"...i thought the point of hydroponics was to provide more Oxygen, Water, and nutrients to increase photosysthesis Thereby increasing growth and vigor..."

OK, here's the deal for Paht Hed, Earthy Dank, and any other nonbeliever. Hydro has many advantages over dirt. There is not any one point of hydro, there are a plethora. The whole point of hydro for one person might be to provide more oxygen and nutrients in an attempt to increase growth and vigor. That is certainly one of my points, but also I do it because it's fun and interesting, I can do it all year, and it can produce an increased yield in a very small space. The reason for this last one is because I am supplying oxygen and nutrients directly to the roots, therefore they do not have to search for it, therefore they do not need to grow very big root masses in order produce big, healthy plants, therefore I can grow a whole bunch of tomatoes in a very small footprint.

I'm not trying to win an argument here or have the last word. I just want beginners and people like DurbanStone to know the whole truth so that they can make informed and proper decisions. Not everybody has the space for a 5 gallon bucket for each plant (myself included), and you certainly don't need that to produce da danknes, chronic, the shit, you know, tomatoes. If you've got the room, then by all means, have a 50 gallon drum for each plant. You could veg that for a year and fill up the drum with roots, if that's the kind of thing you want to do, and more power to you.

About the space thing:

Growing plants hydroponically helps gardeners and farmers grow more food more rapidly in smaller areas (greenhouses, living rooms, classrooms, and rooftops, for instance) and to produce food in parts of the world where space, good soil, and/or water are limited.
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In hydroponics, plant spacing can be intensive, allowing you to grow more plants in a given space than soil grown produce.
Lesson 1-1

The plant does not have to search in the soil for the nutrients that it requires. Those nutrients are being delivered to the plant several times per day. The hydroponic plant requires very little energy to find and break down food. The plant then uses this saved energy to grow faster and to produce more fruit.
Hydroponic gardening for beginners - Greentrees Hydroponics

More intense cropping technique requires less space.
Benefits of hydroponic food production

SUMMARY: Space/Room = one hydroponics benefit.