Hydroponic Gardening News

By Scott N. Miller

EAGLE-VAIL - For the past few years, the greenhouse at Battle Mountain High School has been a home for junk and wayward plants. That's changing.

For the past few Mondays, a group of local "slow food" enthusiasts has been in the greenhouse - which hasn't been used for classes for several years - cleaning, clearing, and generally getting the place ready for a revival.

When the first plants start growing, probably in early 2006, volunteers will have a place to grow vegetables and herbs year-round, students will have a chance to see how organically- and hydroponically-grown vegetables compare, and Marc von Stralendorff will finally get a break.

"It's really been a greenhouse of misfits and orphans," said von Stralendorff, a science teacher at Battle Mountain

High School. "It's been a lot of work. I'm happy to have someone from the community helping out."

That help comes gladly from people who see a chance to put the greenhouse to use in the cause of slowing down their lives and exploring the tastes of foods not usually found in supermarkets. But it's taking a lot of work to get the place back into shape.

"I couldn't believe it when I saw it," said Susan Mackin Dolan, the education director for the local slow food chapter. "It was full of old, dead plants. You could hardly look across it it was so full."

Now, dead plants have been pitched, and plants that can be salvaged have been re-potted. Equipment has been sorted and stacked. It won't be long until it's time to plant.

"We'll start with some greens, that's a good cool-climate crop," Mackin Dolan said. "Then we can grow whatever else the science department wants to grow."

Those plants will grow in a couple of ways. Those interested in growing herbs and plants in pots can, of course. The students involved in the school's Pro Start program for aspiring chefs will probably grow some herbs.

Pat Bultemeier, owner of Head Start Hydroponics in Edwards, has signed on to help growers who want to use hydroponics - a way to grow plants without soil and using a water-based solution to provide nutrients to plants.

Comparing how pot-grown and hydroponically-grown plants start and mature is one of the things von Stralendorff wants his students to look at. Mostly, though, the greenhouse will give the valley's small but growing slow-food enthusiasts an outlet for their own gardening urges.

"I'm just an old hippie," Mackin Dolan said. "I've done organic gardening for years. I've even grown tomatoes in Intermountain."

But, Mackin Dolan said, the local slow-food group is a diverse bunch, made up of landscapers, chefs and moms like Tara van Dernoot.

"The idea of slow food really appealed to me," van Dernoot said. "I'm on an ongoing mission to slow my life down."

Slow, or at least slower, food is part of that quest. But between jobs, kids in school and extracurricular activities, slowing down is hard.

"I try to make as much ahead of time as I can," van Dernoot said. "But some weeks are better than others."

But as people try to slow down, they're also gearing up for coming events. Local groups are required to have several events a year to maintain an official slow food chapter. There have been a few this year, and next year plans include taking part in an Earth Day celebration at the Eagle-Vail Pavilion.

"We have a lot of big ideas," Mackin Dolan said. "We'll just see what happens."

Gardening in the winter

By: Heather Ly, News 10 Now Web Staff

Snow and cold weather don't have to keep you from tending to your garden, as long as it's inside. More people are turning to hydroponic gardening as a way to grow their favorite plants year-round.

Store Manager Rick Kolceski said, "Plants will grow typically in two-thirds the time they will in soil because in soil the plant is not only pushing up to the plant, but it's pushing the roots down looking for the nutrients. Hydroponics you're just giving the roots everything they need."

Hydroponic gardening, as the name suggests, uses water instead of soil. All you have to do is add nutrients.

"It's very simple. It's like baking cookies. You just follow the instructions. You measure out how much nutrients to put in, and you put them in at a certain time every day," says Kolceski.

You can also put your system on a timer, so you'll never forget to feed your plants. Anything that grows in soil can grow in a hydroponic garden. Some people garden indoors all year-round, while others use hydroponic gardening in the winter, so their plants are good to go once spring arrives.

"They'll get a jump start on their plants by growing them indoors, and with hydroponics you make strong healthy plants. It's able to be transplanted and thrive," Kolceski stated.

Kits average about $65, but you can start your own hydroponic garden for as little as $20. The most expensive investment is a lighting system which runs anywhere between $75 and $400 dollars, but it's a one time purchase, and the bulbs will last you three to five years.

