[Market-farming] Hydroponics

Willfindley at aol.com Willfindley at aol.com
Tue Dec 13 18:50:11 EST 2005


 
Seems to me you're both a bit testy, but that's understandable -- we're  
doing something we're passionate about. Paul, you had your say, a bit of a  slam 
(the "drenching" part), and Adriana defended herself most capably  against your 
charge. No reason for it to get any more personal, I shouldn't  think.
Cheers,
Bill, west AL zone 8-ish
 
In a message dated 12/13/2005 5:25:47 PM Central Standard Time,  
tradingpost at gilanet.com writes:


Everybody can see who's being nasty and confrontational from your  reply to 
my post below. Hydroponics is not organic. Nobody's forcing anybody  to be 
organic. I will not respond further to this unprovoked  personal  attack. 

paul,  tradingpost at riseup.net
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Soilmakers/
---------------
The  outstanding scientific discovery of the twentieth century is not 
television,  or radio, but rather the complexity of the land organism. Only those who 
know  the most about it can appreciate how little we know about it. 
- Aldo Leopold in  Round River, 1933
*********** REPLY SEPARATOR   ***********

On 12/13/2005 at 5:12 PM Adriana  wrote:

>Paul,
>I beg to differ.  I have been running  commercial hydroponic greenhouses
>for 
>over 8 years and you are  making some grossly inaccurate statements.  Just 
>like any good  farmer we also will use beneficial insects and minimally
>toxic  
>products, and these only when absolutely necessary.  We strive  try to
>create 
>a balance in our environment and practice  integrated pest management.  A 
>"humus-intensive" greenhouse can  be just as susceptible to insects and
>other 
>diseases strictly  by virtue of the high plant density and very healthy 
>plants in a  greenhouse gives bugs an "all-you-can eat buffet".
>
>One area in  which we are more "sustainable'" than dirt farmers is in water  
>utilization - we typically use less than 20% of the water which  is
>required 
>in field culture.  We also use a fraction of  the fertilizers of
>conventional 
>farmers and we do not leach any  excess nutrients (be they chemical or 
>organic) into  the ground  water.
>
>Most hydroponic greenhouses use "chemical" nutrients,  but there are 
>operations which grow hydroponically using more  "organic" nutrients - some 
>of these use fish effluent from high  density fish tanks to grow plants;
>this 
>is called  Aquaponics.  A friend of mine in Brazil breaks down animal
>manures  
>in a multi-stage biodigester with the end product being a  water-soluble 
>fertilizer that can be used in "water  culture".
>
>Paul I find the whole tone of your postings arrogant  and offensive in that 
>you seem to be placing your method as superior  to others.  We all have our 
>pros and cons and reasons for growing  what we grow the way we grow it. 
>Let's all try to learn from each  other in a less confrontational manner.
>
>Adriana  Gutierrez
>Birmingham, AL   35244
>
>
>
>>  Growers  have no  alternative but to drench hydroponic plants in 
>> fungicides and  pesticides.  This also makes them high maintenance and 
>> labor  intensive. A more sustainable alternative is humus- intensive
>beds,  
>> and they can be in a greenhouse that opens in mild weather or  just 
>> outdoors with some form of weather protection.  Humus-intensive has long 
>> been demonstrated to be the way to grow  the most and healthiest produce
>in 
>> the least space with  the least water and least ongoing energy  input.
>


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