Would you go to an unqualified Doctor if you were ill? Do you know of any CEO of a Company that isn’t qualified or trained for the position? Many people might regard these questions as frivolous but the same can be said of the application of hydroponics, which is a science all of its own and a meld of chemistry and agriculture. Imagine trying to make a pair of shoes without having been trained in the art.
Hydroponics holds many people in a suspended sense of some awe and much fascination. After all, how can you grow plants without soil? Must be another marketing trick, surely? Well, hydroponics has been around since before the middle of the last century. It didn’t start with the Hanging Gardens of Babylon as many would believe but with experiments carried out by the US Dept. of Agriculture, which were later given a boost during the war
Ask yourself how much you know about hydroponics and from where did you obtain that information? Many people obtain their knowledge from the internet and the problem with that is that the information is contributed by a plethora of sources, much of it from amateurs. The net result is a mine of confusing information, resulting often in delegates starting on our course with heads-full of bird’s nests (!) Hydroponics is the growing of plants in
Hydroponics, the growing of plants without soil in a neutral medium using water soluble fertilisers, optimises growth resulting in optimal yields of perfect fruit or vegetables for the farmer.
Hydroponics, the scientific growing of fruits and vegetables without soil in a water soluble nutrient fertiliser solution cuts out much of the intensive labour and ‘dirty work’ involved when planting in open ground. Also, irrigation is made very easy as it is already part of the nutrient feeding system in hydroponics and not a separate activity.
Your greenhouse works with recirculating hydroponic nutrient instead of soil. Clear the composted pine bark growing medium of all old roots and previous growth.
Hydroponics has been around since the 1930’s when US Dept. of Agriculture scientists experimented, using water soluble fertilisers to grow plants. Then during the Second World War the US Army gave it a huge boost when they successfully used hydroponics to feed their troops in the South Pacific using the clear crystal water from the volcanic slopes together with beach sand. It did not start with the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, a misconception, as then they had no water soluble chemicals with which it could be done.
With the advent of plastics it has become fashionable to erect plastic covered greenhouses to grow produce, often at great expense because of the high cost of the metal that must be used to support the plastic.
In an earlier issue of The Farmer’s Weekly Julia Kupka exposed some of the shortcomings of the hanging bag system and the dangers of unscrupulous franchisors. These are two very real dangers for potential hydroponics farmers, but there are many others too that the inexperienced hydroponics farmer may not be aware of.
Hydro from the Greek meaning ‘water’ and ‘ponos’ from the Greek meaning ‘work’ gives us the meaning to work in water. Hydroponics is the growing of plants without soil. The plant nutrition, instead of being supplied by the soil is supplied by water soluble nutrients dissolved in the water. This gives this method of growing many advantages over growing in soil.
You’ve heard about ‘paying school fees’ when learning the hard way about a new subject, hobby or activity with which you’re not familiar. Venturing into the field of hydroponics is no different – the penalties for getting it wrong take the form of money disappearing from your pocket! Here’s why it’s so important to learn about hydroponics before embarking on your own adventure.
The cost of living increases daily and nothing reflects the effects of food price inflation more starkly than the price of biltong. All biltong is locally made so there’s no hiding behind the exchange rate as the usual excuse for price increases. Yet, biltong can fetch hugely high prices with game biltong over R200 per kg and normal beef biltong coming a close second behind it. Perhaps the makers of biltong rely on South African’s passion for the delicacy that drives them to buy it in spite of the high prices.
Inflation in South Africa is rising continually at about 6.25% per annum, and you only have to go to your local supermarket to verify it. Some seasonal vegetables go up and down such as lettuce and tomatoes but when out of season tomatoes are selling for more than R20/kg and lettuces in January and February are going for more than R20 a head then you know you’ve just seen the signs of inflation, food price inflation.
DaisyFresh has been commissioned by The Mercury Hibberdene Children’s Holiday Home to build a hydroponics produce-growing unit at minimal cost. The aim of the project is to reduce the costs of providing fresh fruit and veggies to the children who visit the home; at the same time, giving them a keen source of interest which may well assist their career choices later on. Read on to find out more about this hydroponics project.
The Eastern Seaboard of South Africa is classified as sub-tropical because of its hot, humid climate, especially in summer. Temperatures in the upper thirties or low forties are common during January and February, and these temperatures combined with a blistering humidity level of 90% makes life for humans very uncomfortable without air-conditioning…and it’s just as bad for plants! Here’s how hydroponics can help you cultivate fruit and veggies, year round.
Says the South African Weather Service, 2015 was the country’s driest year since records began in 1904. Whether due to the cyclical El Niño weather phenomenon or part of a more enduring swing towards climate change, one thing’s for sure – the future of South African food security lies in greater use of water-friendly farming techniques. Hydroponics expert John Sandison explores how hydroponics could help.
The rising cost of living may have South Africans tightening their belts but there is something we can do about it, argues hydroponics expert John Sandison – learn to grow our own fresh produce and cut out the middle man!
Contrary to what many suppose, hydroponics didn’t begin with the Hanging Gardens of Babylon – there were no compound chemicals available then and, at best, the Hanging Gardens were a series of cleverly constructed water channels down which the water flowed thus watering all the plants in soil-based systems from top to bottom. Rather, it began in the USA during the 1930s as an outgrowth of the culture techniques used by plant physiologists in plant nutrition experiments in that country.
