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HISTORY
From nutrient solutions to Mycoponics.
The story begins with a practical question: how do we deliver what an organism needs while keeping its growing environment under control?
1860s
Plant nutrition becomes an experimental science.
Julius von Sachs and Wilhelm Knop helped establish water-culture methods for investigating plant mineral nutrition without soil.
1937
Hydroponics gets its name.
William F. Gericke published “Hydroponics—Crop Production in Liquid Culture” in Science, helping bring nutrient-solution cultivation into agricultural use.
1999
Liquid feeding for mushrooms.
Aksu and Günay reported mushroom production using liquid nutrients with supports including perlite and volcanic tuff. Liquid-fed fungal cultivation predates the modern Mycoponics platform.
2026
The Mycoponics paper.
Porterfield and colleagues published the porous-ceramic cultivation study in Biotechnology Journal.
2026
MIND: a living sensing interface.
Zeng, Porterfield and Kaur released the MIND preprint, connecting mycoponic cultivation with electrical measurements.
Plants and fungi need different nutrition.
Hydroponics
Plants use light and carbon dioxide to build organic matter. Hydroponic systems supply water and mineral nutrients to their roots.
Mycoponics
Fungi obtain energy and carbon from organic nutrients. Mycoponics delivers a liquid feed through a porous support to the growing mycelium.
