Hydroponic growing leads to tastier vegetables

Growing vegetables hydroponically leads to a more expensive, but tastier veggie, cumberlink.com reports.

Tomatoes are the king crop in hydroponics because of the demand for them in early spring and late fall when field tomatoes aren't available. The challenge is to sell them at $2.99 per pound when field tomatoes are going for 99 cents, says Mark Toigo, 42, who has run hydroponic greenhouses for the last 15 years, among other duties, at the family-owned Toigo Orchards in Southampton Township, Cumberland County. Hydroponic grower Barb Rose, 52, co-owner of Beck-n-Rose of North Middleton Township, agrees with Toigo. She also developed a niche market in the last three years --- a few chefs at "better restaurants who care what tomatoes look and taste like," Rose says. She counts among her customers Fetter Brookside Market south of Carlisle, Mountain Lakes west of Carlisle, Oak Grove Farms of Mechanicsburg and the Butcher Shop in Chambersburg. For next season, all Beck-n-Rose produce is committed to current customers, says Rose, a former marketing manager for a start-up software company that sold last year for $40 million. "You do need to be a manager and a marketer" to be profitable, Toigo says, raising his voice above the half-dozen four-foot-wide fans that ventilate his 90- by 130-foot greenhouse off South Mountain Estates Road. He steps over piles of vines on the concrete greenhouse floor, the result of cropping the tops off tomato plants that have the last of the crop ripening on the vines. He will plant new tomato vines again in January for harvest beginning in April. Although growers would like to produce tomatoes through the winter, year-round tomato production isn't feasible this far north. They say it doesn't have the flavor of food grown in soil," says Brubeck, who sells mostly to restaurants and to some grocery stores in Cumberland, Dauphin and Lebanon counties.

Original source:
http://www.cumberlink.com/articles/2005/08/07/business/busi01.txt

Indian family makes a breakthrough in hydroponics

by Mike Adams

Hydroponics, the practice of growing plants in water instead of soil, received a giant lift from a New Delhi family that created a purely organic nutrient mix that has sustained tomatoes and Arjun.

Original source:
http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?storyflag=y&leftnm=lmnu5&leftindx=5&lselect=2&chklogin=N&autono=202585

Details

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.

Source: Article taken from Natural News, only for information purpose

How to Maintain a Hydroponic Nutrient Reservoir

A solid foundation for maintaining your hydroponic nutrient solution reservoir! A reservoir forms the center of every single type of hydroponic growing system. These basics give you effective control over every system type. Be a successful hydroponic gardener by effectively maintaining your nutrient solution reservoir.

1. These notes are for a wide range of vegetables used for human consumption. For growing illicit drugs look elsewhere.
2. A wide range of vegetable types need a wide range of nutrient and pH levels. Guides are available from the internet and some nutrient suppliers
3. Check the water quality with your TDS/PPM EC meter from a sample before putting it in your reservoir. Tap water measuring 300 ppm or greater indicates that you may need to run either a reverse osmosis system or distill your water. You want to be sure of the total PPM of the water you are putting to your plants, BEFORE adding nutrients, is between 0-50ppm, anything over 100 is acceptable just be wary of some of the micro nutrients that might be in your test water. See the "Tips" section for ideas on tap water usage.
4. Use a digital probe to measure the strength and pH of the nutrient solution every day and do this close to the same time every day. Make notes in a diary to keep track of events and changes.
5. With nutrients in your reservoir, you can't get a proper reading with paper strips or test tube drop kits. For more accurate readings of your test equipment, test after the nutrient has been run through your system at least once (twice is good).
6. Adjust the pH of your nutrient solution using propriety solutions such as pH Up or pH Down accordingly. Note: An adjustment in your solution's pH will affect its strength. The most affective is a pH of 5.5-6.2 never go higher than 6.5 or lower than 5.5 no matter what vegetables you are growing.
7. Use a TDS/PPM or EC meter to check the strength of your nutrient solution. If it is too strong, add water. If it is too weak, add a little fertilizer. [See Warnings] Make sure you re-test the pH after making changes.
8. Change/top-up the solution in your reservoir when the TDS/PPM meter shows it to be at or below that which the plants require.
9. A proper top-up nutrient should not be used more than 3 to 4 times between full nutrient changes. Do not use full nutrient for top-ups.
10. It is good practice to have a nutrient reservoir as large or larger than the empty volume of the tub(s)/container(s). For example if a 20L tub is used then at least 20L of nutrient should be used, preferably more, twice as much is a good minimum. The volume of the growing medium not with standing in the volume calculations. The largest size nutrient reservoir (within reason) that can be implemented is better.
11. No particular time period should be applied to nutrient life as its life is dependent on is volume and the requirements of the plants as well as the plant's transpiration rate, all of which vary greatly
12. When the nutrient is considered past its useful life it can poured on dirt grown plants.
13. Hydroponic gardens grow better outside, but local weather conditions may affect it and should be taken into account. When growing outside all forms of falling water should be prevented from falling on the garden and so diluting the nutrient solution. # When growing inside provision of suitable lighting may be required.

