[Texas Kid]

THE PRESENT

With the development of plastics, hydroponics took another large step forward. If there is one single factor that could be credited with making the hydroponics industry the success it is today, that factor is plastics.

As mentioned earlier, one of the most pressing problems encountered everywhere was the constant leaching of detrimental elements into the solution from concrete, rooting media, and other materials. With the advent of fiberglass and such plastics as the different types of vinyl, polyethelene film, and the many kinds of plastic pipe, this problem was virtually eliminated. In the better producing systems being built in the world today plastics are used throughout, and other than a few isolated bronze valves, there is absolutely no metal. Even the pumps are epoxy coated. Using these types of materials, along with an inert material as a rooting medium, the grower is well on his way to success.

Plastics freed growers from the costly construction associated with the concrete beds and tanks previously used. Beds are scraped out of the underlying medium and simply lined with a heavy vinyl (20mil), then filled with the growing medium. With the development of suitable pumps, time clocks, plastic plumbing, solenoid valves and other equipment, the entire hydroponic system can now be automated, or even computerized, reducing both capital and operational costs.

A basic premise to keep in mind about hydroponics is its simplicity. After the wheel was invented, I am sure many were confused and thought it complicated. That was because they could not get their minds off all the work the wheel replaced. This is the way it is with hydroponics. Once you conquer the idea there must be more to it than this, and forget about the work it eliminates, you too will agree: It is simple!

Another important breakthrough in hydroponics was the development of a completely balanced plant food. Work in this area is still continuing, but there are many ready made formulas available. Most of them are good, but very few, if any, will work consistently without the use of various addatives at different stages of the crop. There are also many formulas available that can be mixed by anyone, but the average grower is far better off using one fo the many commercial formulas.

In addition to the progress rate through the use of plastics and the steady increase in production because of improved nutrient mixes, another factor of tremendous importance to the future of the industry was the development of better hardware for control of the environment in greenhouses.

Initially, nearly all fo the early greenhouses were steam heated, and the cost of this equipment virtually barred the small grower from entering this field. With the development of forced-draft heaters that used oil or gas, however, it became possible to build much smaller units, and the advent of LP gas, such as butane and propane, made possible the location of greenhouses in almost any area.

Constant improvements in these heating systems, particularly the introduction of high-velocity fans and the convection tube method of circulating warm air throughout a building, gave the grower better temperature control in the greenhouse. For commercial operations in larger greenhouses, however, a boiler system using steam or hot water remained the most economical. It gave the grower wide latitude in the choice of fuels. There has also been continuous improvements in techniques and equipment for cooling any size greenhouse.

In addition to better environmental control, the use of new materials such as polyethelene, poly-vinyl films, and translucent fiberglass panels introduced completely new methods of low cost greenhouse contruction. They give the builder a wide choice of material for covering any size unit and also made possible many new shapes, sizes, and configurations.

Some of these materials will last only one season; others are guaranteed for 20 years, against clouding, that causes light loss and against shattering from hail; despite damage to the cover, there was little or no damage to the crop. Had a light film or glass been used, however, both the crop and cover would have been completely lost. The films are good for temporary or semi-temporary cover. Many of these materials also gave light diffusion that is beneficial to most plants.

The combination of environmental control and improved hydroponic systems has largely been responsible for the growth of the industry over the past twenty years, and there can be no question that hydroponics will play a big part in feeding the world in the future.

As an example of the need for hydroponics, in 1950 there was a total of 3.7 million acres of land under cultivation in the United States. At that time the population in the United States was 150,718,000. In 1970 the total acreage in cultivation had dropped to 3.2 million and the population had grown to 204,000,000. In the next 20 years, it is estimated that the population of the United States will grow to 278,570,000, an increase of 79,000,000 people. It is hard to project how many more acres will be lost to production during this time. Above paragraph from United States Department of Agriculture and United States Department of Commerce.

Hydroponics has become a reality for greenhouse growers in vertually all climate areas. Large hydroponic installations exist throughout the world for the growing of both flowers and vegetables. For example, large hydroponic greenhouse complexes are now in operation in Tucson, Arizona (11 acres); Phoenix, Arizona (about 15 acres); and Abu Dhabi (over 25 acres), this installation uses desalted water from the Persian Gulf. Tomatoes and cucumbers have proven to be the most successful crops. Cabbages, radishes, and snap beans have also done very well.

The Salt River Valley, which surrounds Phoenix, Arizona, illustrates what happens when the population explodes in an area. The growth pattern of the Salt River Valley is characteristic of many areas not only in the United States, but the world over. The first settlers who came into this area were looking for good land and water, both of which existed in the Salt River Valley. After World War II, the excellent climate caused a massive population boom.