So you don't have to worry about putting your plants in a sunny spot. And since there's no soil, there's less mess and no soil-borne diseases or bacteria.

By Greg McLean


A LUDMILLA man was caught with an elaborate hydroponics set-up when an off-duty detective caught a whiff of it while inspecting a house for sale.

The house-hunting detective became suspicious there was cannabis being grown in the Wells St house when he noticed a locked bedroom door during the inspection with a real estate agent.

"It wasn't just your ordinary lock, the door was deadlocked and that was the main factor that raised my suspicions," the Drug Enforcement Section detective said.

"There was also a slight odour that was consistent with what you would expect with plants growing.

"I thought it was a bit strange the door was locked but the real estate agent just said there was personal stuff in there."

Further investigations by the detective during the inspection only heightened his suspicions after seeing two air-conditioners feeding into the room.

There were also pipes running into the bedroom window and black plastic behind the curtain to keep out natural light.

Drug Enforcement unit members returned to the house last Monday with a search warrant and seized 15 cannabis plants from the bedroom after breaking the deadlock.

A further 1.1kg of cannabis was seized during a search of the house.

The real estate agent, who showed several people through the property on Saturday, said the first he knew of the hydroponics room was when police contacted him yesterday.

"I had no idea," he said. "It's not the sort of thing you expect to find when you are preparing a house for sale."

A 38-year-old tenant was charged with cultivating cannabis, cultivating a trafficable quantity of cannabis, possessing cannabis, supplying cannabis and administering a dangerous drug to himself.

He was bailed to appear in Darwin Magistrates Court at a later date.

By Paul Rellinger

Two Otonabee-South Monaghan residents have been charged following the execution of a search warrant Monday at a Villiers Line residence.

Members of the Kawartha Combined Forces Drug Unit searched the home, discovering an indoor marijuana grow operation as well as a quantity of dried marijuana.

Officers seized 227 grams of marijuana bud, 44 mature marijuana plants and hydroponics equipment. Police estimate the value of the marijuana at $47,405 and the grow equipment at $1,000.

John Venema, 52, and Shelly Petrollini, 46, both of Villiers Line, are each charged with possession for the trafficking and production of marijuana.

# An Indian hobbyist has created a purely organic nutrient mixture for growing plants in water.
# Although it is still an evolving science, hydroponic agriculture (growing plants in water solution rather than soil) is spreading fast the world over.
# The nutritional requirement of the plants in this system of soilless farming is met by the nutrient mixtures, called hydroponics fertiliser mixtures, added to the water in which the plant roots are kept submerged.
# These mixtures are made of chemical plant nutrients.
# A breakthrough has now been achieved by an Indian hydroponics hobbyist in creating a purely organic nutrient mixture for growing plants in water.
# This wholly chemical-free plant growth solution has been tested successfully for growing several plants, including common vegetables like tomato and arbi and some high value medicinal plants like Brahmi, Arjun and Cineraria.
# Indeed, a good deal of research is underway in this system of soilless farming in the US and Europe but not much headway has been made anywhere in organic hydroponics.
# Of course, some hydroponics enthusiasts abroad have been experimenting with various kinds of organic manures and mixtures of plants, but successful and commercially viable organic hydroponics models are still not available.
# His daughter, Shweta Singh, a Delhi University botany student, has been assisting him in discovering and further improving the biofertiliser mixture for growing plants in ordinary water.
# "I will work on it for a couple of years more before thinking of launching commercial production of this bio-fertiliser for hydroponics.
# However, if some government organisation, such as the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), comes forward, I am willing to cooperate with it in promoting organic hydroponics in India," he says.
# He believes that nearly 200 commercially important plants can be grown by hydroponics technique

By MATT WARD
Thursday, 17 November 2005

GOING hydroponic has proven a successful means of exploiting seasonal market opportunities for Giru growers Trevor and Beverley Shand.

Mr Shand had previously grown sugar cane with his family for 25 years – long enough to get ideas about trying something different.

“In the last year we grew 8000 tonnes; we had a big contract and the whole thing went pear-shaped,” he said.

“Getting into hydroponics has been a steep learning curve. When we first started I knew nothing about it.”

