Abstract: A hydroponic system is managed by obtaining hydroponic data using a plurality of sensors in a hydroponic cultivator. Data from the plurality of sensors is communicated to a data aggregator, which renders the sensed data from the plurality of sensors in a predetermined data format, as aggregator output data. The aggregator output data is communicated to a fog computing unit, which, in turn, communicates with outside computing routed over the Internet backbone or “cloud”. The fog computing unit is used to control operation of the hydroponic cultivator based on direct control commands executed through the fog control unit and data inputs obtained by communications with outside computing routed over the Internet backbone or “cloud”.