Issue 27
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Table of Contents:
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1. Aalan Kkvasnik
Subject: Re: propagation heat on the cheap
Hi, I've enjoyed the newsletter and would like to offer the following question to you and the group. Can roof de-icing cable be safely and successfully used as bottom heat? I grow bonsai indoors under lights using a wick watering system under a sun circle 1000 watt setup and the basement room is about 65 with the lights off and 72+ with them on. I use a propagation mat and thermostat and love them but they cost about $200! Is there a cheaper safe way to provide bottom heat? Thank you so much!
Bob Saffell answers:
Well, Aalan, I don't see any reason why you can't use
the cable. If it's safe for the roof it ought to be
safe for the basement floor. You can check with your
closest supplier, a long list of which is at the end of
my book on hydroponics -
If anyone of you can offer help, correspond directly with Aalan at his email address above.
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2. And so does Alex van Wyck - Alex van Wyk
Thank you for an excellent newsletter. I have only been receiving Hydro 1 for a few months, but I have also read every other publication in your archives. In your words, "this newsletter has been designed to educate, to entertain" and it certainly does that! I suspect that it must take quite a few hours out of an already busy schedule. For that people like myself are especially grateful, please keep up the good work.
I first became interested in Hydroponics and related subjects in 1983. This was during one of a number of unrelated business trips to the USA. Unfortunately work pressure (I was involved in the IT industry for many years) precluded me from actively pursuing this interest. However, since I recently decided to accept early retirement (a euphemism for being retrenched), I now have all the time in the world to further explore this interesting field on a full-time yet hobby-related basis. If a small, commercially viable business should eventually transpire, it would merely be "the cherry on top". You have often warned (and quite rightly so) that this is a highly scientific field of endeavor which should not be attempted without substantial prior research and experimentation.
In the November 1999 issue of Hydro 1 you briefly referred to the Australian Redclaw Crayfish. I am specifically interested in finding out more about the aquaponic "cultivation" of the latter. I suspect that all the normally important parameters such as temperature, pH levels, water quality, aeration, etcetera, etcetera still apply. However, one of the more difficult stumbling blocks (at least to my way of thinking) is removed. This being the control of the "nutrient content" of the water. It would seem that relatively cheap, readily available feeding material can be introduced without the need for expensive instrumentation to accurately control same.
If, after reading this, you think that I am a complete idiot you are probably right. As I implied in the above, I know precious little about the subject. I am, however, very eager to learn more about this fascinating topic and in this specific instance, Australian Redclaw Crayfish. I would therefore sincerely appreciate any "pointers" and/or contact information you may be able to provide.
Thank you again for a most informative and interesting newsletter.
Yours sincerely
Alex van Wyk - (Gauteng, South Africa)
Bob Saffell:
So come on , Aussie readers (and anyone else), let's help this fellow. His email address is at the beginning of his letter. If anyone has any information, don't hesitate to get in touch with him via email.
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3. Israel - Hydroponics in the desert
Israel is probably the most advanced nation when it comes to hydroponics and new innovations for hydroponics. The growers in this country have to be sharp if they want to feed the increasing population. Not only do they accomplish that but these growers also export quite a bit of produce and flowers (roses) to the outside world.
And it all has to be done in an unfriendly natural environment. As I have stated in an earlier letter, the Israeli growers have even found a way to grow some crops by using salt water which seeps in from the surrounding waters of the Mediterranean.
For example, take the rose crop which includes the Golden Gate, a long-stem yellow rose with slight fragrance. Of the crop of 400,000 cut stem roses, 90% or 360,000 are exported to Germany and Holland.
What's interesting is that the Israeli growers use volcanic tuff and rockwool for the media for their hydroponic growing activities. This is a smart use of resources as most of Israel is covered with volcanic tuff.
As an aside, when I lived in Texas many moons ago, two gentlemen from Mexico paid me a visit. They were quite interested in making use of the volcanic ash which can be found in their country. I said I didn't see any thing wrong with that so long as they made sure the pH of the ash was stabilized to between 6.5 and 7.5.
They went away somewhat happier with that opinion. I too was happy when I checked the files and found I was right. It's always nice to be right when you make an educated guess.
The convenience of volcanic tuff is further enhanced by its long life. When a crop is harvested, the roots are left to die within the tuff. Bimethyl sodium is used to sterilize the medium and then another crop is planted.
The Ein Gedi technique which I discuss in the June 16, 2000 newsletter is an advanced technique developed by the Israelis. But generally speaking, Israeli growers use the same old low-tech growing methods they have always used with hydroponics.
Their use of NFT is well-known. Israeli growers keep the nutrient pH level around 6.0 or a little less. The electrical conductivity (EC) is kept 1.2 for roses and 2.5 for vegetables.
