<http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/market-farming/2005-December/021627.html> [Market-farming] Hydroponics Steve Diver steved at ncat.org Wed Dec 14 11:04:03 EST 2005 * Previous message: [Market-farming] Hydroponics * Next message: [Market-farming] Hydroponics * Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] Brigette Leach wrote: >Thank you Adriana and Steve Diver. > >I am glad that Adriana brought up the subject of water. Hello Brigette - Well, in past conversations with Marty I realize that he is working with urban neighborhoods to increase sustainability, centered around organic gardening, composting, and so forth. He is coordinator with Heartland All Species Project in Kansas City, MO. http://www.allspecies.org The discussion about commercial hydroponics and costs of production that a grower should consider is one thing, empowering urban people to raise food as part of an integrated approach to sustainable living using a "greenhouse" vs buying food from grocery stores, is another. Water is indeed an issue. Global water crisis looms even stonger on the horizon. Many irrigated regions of the world -- including Northern India with its vast population -- depend on glacial melt. Satellite photos of increased Himalayan glacial melt are scary when you realize the implications for an irrigated agricultural breadbasket in a monsoon climate. Here in AR and MO, I know many farms and gardens that were absolutely drought-busted in Summer 2005. We are approaching 14" deficit rainfall for the year. Surely the cycle will break, but it lead one to think about limited water growing conditions. Aquaponics -- the integration of hydroponics with aquaculture -- is a bio-integrated food production system that recirculates biofiltrated water. Interestingly, aquaponics is driven by rhizobacteria and other microbial organisms living in the gravel and rhizosphere. Bioponics is another microbially-driven hydroponic system. There are growing interest in biologically- integated options with modern hydroponic systems using compost teas, fermented extracts, and so forth. One hydroponics system that blew me away -- a complete paradigm smasher for just about anybody in agriculture -- is the ocean water hydroponic production system that Don Jansen operated in Florida as a commercial operation for nine years. The only fertility input, was ocean water diluted to 2,000 ppm TDS. No commercial fertilizers, no hydroponic recipes for NPK, no pesticides. The Acres USA conference held last weekend had several talks on mineral balancing, remineralization, and the benefits of sea-based amendments in raising healthy crops that provide proper nutrition for humans. Steve Diver * Previous message: [Market-farming] Hydroponics * Next message: [Market-farming] Hydroponics * Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] More information about the Market-farming mailing listTitle: [Market-farming] Hydroponics
[Market-farming] HydroponicsSteve Diver steved at ncat.orgWed Dec 14 11:04:03 EST 2005
Brigette Leach wrote: >Thank you Adriana and Steve Diver. > >I am glad that Adriana brought up the subject of water. Hello Brigette - Well, in past conversations with Marty I realize that he is working with urban neighborhoods to increase sustainability, centered around organic gardening, composting, and so forth. He is coordinator with Heartland All Species Project in Kansas City, MO. http://www.allspecies.org The discussion about commercial hydroponics and costs of production that a grower should consider is one thing, empowering urban people to raise food as part of an integrated approach to sustainable living using a "greenhouse" vs buying food from grocery stores, is another. Water is indeed an issue. Global water crisis looms even stonger on the horizon. Many irrigated regions of the world -- including Northern India with its vast population -- depend on glacial melt. Satellite photos of increased Himalayan glacial melt are scary when you realize the implications for an irrigated agricultural breadbasket in a monsoon climate. Here in AR and MO, I know many farms and gardens that were absolutely drought-busted in Summer 2005. We are approaching 14" deficit rainfall for the year. Surely the cycle will break, but it lead one to think about limited water growing conditions. Aquaponics -- the integration of hydroponics with aquaculture -- is a bio-integrated food production system that recirculates biofiltrated water. Interestingly, aquaponics is driven by rhizobacteria and other microbial organisms living in the gravel and rhizosphere. Bioponics is another microbially-driven hydroponic system. There are growing interest in biologically- integated options with modern hydroponic systems using compost teas, fermented extracts, and so forth. One hydroponics system that blew me away -- a complete paradigm smasher for just about anybody in agriculture -- is the ocean water hydroponic production system that Don Jansen operated in Florida as a commercial operation for nine years. The only fertility input, was ocean water diluted to 2,000 ppm TDS. No commercial fertilizers, no hydroponic recipes for NPK, no pesticides. The Acres USA conference held last weekend had several talks on mineral balancing, remineralization, and the benefits of sea-based amendments in raising healthy crops that provide proper nutrition for humans. Steve Diver
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