Tips

• Tap water may contain chemicals which can adversely affect your plants. If you can smell chlorine or are unsure it is best to let your tap water stand for 24 hours prior to adding to your reservoir. Using chlorine remover for aquariums will add another unwanted chemical to your reservoir. By letting your water stand, you equalize the temperature of the water to that of the room, thereby making the water less likely to shock the plants' root system.
• A larger reservoir allows a greater capacity for buffering against PPM/TDS EC changes, plant water use and pH. It's best to aim to create the largest reservoir you can fit comfortably in the allocated area that you have.
• Oxygenation of the nutrient solution is paramount for nutrient uptake. Where possible, allowing return nutrient to splash back into the reservoir will suffice. If this is impracticable an aquarium air pump and stone rated for the size of your nutrient reservoir may be required.
• Make sure the fertilizer you use in a hydroponic system is complete. Match the solution's type and strength to your plants' needs.
• The number of nutrient flushes through the system per day will depend on what type of plants, their size/maturity, whether or not they are fruiting, and the air temperature and humidity.

Not less than two flushes per day (morning and evening)should be provided, but as many as one flush per two hours may be needed. A good guide is to watch the leaves, and when they show signs of wilting, add a flush at that time.

• It is a good idea to run plain water or 1/4 strength nutrient through the system during its regular timed flushes once or twice in between major or complete nutrient changes, to leach out any fertilizer buildup. Keep in mind this will weaken your prepared nutrient mix so a re-test and adjustment will be in order after a plain water or 1/4 strength flush.
• Keep your nutrient solution temperature between 70/78°F-21/25C. These are ideal figures, but readings slightly over and under as low as 12C 53F will work, however plant growth may be slower for lower temperatures.
• A lot of water treatment facilities have changed from Chlorine to Chloramine. They are doing this because it is cheaper due to the fact that Chloramine does not evaporate out of the water like Chlorine. If you ask the water company it "evaporates in 2 or 3 days" but with some online research you'll find many opinions that "it does not evaporate but breaks down into possibly harmful bi-products" The bottom line is you need a water filter that is capable of removing Chloramines. Standard RO is not enough, you still need to purchase a Chloramine removing pre-filter for your RO system.

Source

The Guide To Organic Hydroponic Gardening

Hydroponics Technology

Hydroponics is a technology for growing plants in nutrient solutions (water containing fertilizers) with or without the use of an artificial medium (sand, gravel, vermiculite, rockwool, perlite, peatmoss. coir, or sawdust) to provide mechanical support.

