Issue 19
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Table of Contents:
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1. Herbs and edible flowers in 120 Greenhouses!
Generation Farms near Rice, Texas has hitched its wagon to the new public craze for fresh herbs and food decorated with edible petals from flowers. Except for basil all the herbs and flowers are grown inside greenhouses - lots of greenhouses. Basil is grown outside in the field because the owners of Generation Farms found that basil does better outside in the hot Texas sun. (When I grew basil in Texas, it came up like a weed. I had more basil than I knew what to do with. This was when I was doing organic farming as a sideline.)
Since most of the other sixty varieties of herbs and flowers which Generation Farms grow require some shading throughout the day, they are raised year-round inside the protected environment of the greenhouses.
To fight insect pests, especially grasshoppers, the owners of Generation Farms use the services of guinea hens plus the added protection of beneficial insects such as ladybugs. The guinea hens move in and about the greenhouses and the fields.
The best-selling herbs from this growing operation are basil, chives, spearmint, dill, thyme, oregano and rosemary. These are followed to a lesser degree by sour sorrel, marjoram, chervil, winter savory, Mexican marigold (the mint variety), shiso, hoja santa and epazote.
Some varieties of flowers which are grown for their edible petals are dianthus, nasturtiums, pansies, snapdragons, chrysanthemums, scented geraniums, baby roses and marigolds. These are also sold in grocery stores where you can prepare your own mix.
Generation Farms customers vary far and wide, among which are upscale Dallas restaurants, a national Italian food restaurant chain, and fancy Mexican restaurants as well as major grocery chains in the area.
Now I would say this is a good example of finding a niche market and capitalizing on it.
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2. Keep your eyes open: the Ein Gedi technique is coming your way.
And for good reason. There's no waste of nutrient with Ein Gedi. Derivations such as "aeroponics" (which is discussed in my book at http://www.mayhillpress.com) and "aero-hydroponics" are popping up all over the horizon.
Though the technique works amazingly well, the expense of setting it up and getting it into action has deterred many growers. But after looking at the many advantages this technique offers, many growers are beginning to have second thoughts
.You see, the Ein Gedi (or aeroponics, etc) method recirculates its nutrient in a misty spray which is aimed at the air roots of a plant. Let me explain. A plant has three major growth sections: the top or "above-ground" section, the air root section, and the root section. A grower has to pay attention to all three.
In the Ein Gedi (read "aeroponics, etc.") technique, plants are plugged into holes at the top of an enclosed chamber. Their roots are allowed to dangle in the dark below and rest in a nutrient solution. BUT between the roots near the bottom of the chamber and the plant hole at the top you will find the air roots of the plant.
The aeroponics method has the same setup as does aero-hydroponics. But the last two have deeper nutrient streams below. All three methods use a misting device to spray oxygenated nutrient onto the air roots. The Ein Gedi method uses a spinner close to the surface of the nutrient pool below. As the spinner spins, nutrient runs up the shaft and sprays out into the chamber.
Aeroponics has a spinner suspended between the top of the chamber and the nutrient pool below. The nutrient spray is spun out from that spinner. Aero-hydroponics goes one step further. Although it too has a device for spraying dissolved oxygen upon the air roots, this method relies more heavily in having more dissolved oxygen in the nutrient pool at the bottom of the chamber.
But mainly, it's the air roots with which these methods are concerned. These roots are constantly sprayed with a mist of nutrient and oxygen which gives the plant the energy it needs. The nutrient below also becomes infused with oxygen so the entire root becomes energized. And the plant grows faster and produces a larger crop.
There is no nutrient waste because the nutrient spray is recirculated after it hits the air roots and then falls to the bottom of the chamber to be recirculated and sprayed again. There is little waste of any other kind, making this technique very desirable to any grower.
The initial investment is quite large as compared to other techniques. You need the long chambers which hold the plants, you need a sprayer setup to accommodate all the roots hanging down inside each chamber. But once the system is setup, the savings can go on forever. No more media to buy, less and less nutrient to supply, and so forth.
Dutch growers who up until now have relied upon rockwool for their growing needs have begun to look at other techniques. With rockwool the Dutch growers could let the nutrient go through on a one-way trip, that is until their government told them they had to stop polluting the ground water with excess nutrient.
