Introduction to Hydroponics | OSU Continuing Education

This course provides a basic overview of the concept of hydroponics—the production of plants in water, without soil. We will cover four standard systems used to pursue hydroponic production:

Deep water culture
Nutrient film technique
Buckets
Ebb and flow

What You'll Learn

After completing this course, you should be able to:

Describe the basic processes of hydroponic crop growth.
Explain similarities and differences between soil-based and soilless plant production.
Identify the major features of different styles of hydroponic production systems.
Evaluate the effectiveness of different methods of pursuing hydroponic crop production.
Assemble small, experimental hydroponic systems.

Engage in Active Learning

Each course module finishes with a 'take-home' assignment designed to help you put your new knowledge into practice wherever you live. We do our best to present different options for different scales of application, including hobby, amateur, and professional. Further, we make every effort to keep the hobby-level directions cheap and accessible so you can try out hydroponics with minimum risk.

Throughout the course, you will:

Practice with multiple styles of hydroponic production.
Explore real, working hydroponic systems.
Utilize take-home materials and guides to begin hydroponic production at home, regardless of the space available to you.

On demand. Access any time.

Online

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Instructors

Mykl Nelson

Mykl came to the Pacific Northwest to enter the agricultural sector. He spent a handful of years at Oregon State University to retrain in a new undergraduate degree so he could finish with a Master’s of Horticulture. He is now creating and teaching courses at OSU as the Instructor of Urban Agriculture. Outside the university, Mykl gardens when he can and runs a number of nutrient cycling experiments.

Past Students' Work

Take a look at some recent projects our students have created.