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Table of Contents:

• 1. Hydroponic/aquaponic research centers
• 2. A basement operation with high rewards
• 3. This and that
• 4. Sometimes it's smarter to grow orchids
• 6. Black Soldier Fly - beneficial insect of the month
• 7. Think about it...

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1. Hydroponic/aquaponic research centers

If you want to be in on what's really new, check out the following hydroponic research urls from time to time.

• Utah State University:
  http:www.usu.edu/~cpl/hydropon.html

  Includes management of re-circulating nutrient solutions for hydroponics. This site also includes the following:

  Phytroremediation? Wow! What's that? It's for plants which clean ground water and contaminated soil.

  The effects of ethylene on plant growth.

  Interested in hydroponic fodder? Inquire about their Apogee, a wheat seed which produces yields 3 times larger than the the best field yields.

• Agriculture and Agri-Food of Canada:
  http://res2.agr.ca/harrow/

  For those who want to keep up with what's new in greenhouse vegetablem production. Canada is a world leader in this field.

  This site (Harrow) is very professional and is much trusted. In all of North America, Harrow has the largest greenhouse facility devoted to research.

• Mississippi State University:
  http://ext.msstate.edu/pubs/pub1828.htm

  Grower's guide for learning all about growing tomatoes, from start to finish.

• Ohio State University:
  http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~abe/veg/veg.htm

  Primarily for networking commercial hydroponic growers in Ohio. Has links to Ohio Vegetable Production Guides. The 1999 and 2000 issues contain a wealth of information in regards to plant insects and diseases as well as overall greenhouse quality control.

• S&S Aquafarm:
  http://www.townsqr.com/snsaqua/index.html

  A detailed rund-down on the Speraneo operation in West Plains,MO. This is a commercial operation which operates only on fish effluent to grow plants. Such a low-cost idea was unheard of in the 1990's when the Speraneos began their operation.

  Studying their facility and ideas is a very fine introduction to what the Speraneos call bioponics.

• University of the Virgin Islands:
  http://rps.uvi.edu/AES/Aquaculture/aqua.html

  Features the cultivation of tilapia and lettuce.

• Appropiate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas:
  http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/ghwebRL.html

  If you really want to see what's going on and what and how to grow something, then go to this site which covers just about anything you want to grow and techniques to go with it. Has many, many links to whatever you're interested in. Too many for me to recount here.

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2. A basemnent operation with high rewards

A couple in Minnesota are earning a nice supplemental living growing hydroponic produce in their basement.

Poor soil and a short growing season are the main reasons why these two individuals have gone "inside".

The first bed was a flat 3 by 4 ebb and flow system which has a bed of perlite fed by a pump 2-3 times a day. This setup sufficed very well. After awhile though the couple were getting so many local requests for their gourmet lettuce mixture that they decided to buy a growing unit which looks like a tent. Actually it's a variation of the "A-frame" used in Scotland.

Crops which are grown in these two systems are lettuces such as Red Oak, Red Snail, Simpson, and romaine. These are augmented with arugula, kale, chervil, endive, and chives.

A factory mixed liquid fertilizer is used along with 400 watt lamps hanging above each of the two units. Ordinary fans are used to keep the temperature in line. Also ordinary pumps are turned on 3-5 times every day and are allowed to pump the nutrient for about a quarter of an hour each time.

The times for pumping are pre-determined and then set up by a timer.

So far the couple have not experienced any diseases or pests among their crops. And though they have not yet decided to go full-time, they certainly are enjoying the pleasures of fresh produce as well as extra income.

These two have found a niche market and are capitalizing on it. Since fresh produce must be trucked in, the natives of the area appreciate having this wonderful source of fresh produce at hand. This is especially true when you buy one of their salads mixes and find it adorned with pansies.

It makes you wonder why more people aren't doing the same. Growing plants this way is quite trouble-free.

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3. This and that

• A. Students and faculty at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the University of Arizona use bees to pollinate their hydroponic greenhouse crops as well as beneficial insects for pest control. (See article 5 below.)

  Their emphasis is on designing cost-effective means of growing hydroponically and to get high quality yields. Their information indicates that for tomatoes alone the per acre comparison of hydroponic greenhouse growing to field growing is 10 to 1 in pounds of crop yield.

• B. A nutrient reservoir should hold 30% more than what the complete circulating system can hold. Every day make sure you check the nutrient level stays where it should be. Also make a daily check of pH and EC (electrical conductivity) levels

• C. Do not allow algae to form in your system anywhere. Algae blocks circulation and deprives plants of oxygen. To prevent the formation of algae cut out all light sources.

  Be sure there is no algae growing in your system or your nutrient tank. After harvesting a crop, clean the entire system (including the nutrient tank) with a light clorox solution and rinse abundantly to get rid of any residue from the clorox. Other cleansing agents are also available on the market.

  If after cleaning algae still appears inside the piping, then the walls of the piping are too thin. You must replace these thin-walled pipes with pipes with thicker walls.

  If you already have plants growing in your system when you discover the algae, carefully pull your plants and keep them in a place where their roots will stay moist. Then give the entire system (including the tank) a thorough cleaning before you place the plants back into position.