In 1950, within the boundaries of the Salt River Project, there were 239,802 acres, of which 225,152 acres were assessed as agricultural lands. Between 1950 and 1960, these agricultural lands decreased by 37,795 acres. There was a further decrease of 35,411 acres between 1960 and 1970. Between 1971 and 1973, there was an additional loss of 19,172 acres. In 23 years a total of 92,378 acres have been taken out of crop production forever.

The pace at which this fine land is disappearing from production is constantly accelerating. At the current rate, by 1990 there will be little, if any, cultivated land left within the present boundaries of the Salt River Project. Above information supplied by Mr. Reid W. Teeples, Associate General Manager of Water Resources at the Salt River Project, Phoenix, Arizona.

Traveling over the United States, one can see the same pattern being followed elsewhere. Another classic example is Southern California, particularly the Los Angeles area with its tremendous urban sprawl.

With hydroponics, there is no need for soil, and only about one twenty-fifth as much water is needed as in conventional farming. The hydroponic growers of the future will be using the roof tops of warehouses and other large buildings on which to install cmmercial systems. One such system has been designed by Deutschmann's Hydroponic Centers of St. Louis, and will be in operation sometime in 1986. The companies principle crop will be tropical foliage plants, raised in hydroculture. However, the rooftop greenhouses will be used solely for vegetable production. The author, who designed this installation, will be their Chief Olericulturist, and plans to hire all handicapped or underpriveledged employees.

Editors Note: The project became a reality in the fall of 1986. By the end of the summer of 1988, a total of 7 rooftop greehouses were in full production in the St. Louis area. The companies hydrocultural sales of tropical foliage plants had far surpassed their expectations with 433 ten inch hydroculture foliage plants being sold daily through 1994. The vegetable production department, utilizing the rooftop greenhouses, was thriving equally as well when an unfortunate event, unrelated to the business, forced the company to temporarily suspend operations. The patented hydrocultural planting system developed by the author is still available today through various companies and dealers who have maintained stock and new production facilites are operated by EcoTek Hydrocultural Plant Systems, Inc. of St. Louis.

There is ample space on almost any flat rooftop. All that is needed in addition to this space is electricity, fuel and water. Systems built in this manner will have the added advantage of being at, or near, the marketplace, eliminating the need for long-distance transportation of produce, such as we have today. Because the environment within the hydroponic installations can be controlled, these systems can produce vegetables year round in almost any climate.

The system designed and built in St. Louis proves there is no question that we already have the technology to build such systems, inexpensively. There will, however, be other systems, built by or for the homeowner that will take up very little space. Some of these will be small enough to be installed in the kitchen or other parts of the home. They will produce an abundant supply of many types of food, particularly lettuce, strawberries, and similar crops. There are already workable units of this type available now.

Today, hydroponics is an established branch of agronomical science, it helps feed millions of people; these units may be found flourishing in the deserts of Israel, Lebanon and Kuwait, on the islands of Ceylon, the Phillipines, on the rooftops of Calcutta and in the parched villages of West Bengal.

In the Canary Islands, hundreds of acres of land are covered with polyethylene supported by posts to form a single continuous structure housing tomatoes grown hydroponically. The structure has open walls so that the prevailing wind blows through to cool tha plants. The structure helps to reduce transpirational loss of water from the plants and to protect them from sudden rainstorms. Such structures can also be used in such areas as the Caribbean and Hawaii.

Almost every state in the United States has a substantial hydroponic greenhouse industry. Canada also uses hydroponics extensively in the growing of greenhouse vegetable crops. About 90% of the greenhouse industry in British Columbia, Canada, uses sawdust culture to overcome soil structures and soil pest problems.

One-half of Vancouver Island's tomato crop and one-fifth of Moscow's are hydroponically produced. There are full-fleged hydroponic systems in American Nuclear Submarines, Russian Space Stations and on off-shore drilling rigs. Large zoos keep their animals healthy with hydroponic green food, and race horses stay sleek and powerful on grass grown hydroponically year round.

There are large and small systems used by companies and individuals as far north as Baffin Island and Eskimo Point in Canada's Arctic. Commercial growers are using this marvelous technique to produce food on a large scale from Israel to India, and from Armenia to the Sahara.

In arid regions of the world, such as Mexico and the Middle East, where the supply of fresh water is limited, hydroponic complexes combined with desalination units are being developed to use sea water as a source of fresh water. The complexes are located near the ocean and the plants are grown in the existing beach sand. In other areas of the world, such as the Middle East, there is little land suitable for farming. Because of the development of the oil industry and the subsequent flow of wealth, the building of large hydroponic farms to feed the exploding populations in these nations is inevitable. If there is any one industry in the world today who's time has come, it is hydroponics.

