https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/6-kinds-of-hydroponic-gardening-systems-4729189fc8e
For those that don’t already know this, hydroponics is a form of soilless agriculture where plant roots grow in nutrient-enriched water. It’s not new, hydroponic gardening has its roots in ancient history.
https://www.epicgardening.com/history-of-hydroponics/
Some believe that as far back as 600 B.C., gardeners at the Hanging Gardens of Babylon–one of the seven wonders of the world–may have employed hydroponic principles.
According to a 1938 Time Magazine article, one of the first commercial uses of hydroponics was based on the research of several scientists from that period at my alma mater, UC Berkeley. One of the scientists, William Gericke, grew 25-feet high tomato vines in his backyard using only mineral nutrient solutions in a process he called “aquaculture.”
https://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Guide-Soilless-Gardening/dp/116314049X
https://cals.arizona.edu/hydroponictomatoes/history.htm
Between 1925 and 1935, extensive development took place in modifying the methods of the plant physiologists to large scale crop production. Workers at the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station improved the sand culture method. The water and sand culture methods were used for large scale production by investigators at the California Agricultural Experiment Station. Each of these methods involved certain fundamental limitations for commercial crop production which were partially overcome with the introduction of the subirrigation system initiated in 1934 at the New Jersey and Indiana Agricultural Experiment Station. While there was commercial interest in the use of such systems, hydroponics was not widely accepted due to the high cost in construction of the concrete growing beds. In the post-W.W.II years, there was a bloom of interest in the Southwest US in gravel culture of tomatoes and cucumbers. However, the systems were not perfected and were eventually abandoned.
After a period of approximately 20 years, interest in hydroponics was renewed with the advent of plastics. Plastics were used not only in the glazing of greenhouses, but also in lining the growing beds rather than beds made of concrete. Plastics were also important in the introduction of drip irrigation. Again, numerous promotional schemes involving hydroponics became common with huge investments made in hydroponic growing systems. Escalating oil prices, starting in 1973, substantially increased the costs of CEA heating and cooling. This along with fewer chemicals registered for pest control caused many bankruptcies and a decreasing interest in hydroponics.
https://greendiary.com/good-bad-ugly-hydroponic-gardening.html
https://home.howstuffworks.com/lawn-garden/professional-landscaping/hydroponics1.htm