Liquid hydroponic systems have no other supporting medium for the plant roots: aggregate systems have a solid medium of support. Hydroponic systems are further  categorized as open (i.e. once the nutrient solution is delivered to the plant roots, it is  not reused) or closed (i.e. surplus solution is recovered, replenished, and recycled). Hydroponic growing (as opposed to soil growing) allows you to control the nutrient levels for your plants directly. Because of the higher control over nutrients, hydroponically grown plants generally have a much higher yield than similar plants grown in soil.

A plant gets its food source by turning Co₂, light and water (or hydrogen) into carbohydrates through a process called photosynthesis. With hydroponics growing, plants are grown without soil so they must get their nutrients from the nutrient solutions added to water. The absence of soil in growing means that hydroponics systems must have some way of supporting the plants while still allowing the bare root system maximum exposure to the nutrient solution. Often a “growing medium” is used for support and to aid in moisture and nutrient retention in hydroponics growing. Because they lack media to store water and nutrients, water culture systems need a continuous flow of nutrients to prevent drying out the plant roots. Plants need an energy source in order to grow. With hydroponics growing this energy may come from natural light, which has the full spectrum of color or through the use of different types of artificial lighting (grow lights), which can be selected for specific plant varieties and optimum plant growth characteristics.

Hydroponic farming to help achieve Agri targets

Pakistan can enhance vegetable and fruit crops yield with hydroponic farming technology to overcome the food shortages and price hike tendency. This technology would not only raise yield but also enhance nutrition abilities of plants. Hydroponics can be a futuristic technology for Pakistan to ensure proper supply of vegetable and fruits crops as it uses 70 percent to 90 percent less water than irrigated soil based agriculture. No water was lost in the ground or absorbed by weeds or lost in evaporation, officials in Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MINFAL) said. A website relating to agri news reported that a hydroponic pilot project has already been launched in Rawat (Islamabad) under the name bio-blitz over just five acres of land. The state-of-the- art five-acre Green House facility is producing hydroponic tomatoes of all varieties including tangy, elegant, cherry and others. If hydroponics farming technology is introduced properly, then country can triple the revenues earned on agriculture exports and the country could be a huge power player in the market because nobody else in the region is using high-tech hydroponics. The officials said in the pilot project, a Dutch hydoponic expert was working with the team training Pakistani staff on how to run a hydroponic greenhouse. According to them, a high tech hydroponic facility was more expensive to set up than soil farming but once it is set up, operating and maintenance costs were low and the very high and definite yields means that invested money would be recovered in one year.

Countries, which were world leaders in hydroponics employ what was called a 'cluster approach where land is allocated just for hydroponic farming practiced by different farmers. To develop a viable hydroponics industry, Pakistan desperately needs to improve its infrastructure facilities, such as availability of electricity and land. Greenhouses need a constant supply of power but the situation in Pakistan is not encouraging, they added. Agriculture scientists said there are two main types of hydroponics culture, namely solution culture and medium culture. The solution culture excludes roots as source of nutrition, while the medium culture is based on roots as part of the process. The solution culture method is further divided into three types - static solution culture, continuous flow solution culture, and aeroponics. The medium culture, on the other hand, is based on medium through which the root is routed - sand culture, gravel culture or rock wool culture. These media of nutrition are again sub-divided into two categories - sub-irrigation and top irrigation. In all these techniques, mostly plastic is used for hydroponic reservoirs, though other materials have also been used, which include concrete, glass, metal, vegetable solids and wood. Experts advised that the containers should block light to prevent algae growth in the nutrient solution. Hydroponics is a method of growing plants, using mineral nutrient solutions without soil. Terrestrial plants may be grown with their roots in the mineral nutrient solution only or in an inert medium, such as perlite, gravel, or mineral wool. This technology was discovered in the 19th century. In this technology plants absorb essential mineral nutrients as inorganic ions in water. In natural conditions, soil acts as a mineral nutrient reservoir, but the soil itself is not essential to plant growth. Hydroponics is also a standard technique in biology research and teaching. Researchers have obtained groundbreaking results in various countries, however the process has proved it to be thoroughly practical, having an edge over conventional methods of horticulture. Talking about the benefits of the technology, the officials said it saves water, freedom from soil diseases and weeds and less labour needed and cost effective. Scientists agreed that hydroponics fruits and vegetables are sweeter and more luscious than those grown in ordinary soil are. The technology is being utilised around the globe, including the US, European Union (EU) and African countries. Repeated pricing studies have shown that only high-quality garden type vegetables like tomato, cucumber, potato, sweet peppers, melon, and specialty lettuce can cover costs or give a return in hydroponics systems. As the consumer becomes increasingly aware of quality differences, especially the high quality of tomatoes, cucumbers, and leafy vegetables coming from hydroponics, the demand will increase. This, along with the increased emphasis on eating more vegetables for dietary and health reasons, will surely help the hydroponics industry.