The Israelis know what they are doing. They have been at it for nearly half a century and are world leaders in new hydroponic ideas. The crops the Israeli growers harvest are testimony to what is being done. One example will suffice. At one government experimental station strawberries are grown at head level where you can look straight out at large red fresh and ripe fruit. All you have to do is reach out and pick your own dessert.
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4. Here and there
A. Isolite is trumpeted to be the medium best suited for hydroponics. Isolite is a porous ceramic which is inert both physically and chemically. It does not absorb nutrient trace elements as some media do, nor does it contribute any toxic materials to a nutrient solution.
Isolite doesn't breakdown with time as some other media do. It can be conveniently sterilized by heating it up to about 85 degrees Centigrade or about 185 degrees Fahrenheit.
Isolite can be extruded to come in different diameters to give a grower the particular water absorbency required. The size used for hydroponics is usually around 2 mm diameter or 1/8 inch.
Researchers like it because isolite won't cling to root systems and so the plant roots can be shaken clean and then dried out to get weight comparisons.
For more information on isolite please go to
B. Did you ever hear of the "Sea of Green? Well, it's an idea which has been put forth by Hydro-Tech. This method is used quite widely in Holland. What it's all about is a method for "skipping" the vegetative stage of a plant's growth and going directly into bloom immediately after a plant has been rooted.
C. One authority asserts that the reason millions of people go hungry in today's world is that their governments are incompetent. These countries have the resources, such as Angola and Russia, both rich in natural resources and both poverty-stricken with bureaucratic idiocy.
James Sholto Douglas (one of the fathers of modern hydroponics) says the people of India have learned to use their own natural organic resources to practice organic hydroponics on a very high and profitable level. The have plenty of cheap labor and lots of inexpensive natural fertilizer.
D. Looking for a good fog generator -to mist root systems like in
the Ein-Gedi system? Well try a new product from Israel (where
else?). The outfit is Shira Aeroponics, Inc Bio-Technologies at
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5. How about your new home on the moon?
The Artemis Project intends to colonize the moon - to stay there, Not just experiment with the idea, like the government. Privately funded, this project will incorporate hydroponics to a high degree.
But there will be problems not to be encountered on Earth.
Although there are abundant trace elements and oxygen locked in the moon's rocks, there will be scant amounts of carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen. Not to mention water.
Some of these can be obtained from the refuse left over from transport from Earth, such as the remaining hydrogen left over from excess rocket fuel.
Packaging materials, human wastes, anything that's left over will have to be passed through CELSS (controlled ecological life support system) to help regain all useful materials. In a word, everything will have to be recycled continuously over and over again.
Since the moon has two weeks of COLD darkness and two weeks of warm light, compost systems will not be able to work that well, not even with solar generators. This fact alone will set up many obstacles which will have to be overcome.
Because colonizers who stay will not want a simple staid diet - they will want a variety of food to help overcome boredom and other ills. Disease factors must also be taken into consideration. In a closed society such as the moon will offer, things like powdery mildew (which eats up the air supply) cannot be allowed to happen.
So only crops can be grown which do not invite disaster of any kind. Insecticides will be too expensive and not practical for a closed society's health. Silica will be in abundance to help hold back powdery milldew invasions. Crops with pest-fighting characteristics could also be grown.
And a plant like derris might be inadvisable to use as an insecticide on the moon because of its ill effects on aquaponics and aquaculture.
NFT as we know it will be at a handicap. The moon's gravity is too low to support a slope of 40 or 50:1. More likely the slope cannot be less than 6:1. Horizontal or even vertical beds may do better.
Using moon "soil" (or negolith) will be inadvisable because it packs too close together and would not work as a medium. Volcanic chips would be more suitable. There are plenty of those on the moon.
Low gravity will cause the nutrient to stick a lot better to plant root systems. You could even use 4-inch beds.
Perhaps a way can be found to produce rockwool from the volcanic rock surrounding a moon colony. This might be the ideal solution.
All in all, living on the moon will be a huge challenge but one which can be dealt with as we learn more about what has to be done. Living life on the moon may not be as varied as on Earth but it can be sustainable and interesting.
I don't believe it will be as interesting as my going out tonight to my favorite restaurant and having prime rib, medium-rare.
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6. Think about it...
God made rainy days, so gardeners could get the housework done.
My mother's menu consisted of two choices:
Take it or leave it.
- Buddy Hackett
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Our Resource Center
"How to Start on a Shoestring and Make a Profit from Hydroponics"
For those of you who want to pursue hydroponics further, go to:
http://www.mayhillpress.com/hydroponics.html
"Beneficial Insects - How to Mass-rear for a Profit"
If you would like to try your hand at raising beneficial insects,
go to:
http://www.mayhillpress.com/insects2.html
"Big Dollars Growing Gourmet Salad Greens"
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