The Shands grow Lebanese cucumbers in a shed of 820 square metres – generally around 3000 plants are squeezed into this space.

The frame of the shed is enclosed with a clear plastic material called solar weave, and the plants are grown in pots of sand.

It’s a run-to-waste system – the opposite of reticulated – with a dripper for each plant supplying four litres/hour.

The beauty of a hydroponic operation, Mr Shand said, is that waste is kept to a bare minimum, both in terms of crop losses and nutrient/water usage.

“Out in the field you can easily experience losses of a third of the crop. Indoors, losses are extremely low and you use much less water.”

“Prescription” is a word that peppered Mr Shand’s description of his hydroponics operation. Nutrients are delivered at strategic times and in close to ideal doses. The shed opens up at the top and the sides to allow air to filter through.

He said you can grow almost anything in there; the previously owners were producing continental cucumbers and parsley.

But the biggest advantage the Shands enjoy is being able to supply produce to southern markets during winter when sheds south of Sydney close.

“There are lots of sheds down there, and their yields drop right off.”

Last year, between the months of July and September, the Shands were supplying Coles with up to 100 boxes/week, and the prices per box rose markedly from $20/box to $35/box.

“Next year, whatever we grow here Coles said they will take. We were trialling different varieties this year. Next year it will be all the one variety, so we should be able to supply 150 boxes per week.”

While Mr Shand admitted that southern sheds are beginning to become more sophisticated, some being sealed and temperature controlled, this is rarely cost effective. Tropical North Queensland, however, doesn’t have this problem and can therefore cut down on overheads considerably.

“It’s a market you can have control of with hydroponics. You can look for a niche market and take a versatile approach to growing.”

While the cost of production increases every year, Mr Shand said their needs to be a base price beneath which production is unviable. If it goes up, it’s a bonus.

Plant City, Florida - The Parke family has been growing strawberries in Hillsborough County dirt for 50 years, but now Gary Parke is breaking with tradition.

Parke has started growing berries hydroponically. Instead of soil and fertilizer, the plants grow from a nutrient solution. And a field now looks like something out of a science project.

Gary Parke, Strawberry grower:
'Yeah, pretty exciting. The two guys that help me say it’s like working at EPCOT everyday.'

Parke says by growing the plants on vertical stands, he can put over five times the number of plants on an acre and the method saves on water too.

Gary Parke, Strawberry grower:
'Everything looks good on paper, but what I’ve actually seen…like half the growth time, more production, better taste; how can I not?'

Parke’s first field is a “you pick it” endeavor that opens to the public on Tuesday.

Parke admits this new way of raising berries, may raise some eyebrows as well. But he thinks this new way of growing red will generate a lot more green.

By Kathryn Bursch, Tampa Bay's 10 News

Bronx teens going green
By KAT MCGRORY
DAILY NEWS WRITER

Brittany Jacobs (l.), 14, and Manuel Tejeda, 11, participants of after-school program at New South Bronx Police Athletic League, measure their plants as they learn about hydroponics, the science of growing plants in nutrient-rich water rather than soil.
A tree might grow in Brooklyn, but basil, lettuce and cabbage grow on a rooftop in the South Bronx.

'You wouldn't expect to see all of these plants growing in the Bronx because we're in the middle of a city,' said 11-year-old Crystal Melendez as she inspected a freshly picked basil plant. 'But this is like our own little farm. Except without the dirt.'

Crystal and nearly 1,000 of her peers at the New South Bronx Police Athletic League in Longwood are learning about hydroponics, the science of growing plants in nutrient-rich water rather than soil.

Students in the after-school program not only learn about agriculture and biology, they plant, pick and package the produce in the league's rooftop hydroponics lab and even help sell it to local supermarkets.

'Our goal is to make science fun, interactive and hands-on,' said the league's science coordinator Katharine Panessidi, a recent University of Massachusetts grad. 'It isn't school. It's after school.'

The rooftop hydroponics "

By LESLIE LAND
THE NEW YORK TIMES

Q: I have not had much luck with houseplants, so I'm intrigued by a hydroponic system, called Streamgarden, billed as the key to easy indoor gardening. Does it really work?

