Floating farm is the wave of the future

The first time I heard the term "urban farming," I thought it was one of those humorous oxymorons, like "military intelligence" or "jumbo shrimp." I grew up in rural America, the grandson of farmers, and the idea of fields of corn growing through concrete sidewalks, next to huge skyscrapers, seemed wacky. Turns out it's not. There are for-profit organizations out there creating urban farms on 10,000-square-foot New York City parcels - without soil. Supporters say growing food in water, called hydroponics, is the future and can provide healthier diets for city dwellers without having to truck food long distances. Read more>

Noozhawk.com - local news and information for Santa Barbara County

It’s a small storefront on upper State Street surrounded by cedar window boxes overflowing with flowers and vegetables. You’ve driven by it on your way downtown and most likely enjoyed its sidewalk greenery, but step inside GreenCoast Hydroponics and traditional horticulture gets left at the door.

Just to go over the basics, the whole premise of hydroponics is to raise plants outside of a soil environment. The root system of the plant and the plant itself are supported by a medium, and the store carries mediums such as clay, coconut fiber and volcanic ash. The medium doesn’t provide nutrients to the plant. Instead, the plants are fed from a nutrient solution that circulates through the tanks where they are grown.

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Noozhawk.com - local news and information for Santa Barbara County

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Design Notebook: Bringing the vegetable plot inside with hydroponics

Central Coast Hydrogarden shows that soilless cultivation offers such advantages as shelter from the elements and a year-round season
By Rebecca Juretic

PHOTOS BY REBECCA JURETIC - A display of parsley being grown hydroponically in the San Luis Obispo shop.
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In the back room of Central Coast Hydrogarden there sits a modest 3-by-3-foot fiberboard closet — the kind you might store your winter coats in. This one, however, is home to six thriving tomato plants, their crimson fruit ripening under the glare of a grow light.

This, according to shop owner Larry Harp, illustrates the superb adaptability of hydroponics.
Last July, Harp purchased the San Luis Obispo shop, which has been selling hydroponics supplies

HYDROPONIC GROWING TIPS WHAT YOU’LL NEED A hydroponic system basically consists of a rooting medium, a container for the medium, a reservoir for the nutrient solution and a pump to re-circulate the solution. Although a pump isn’t an absolute necessity (you could apply the solution by hand), it keeps the water oxygenated and avoids problems such as algae. LIGHT IT RIGHT Your hydroponics plants can be set in a sunny, preferably south-facing window. If you don’t have a sunny enough spot, you’ll need a grow light. For optimal growth, enclose your plants in a closet or dark room and turn off all lights at night to mimic the natural cycle of the sun. GET STARTED You can introduce plants purchased from a nursery into a hydroponics system by gently rinsing their roots, then placing them in the rooting medium. You can also germinate seeds in a hydroponic system using a medium like rock wool cubes.
since 2002.

Hydroponics is the indoor cultivation of plants without soil. Plants are fed with a nutrient solution and rooted in materials such as clay pellets or rock wool fiber made from volcanic rock.

According to Harp, there are a host of reasons why some people prefer hydroponics over conventional gardens. As an apartment dweller, he realizes that not everyone has room for a garden plot, or even a container garden.

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