Source: http://www.nation.com.pk

High-tech agriculture: Hydroponic vegetable farming

By Imran Rana

Tahir Rana is a nuclear physicist who gave up a job in Canada to set up a vegetable farm in Faisalabad. He is part of a growing number of people worldwide who have been drawn in by the extraordinary profits in hydroponic vegetable farming, a new method that dramatically increases productivity and thus farmer incomes.

Hydroponic farms are unique in that they do not require any fertile soil. Indeed many of the world’s largest hydroponic farms are set up in the deserts of the Middle East or unfertile soils in other parts of the world. Seeds are placed in a growing medium – which can be either solid or liquid – in trays made from steel pipes. The advantage of this system is that nearly all of the nutrients poured into the growing medium are absorbed by the plant, making it exponentially more efficient and increasing productivity manifold.

Rana has set a up a small company just outside Faisalabad called Fareed Farmhouse, where he produces three varieties of tomato (cherry tomato, strawberry tomato, beef tomato), cucumber and capsicum. His production capacity is significantly above the norm.

“Through this technique, farmers can get between 450 and 550 tons of vegetables per acre, compared to the average yield of 15 tons per acre using traditional farming,” said Rana Zahid, the project director at Fareed Farmhouse.

Rana uses coconut waste imported from Sri Lanka as the solid medium in which he grows his plants. The vegetable plants are then irrigated through a water injection system. Fareed Farm uses reverse osmosis water purification systems to ensure the quality of the water.

Each plant requires up to two litres of water per day, which needs to be slightly acidic, with a pH of 5.8, according to Zahid.

Fareed Farmhouse produces relatively high-end vegetables that are consumed by higher income customers. His buyers include some of the large retail and wholesale chains in the country as well as hotels that have traditionally imported many of these vegetables from Europe.

Rana sells the tomatoes for about Rs225 per kilogram, compared to the cost of importing them from the Netherlands, which can run as high as Rs800 per kilogram. The seeds for the tomatoes at Fareed Farmhouse are imported from Canada and many of the other raw materials from China and Sri Lanka. Yet while the imported raw materials can be expensive, the method allows the company to save on other expenses.

“Our production method allows us to not use any kind of pesticides,” said Rana Arshad, a quality control officer at Fareed farmhouse.

The methods used by Fareed Farmhouse, however, do not come cheap. Hydroponic farming requires an investment of up to Rs1.5 million per acre, though it can yield net profits of up to Rs3 million per acre annually. Tahir Rana, however, is not content with just reaping the rewards of the existing techniques. He plans to spend up to Rs4 million in researching new methods and new variants of seeds. He is also planning on rapidly expanding his production base to up to 20 acres in the Faisalabad area.

Rana is a firm believer in the potential of hydroponic farming to transform Pakistani agriculture. “Every year, we import vegetables from India. If the government takes an interest in promoting these new technologies, we would not need to import from other countries. In fact, the country could earn a lot of foreign exchange by exporting to other countries.”

While Fareed Farmhouse is thus far focused on high-end vegetables, it appears that the company believes this method can be used to produce more mass market products as well.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 23^rd, 2012.