L.L.: All hydroponic systems deliver steady supplies of water and nutrients. So if you travel frequently or have trouble remembering how much to water and feed, hydroponics can help.

On the downside, these systems need pumps, though they are not especially loud.

The greatest challenge for indoor growers is usually a lack of light, followed by plant-unfriendly temperatures and humidity levels. Automatic delivery of food and water will not address these issues.

Of course lights, heaters and humidifiers can be automated too, which may be one reason so many hydroponic systems are available: Go for the whole deal, and -- presto! -- an indoor garden.

The Streamgarden is sold by Design Within Reach, 800--944-2233 or dwr.com

FARM VIEW

Surinder Sud / New Delhi October 11, 2005

An Indian hobbyist has created a purely organic nutrient mixture for growing plants in water.

Although it is still an evolving science, hydroponic agriculture (growing plants in water solution rather than soil) is spreading fast the world over.

The nutritional requirement of the plants in this system of soilless farming is met by the nutrient mixtures, called hydroponics fertiliser mixtures, added to the water in which the plant roots are kept submerged. These mixtures are made of chemical plant nutrients.

A breakthrough has now been achieved by an Indian hydroponics hobbyist in creating a purely organic nutrient mixture for growing plants in water.

This wholly chemical-free plant growth solution has been tested successfully for growing several plants, including common vegetables like tomato and arbi and some high value medicinal plants like Brahmi, Arjun and Cineraria.

Indeed, a good deal of research is underway in this system of soilless farming in the US and Europe but not much headway has been made anywhere in organic hydroponics.

Of course, some hydroponics enthusiasts abroad have been experimenting with various kinds of organic manures and mixtures of plants, but successful and commercially viable organic hydroponics models are still not available. In fact, even globally accepted principles for certifying organic hydroponics products are also not yet available.

The success in this venture in India is claimed by a Delhi-based family headed by Vidya Shankar Singh. His daughter, Shweta Singh, a Delhi University botany student, has been assisting him in discovering and further improving the biofertiliser mixture for growing plants in ordinary water. “Though we normally call this biofertiliser an ayurvedic medicine for raising plants, we have also given it the name Shweta Anand Growth Solution”, says Singh.

It costs only about Rs 30 to Rs 40 for producing one litre of this concoction, though it takes a long time of six to eight months to process it. This mixture, added to the water at the rate of just one millilitre per litre per week, takes care of the complete nutritional requirement of the plants.

Singh has also evolved another wholly plants-based mixture for spraying on the plants to boost their growth. He has named it Shweta Protonic mixture. He, however, is keeping the formula for making these mixtures a secret. Nor does he want to disclose the plants whose leaves are used in preparing them.

“I will work on it for a couple of years more before thinking of launching commercial production of this bio-fertiliser for hydroponics. However, if some government organisation, such as the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), comes forward, I am willing to cooperate with it in promoting organic hydroponics in India,” he says.

The hydroponics garden that Singh is maintaining on the roof of his house near backside entrance of the Nizamudin railway station has several species of flowering plants, vegetables and medicinal plants. He believes that nearly 200 commercially important plants can be grown by hydroponics technique. But, surely, this technique cannot be applied to all plants. His attempts to grow horticultural plants like lemon and grapes have not been successful.

In India, the hydroponics system of farming was first attempted by an English scientist W J Shalto Duglas in a laboratory in Kligpong area of West Bengal in 1946. After his return to England in 1948, the scientific research work on it virtually stopped.

Globally, however, the chemical fertiliser mixture-based hydroponics is in vogue in several countries, especially in areas where either the climatic conditions or the poor soil quality prohibit normal crop cultivation. In British Columbia, the bulk of the greenhouse industry is now using hydroponics technology.

Various models of the hydroponics are in use for indoor as well as outdoor gardening and farming. Specialised cultivation techniques have also been evolved for growing vegetables in submarines to feed the crew members. It may soon also find its use in spacecrafts. The US space agency is reported to have begun experimenting growing plants in space.

In India, too, several tracts of wastelands having poor quality soil but plenty of water can be brought under hydroponics. All that will be needed is to create an impervious surface at the bottom and bunds to hold water.

The technology used for polythene lining of canals can come in handy for creating large hydroponic farms to grow food crops, vegetables and other plants.