WHY GROW FOOD?

Food is something most Americans take for granted. Yet, according to a recent poll "Gardens for All," by the Gallup Organization, 34 million households in America (that's over 43%) grow food, and the number is increasing rapidly. Not since the old Victory Garden era has there been more interest in gardening for food.

Years ago, most people were interested in gardening as a hobby. Few were concerned with taste or nutrition, and fewer still were interested in grocery costs or self-sufficiency. As long as good quality vegetables could be purchased at reasonable prices, there was little concern.

In the past several years, interests have changed. Fewer gardeners are hobbyists. Many are interested in food costs, and more still are concerned about taste and the nutritional values of the vegetables they feed their families, the effects of chemicals, both to the environment and health-wise. Also, there are growing numbers of people in the United States who have a strong desire to become more self-sustaining.

Countries like the Canary Islands balance their economies by exporting vast amounts of soilless-produced tomatoes, cucumbers and salad greens to industrial states like Britain every year. From the Caribbean area, too, Puerto Rican and Mexican growers ship immense quantities of luscious hydroponic fruits and greenstuff to the insatiable United States and Canadian markets. In England, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Switzerland, flower firms often prefer to employ the soilless method for commercial purposes, especially for the production of carnations and other quality blooms. Roses and chrysanthemums are grown extensively in Colorado and neighboring states for export. In 1971 nurseries in those areas made gross profits of over 25 million dollars from hydroponically raised flowers alone.

In the year 1975 alone, four different commercial Hawaiian growers were producing tomatoes hydroponically and more installations were planned. Stateside, more than five hundred commercial hydroponic greenhouses were in operation in the United States.
For one reason or another, most American greenhouse growers will not admit that they are using hydroponics to raise most, if not all of their flowers and plants. I believe one reason for this is because they usa a method that so closely resembles the Bengal System, and do all of their fertilizing and watering by hand, that they are to embarrased to refer to what they do as a form of hydroponics. Editors Note: In the United States the proven Bengel System is referred to as the modified slop method of hydroponics!

The authorities in the U.S.S.R. have encouraged the extension of hydroponics in their country. Large hothouses, soilless farms and gardens exist at Moscow and Kiev, while in Armenia an Institute of Hydroponics has been established at Erevan in the Caucasus region.

Officially, soilless cultivation of plants is looked upon in Russia as a biological industry coming between horticulture and manufacturing. Other countries, not already mentioned, where hydroponics is in current use include Australia, New Zealand, Spain, South Africa, Israel, particularly in the Negev Desert and along the Dead Sea, Italy, the Scandinavian lands, the Bahama Islands, Central Africa, East Africa, Kuwait, Brazil, Poland, the Seychells, Singapore, Malaysia and Iran. This list is not, of course, by any means exhaustive, but it does give some idea of how widely spread soilless gardening is today.
According to Funk & Wagnall's New Comprehensive International Dictionary: "hy-dro-pon-ics...n. pl. (construed as singular) Soilless agriculture; the raising of plants in nutrient/mineral solutions without earth around the roots;..."

That's easy enough - growing without soil. I remember when I first learned about vegetable gardening; it seemed as though everything related to the soil - most of the work and most of the knowledge of farming. The soil had to have the proper texture, structure, and porosity. It had to include all the nutrients required for growing. Even after the garden was planted, the soil had to be worked and reworked.

If I could have eliminated the soil, what a pleasure it would have been to grow my own food. Without soil, more time could have been devoted to more productive efforts, such as maximizing my yields by proper pruning, pollination, intercroping, and proper harvesting. But now I use no soil. I grow with hydroponics.

FOOD TRENDS IN AMERICA

Everyday in America, there are 5,000 more people to feed from the production of farmland which is shrinking by over 15,000 acres a day. That is aloss of almost 6 million acres each year, 3 million to erosion and just poor land management, and 3 million to progress in the form of more homes, factories, and roads.

If we continue at this rate, I feel the demand for food may some day pass our ability to supply it as abundantly as we have in the past. In all probability, we will have to watch or diets a little more carefully and learn how to stop wasting food, as we had to learn how to stop wasting energy.

I do not mean to alarm anyone. Barring a catastrophe, I am convinced there will always be adequate supplies of food. No one will starve in America. But what will happen to our once high standards for taste and nutrition? And how much will food cost, when compared to our monthly incomes?

