Hydroponics

[Michelle_Patton]

Is it just me, or is anyone else hesitant to grow food in such a way that it needs to be flushed before you eat it?

I'll stick to my dirt, I think

[The Grand Nudger]

@Paint-
An ebb and flow system is a great starter system, easy to set up. On the other hand, it doesn't offer much increase in productive area relative to cost. Ever think about going deeper down the rabbit hole, upgrading your system to increase yields in smaller spaces....smaller, tightly mylar'd spaces?

What kind of bulbs are you using? Do you have a timer or cycle (multiple bulbs?)

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@Patton-

There's no difference between hydro and soil except space and efficiency. That's just a response to perceived "newness" of an object you've invested a lot of emotion in (food). Dirt is teeming with nasty microbes, the nutrients in dirt are largely excrement.....still sound appetizing?

[Michelle_Patton]

@Patton-

There's no difference between hydro and soil except space and efficiency. That's just a response to perceived "newness" of an object you've invested a lot of emotion in (food). Dirt is teeming with nasty microbes, the nutrients in dirt are largely excrement.....still sound appetizing?

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm all for trying new things so no, that's not my problem. I've partaken of hydroponic "herbs" on a few occasions and it's a good idea for space saving, I get that. My only issue with it is the having to flush the chemicals out - with my excrement filled food, I can eat it right out of the ground...poo and all!

[Oldandeasilyconfused]

Is it just me, or is anyone else hesitant to grow food in such a way that it needs to be flushed before you eat it?

Seems I may have been mistaken. I did some Googling and was unable to find any evidence that hydroponically grown food is unsafe. I found a lot of stuff like this:

hydroponic produce safe?

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Posted by Kyle_Berk z6 TN (My Page) on Tue, Nov 11, 03 at 19:59
I've heard rumors that hydroponically grown fruits and vegetables have an abnormal buildup of certain harmful chemicals. Can anyone defend or refute this? There doesn't seem to be much research on the safety of hydroponic crops...



Posted by mycarbumps z6-7 E.TN (My Page) on Wed, Nov 12, 03 at 9:26
this is untrue- a plant needs 17 minerals to grow. these minerals come from soil or from fertilizer applied to the soil when growing in a soil-based medium. when growing hydroponically you must account for these nutirents by adding them in chemical form instead of allowing the plant roots to "find" them in the dirt. the plant needs in the most quantity C H & O, it obtains these through air and water H20 and CO2. next is N P K- your average dirt fertalizer will add these. next in order of importance are Calcium, Magnesium, & Sulfur. then there are Fe, Zn, Cu, B, Mn, Ni, Mo, & Cl. the plant takes these nutirents up in the same way as it would in soil only they are more readily available because the hydroponic "system" delivers them to the roots instead of the roots having to search for them. since the plant is absorbing the same nutrients in the same way as with dirt, there should be no harmful chemicals, or anyhting else for that matter. i remeber a post from a while back claiming that hydroponics caused vegetables with high levels of radioactivity. people often want to believe that hydroponics somehow manipulates how the plant grows but in truth it just is a different way of providing what a perfect soil would provide. air, water, support, and food. hope this answered your question. hydroponics accually grows vegetables with a higher nutritional value because of the optimum growing conditions. ~Ryan

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/...22848.html

[Michelle_Patton]

Well there you go, I stand corrected

I think one of the things for me is I like getting my hands dirty when I'm gardening, I love the smell of the earth, I love the feel of it. From what you just posted there's obviously nothing wrong with hydro grown veg, but IMO you just can't beat digging into the soil. It's a very grounding experience (no pun intended)

[KichigaiNeko]

Stop making me cry Michelle!!

All I've got here is SAND!! ALL the WAY DOWN!!

[Oldandeasilyconfused]

but IMO you just can't beat digging into the soil. It's a very grounding experience (no pun intended)

I agree completely,I manage to spend some time in my garden most days. Below some pics from my garden at different times of the year.

[The Grand Nudger]

@Pad-

It's also important to mention that the nutrients are delivered in an available form, highly soluble and amenable to the organism in crop. This is a double edged sword. This means that the nutrients have to be heavily processed from their raw forms, and extremely pure (excluding them from organic certification regardless of the source of their raw form), which is unfortunate. On the other hand, strong arguments can be made in favor of hydroponics over any other system of agriculture (aeroponics being the new contender, and some would argue, a type of hydroponic system)