"Kratky" Style Hydroponics is simply the idea of growing plants in non-circulating systems that contain the required nutrients and are therefor very low maintenance.
I had the pleasure of visiting Dr. Bernie Kratky of Hilo Hawaii at his home and touring his hydroponic greenhouses. It was a fascinating chance meeting on craigslist that led me to meeting the man who popularized the method of hydroponics that interested me most after studying the discipline at UH Hilo. I was greeted by Professor Kratky and his wife and given tour of his hydroponic greenhouses and even watched as he prepared a new container with cucumber starts. It was a great privilege to watch an expert operating is his own space and I learned a great deal in that short hour.
Dr. Kratky explained that he had not in fact created this method, but that one of his professors in Vietnam had been using it within without air stones, or a water circulating/aerating mechanism. Dr. Kratky was interested in low cost, low input styles of growing solutions, "even usable for 3rd world nations" as he put it. It was for this reason that he was attracted to the non-circulating style. After working with the method extensively and growing everything from tomatoes to squash to greens, Dr. Kratky began writing about this style of hydroponics and had various articles published. One of this articles was included in a review where the method was referred to as "Kratky style" hydroponics and the name stuck ever since.