Not many years ago, most of our fresh food and much of our processed food was produced within a 100 mile radius of our homes. There were hundreds of local farmers and food processors, each competing for our business. With an abundance of food available, we could afford to be choosy. If we did not like what we were offered, we could voice a complaint or just buy from another source.

In those days "fresh" meant fresh. Local farmers were not as skilled in the techniques of disguising poor quality. Since good fresh produce was available at reasonable prices, we would not think of eating a meal without several servings of fresh vegetables, not frozen or canned, but fresh.

We see a much different picture today. Local farmers are almost extinct. We now have larger and more centralized farms, larger food processors and larger chemical companies supplying or farmers and food processors. It is estimated, by the year 2000, one percent of our farms will control over half our food supplies. Also, over 60 percent of farm profits wil go to as few as 50 major companies.

We cannot ignore the worldwide food shortage any longer. We need more food from fewer acres. But in order to get more from less, sacrifices will ahve to be made. Among these sacrifices will be "fresh" food which is not really fresh, less control over food quality, higher food prices, and a much higher ration of processed food over fresh food.
With the demise of our local farmers, I believe we have already lost out on fresh food and local control. Now in order to keep food costs from getting out of control, it only stands to reason more food will have to come to us processed.

It is estimated that 20 percent of all food produced in America (about 137 million tons, worth $31 billon) is wasted. Of that, about 60 million tons, worth $5 billion is simply left in fields and orchards for lack of commercial value. Add to that the increasingly high costs of packaging, storing, preserving, handling, and transportation after it leaves the field, and the result is clear. We as a nation must convert more of our crop yields from fresh produce to processed foods.

True hydroponic culture is generally a means of growing plants in a nutrient solution using no soil or other rooting medium, although today almost all of the many different methods of growing plants without soil employ various types of inert material for a rooting medium, such as gravel, haydite, perlite, vermiculite, pumice, sand and others.

What is known as the Herbagere method hydroponic cultivation, invented by a Belgian Botanist named Gaston Perin, is beginning to find widespread use in the United States. this growing technique utilizes a number of shallow rectangular trays containing grerminating seeds. The trays are stacked one above the other in a sealed growing chamber. Each of the tray bottoms contains narrow slits. This feature permits nutrient solution introduced at the top tray to drip down through each tray in the stack. This technique is sometimes referred to as vertical farming. It has been applied to the growing of highly nutritious grass for feeding of livestock and zoo animals.

The San Diego Zoo is one of a number of zoos that operate a hydroponic growing chamber of this type. It's the size of a large house trailer. Within the chamber a total of 252 white plastic trays are arranged in several neat tiers.

Each day, 36 trays, one seventh of the total, are seeded with presoaked barley. Nutrient solution is sprayed over the trays several times each day to keep the seeds moist. The temperature in the chamber is kept at from 64 to 68 degrees and the trays are bathed in flourescent light continously, which serve to stimulate seed growth.

Since the growing cycle is seven days long, each day mature barley is harvested from another set of thirty-six trays. The barley daily harvest yields from five hundred to six hundred pounds of grass and roots. Zoos in New York City (the Bronx Zoo), Chicago, Phoenix and St. Louis operate the same kind of growing chambers. At the Bronx Zoo, the grass is fed to most of the hoofed stock; the zebras, antelope, deer and Mongolian wild horses.

Editors Note: The St. Louis Zoo directors decided to reutilized their Herbagere climate controlled building for the rearing of rare baby birds, due to lack of funds to procure proper facilities for these animals. Their feed costs increased and animal health went down proportionately. The rearing of the rare baby birds was unsuccessful and all secumbed!

Lettuce is another crop that lends itself to vertical farming. Lettuce seedlings in small planting boxes are placed in trays which are stacked one above the other in a metal rack. After their diet of liquid nutrients for one month the plants reach maturity.

In the case of tomatoes, the dirt farmer raises about 3,500 plants per acre. In hydroponics, the plants can be placed much closer together, it's possible to cultivate as many as 10,000 plants on an acre of land.

In normal farming, crops have to be rotated, that is, grown in a fixed order of succession. Otherwise, the nutrient level of the soil falls below established minimums. Plainly speaking, the soil "Wears Out." With soilless culture, there's never any need to rotate crops. The farmer checks the solution and adds whatever nutrients may be needed. Thus the nutrient level can be just as high at harvest time as it was the day the crop was planted, and the same type of crop can be grown in endless succession. If however, the grower decides he wants to change to a different crop after the harvest, it's a simple matter to do so. Another plus is growing does not have to be done on a seasonal basis. Crops can be started so that a continuous supply of most any vegetable or fruit can be obtained at any time of the year.