of space counted among issues faced by people the method of hydroponics comes in handy for those keen on growing their own vegetables at home bengalurubased patanjali bhat says hydroponics is easier to follow and yields superior quality greens that are way better than the ones in the market my intention was to provide my family fresh and chemicalfree greens we set up the arrangement on the the terrace of our house this method worked better for us as we do not have regular water supply in our house hydroponics helped me save up to 70 of water laasya samhita a bengalurubased biologist adds that hydroponics works for people who love gardening but do not have the space for it i used to struggle to find goodquality greens in the market and even if i did they would always be sprayed with pesticides i love gardening but have no space with hydroponics i grow my own greens and save water now says laasya adding that greens like amaranth grow well in bengaluruhydroponics finds takers across the countryexperts say that while the nosoil farming trend has gained momentum in recent times people are experimenting with various greens and plants hydroponics is on the rise in india as there is more awareness now thanks to social media we get orders from across the country we have worked with nearly 300 homes in hyderabad alone in the past one year and the numbers are increasing the setup we have is uniform across the country however in places like jaipur where the temperature can get really high like during summer people wont be able to do much says vihari kanukollu ceo of a vertical urban farming company in hyderabadaccording to atrei chatterjee who runs a restaurant in kolkata this method has worked wonders for him i am able to use fresh supplies of greens from my home i have grown lettuce and now im looking at growing herbs tomatoes and other leafy greens the only challenge i faced initially was in controlling the light conditions but once i got the