So let's look at it again: the Ein Gedi method as well as aeroponics are pretty much the same. Both use the misting method for the roots section of a plant to give the plant the dissolved oxygen it needs. These two methods don't rely as much on the plant roots being immersed in the nutrient solution. Whereas aero-hydroponics gets most of its success from root immersion.
The other variation, known as aero-hydroponics, was developed by Dr. Hillel Soffer who has been associated with the Ein Gedi methods first developed in Israel. This is the method which uses both the spray for the air roots and nutrient immersed roots. His method is getting quite a lot of attention. Aero-hydroponics is very useful for propagating various plants, particularly plants which heretofore have been difficult to propagate.
For more information on this last method, contact General Hydroponics, P O Box 1576, Sebastapol, CA 95473-1576 1-800-374-9376 mailto:info@genhydro.com
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3. Hydroponic fodder and Tomatoes in Bras
A. In Australia, where hydroponics is a going thing, they have figured out a way to grow fodder for supplementary feeding to cattle. (This is also discussed in my book which can be found at (http://www.mayhillpress.com)).
This extra feed is used during the dry months or to help keep animals up to peak condition. This is particularly important for cattle breeders who have prize stud stock to maintain.
Barley and even oat seed are the mainstay here. In an eight day cycle (or more for taller growth), a grower can get a pan full of green fodder, roots and all, which can be fed directly to his herd.
Primarily, the setup for this can be either inside a small greenhouse or a shed ( if you use some supplementary lighting). Inside either of these, you can construct galvanized metal shelving upon which plastic rectangular pans are placed.
Inside each pan, spread a layer of seed. You don't need a lot of light, but you do need to lightly spray the pans with nutrient now and then. You also need to control the temperature - around 55-65 degrees Fahrenheit. It's somewhat like growing sprouts, only you harvest the sprouts sooner.
The result? A pan full of fodder eight inches high which you feed directly to your cattle. You give them everything in the pan, root matting and all. There's practically nothing to clean up.
You can build it yourself. It's really a very simple hydroponic idea.
B. Have you ever heard of tomatoes being held up to the vine with a woman's bra? Well, there's a fellow in Poughkeepsie, NY who does just that. He's also famous enough to get the attention from people from abroad, such as a Ghanaian ambassador.
The ambassador was very impressed with the size and flavor of the Poughkeepsie gentlemen's tomatoes which are hydroponically grown in rockwool. Not to mention the many cucumbers and the splendid color of eggplants which are also part of this gentleman's garden.
A bra? Well the tomatoes do grow as large as grapefruit - and according to the grower, the taste is great!
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4. Scales, Mealybugs, Fungus Gnats - Bugs of the month
Scales and Mealybugs are related to one another. Neither of these two look like insects. The scales look like tiny oval oyster shells while the mealybugs look like little puffs of cotton. Both suck plant juices and can soon kill a plant. The main killing power of mealybugs is the "honeydew" they secrete on which a black mold develops and eventually kills the plant.
Scales, both hard and soft, can be just about any color. After a short active life, they grow the hard outer shell and settle down for a lifetime of feasting. You will find them on the under sides of leaves and along stems of plants. They will be either alone or in groups. The plants they infest appear distorted, yellow and stunted.
Scales can be scraped off with your fingernail. Some home-made remedies are sprays of alcohol, soap or even light oil. Some effective beneficial controls are green lacewing and mealybug destroyer.
As for the mealybugs, they cluster together in a cottony mass, usually at a point on the plant which branches off. The mealybug wears a coat of fluffy wax which belies its appearance as a tiny puff of cotton. Though slow breeding, this insect can cause alarming damage to a plant.
Though green lacewing and mealybug destroyers are effective beneficial safeguards, your primary aim is to "wash" off the black mold which accumulates on a plant's leaves. This mold will kill the plant if not eliminated. Use a soapy spray to rinse off the mold.
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Fungus Gnats are those small grayish flies which fly aimlessly about. Their young feed on the organic material surrounding a plant's roots (another reason for using hydroponics). But most plants outgrow the young insects's appetite and the fungus gnat just becomes a nuisance instead of a threat.
If you do seem to have a problem with Fungus Gnats, hang a few sticky yellow insect traps in the infested area. If you find the gnats seem to be coming out of the soil in and around your growing area, good control can be obtained by predator nematodes which are applied to the infected area in 5 week intervals.
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"Big Dollars Growing Gourmet Salad Greens"
"Beneficial Insects - How to Mass Rear and Make a Profit"
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