Hydroponics

[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

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