• D. Use lighting at a lower level (of output) for a minimum of 24 hrs for cuttings. After the 24 hrs you can increase the lighting to the normal level. When taking cuttings, prune away the large leaves and leave the small. By transpiring too heavily, large leaves will dehydrate the cuttings.

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4. Sometimes it's smarter to grow orchids

That's what Andy Matsui of central California's coast region has done. He used to grow roses but competition was too much from growers in Ecuador and Columbia. So he began to look into potted plants in the high-end range. Specifically orchids.

US growers thirty years ago were in the lead in orchid growing, but stopped expanding and experimenting. Matsui went to growers in the Netherlands and in Japan to learn the latest techniques. Now he's growing orchids that bloom all year-round which will give him a leg up on his US competition which usually has to sit back and wait out hot weather months.

In fact the Japanese have beeen innovators for some time, particularly on the California scene. Japanese growers are hip to hydroponics and orchids is just one of the many crops they will deal with in the future.

Yoshi Matsuno has added a few tricks of his own. Among a large crop of tomatoes (hydroponic, of course), he has placed a white box which is filled with bees. Why? To pollinate the tomatoes.

In addition to the bees, Matsuno takes small packets which contain predatory wasps and places them here and there about his crop.

Another Japanese invention is used by Matsuno to inject oxygen into his hydroponic system. This basically includes a ten gallon for every row of 100 plants, such as tomato, peper or cucumber. Carbon dioxide is injectd into the system every 5-7 minutes.

The water coming into the container has already been purified by a process known as reverse osmosis. Because of contamination such as excessive nitrates the reverse osmosis method, though quite expensive, is necessary.

It seems that hydroponics has been the saving grace for many growers. In order to face the changing times and overseas competition, California growers have learned to adapt. And the precise controls that go with that adaptation are to be found in the use of hydroponics.

Even nutrients have been programmed for each life cycle of a plant. These various formulae are used from the beginning to the end of a plant's useful life. You can bet the Japanese growers are using every trick they can find.

And so should you.

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5. From a small basement to the awesomely huge, and all are making money.

Great Britain growers know how to use hydroponics on a huge scale. At Hazelwood VHB located in West Sussex, England, you will find greenhouses so large that the only way they can be controlled is by computers which set the temperatures at various areas within the greenhouse expanse as well as maintaining ventilation and fans.

Suffice it to say, that computers are necessary for such a huge operation, especially for nutrient and water feeding as well as other plant necessities.

To enter one of these immense greenhouse domains you are required to wear sanitized white coats and hats as well as thoroughly washing your hands with soap which kills bacteria upon contact. This is done because even the smallest infection could have dire economical consequences. Cleanliness is the word here.

These growers only use organic fertilizers and beneficial insects to keep their crops in shape. To give you an idea of the size of this operation, They grow many different crops, but for one of the major crops, salad cress, 52,000,000 boxes a year are produced! Can you imagine? And all with hydroponics!

No wonder Hazelwood is considered one of the top agricultural producers. The gross annual income is L90,000,000 (the "L" stands for British pounds).

But this all seems to be the trend. Even in the United States, we have a few large operations which individually contain greenhouse acreage over 100 acres.

However, don't let this fool you. Although there is a place for the large and even the awesomely large hydroponic operation there are still jillions of niches where the small grower definitely has the advantage. Remember Debi and Tom in their small basement in article 2 above?

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6. Black Soldier Fly - beneficial insect of the month

Not only is the black soldier fly's larvae an effective deterrent to the common house fly but the larvae themselves can provide a high protein feed for livestock. In addition to these two benefits, the black soldier fly larave can reduce manure by at least 50 per cent in volume.

Black soldier fly larvae are not only cheaper to use in keeping the common house fly at bay but can provide a new and economical source of feed. Hogs are quite fond of this sort of feed.

As an example, a small hen laying operation of 20,000 hens can provide more than 13 tons of black soldier fly larvae. That's a lot of high protein feed not to mention good protection from house flies and a significant reduction in manure. This reduces costs all around.

Prepupal soldier fly larvae wanting to leave the manure basin beneath the hens were directed through a six inch pipe to collecting containers. They can easily negotiate a pipe as long as forty feet. A vertical wall one foot high or more contains the larvae and prevents them from getting on the walkway.

Not much is known about the adult black soldier fly. They are not pests and do not try to get into houses. They seem to live in the wild, and the only time one sees them is when they are laying eggs or have just become adults.

All in all, the black soldier fly promises to be an attractive tool in managing manure wastes. It is hoped that the experiments now being conducted on swine manure will also give significant results which will be a blessing to those who live in swine-producing areas.

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7. Think about it...

My wife said that if I buy any more plants she would leave me.
I'm going to miss that woman!

- Top Banana

Of all the wonders of nature, a tree in summer is
perhaps the most remarkable; with the possible exception
of a moose singing "Embraceable You" in spats.

- Woody Allen

I know you will be interested in our new series of reports (much like the above) in which we explore in great depth each of the topics given in the reports listed below. Since we introduced these reports we have had a high demand for them.

These are the topics that so many people have asked about in the past. These are the really hot topics, some of which are sure to catch your eye.

These reports are jam-packed with information that you can use today. We have cut right to the chase and given you all the meat and the potatoes!

All of the material contained in these reports is new and, except for an excerpt or two from my books, not easily available elsewhere. I'll tell you one thing: they're huge bargains!